A Gurkha soldier, who fought 40 train robbers, to be felicitated in the Republic Day of India
Bishnu Shrestha, a brave Gurkha soldier in Indian Army, defeated 40 train robbers while returning home after a voluntary retirement. The Indian army, is going to awarded Bishnu with Sourya Chakra, Bravery Award and Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha medals during the Indian Republic Day celebration on January 26.
While in the train, Maurya Express from Ranchi to Gorakhpur, on September 2, 2010, 35 year-old Bishnu saved a girl about to be raped by the train robbers in front of her helpless parents. After looting the train, when the robbers started to strip a 18 year old girl in front of him, he couldn’t contain his calmness. He took out his khukari and took on the a group of 40 robbers, alone. In the fight, he killed three of the dacoits and injured eight others. The remaining dacoits fled the scene to save their lives.
The police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered Rs. 400,000 in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items left by the robbers while fleeing the train.
In recognition to his bravery, his regiment has given Bishnu a cash reward of Rs. 50,000 and it has also terminated his voluntary retirement, so that he could get a customary promotion after he receives the medals. In addition to that, he will also receive a cash rewards from the government, special discounts in international air tickets, and discounts in Indian railways train tickets.
Gurkha solider gets Britain’s second highest medal for bravery
Now, a British Army Gurkha soldier was honored by Britain’s second highest medal for bravery for fighting off at least a dozen Taliban insurgents.
Acting Sergeant Dip Prasad Pun was stationed in a checkpoint near Babaji, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. On September 17, 2010 militants opened fire from all direction.
Alone on the roof, Pun fought rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. He fired a more than 400 rounds of bullets, detonated a mine, and launched 17 grenades in about fifteen minutes of intense fight. He even used the machine gun tripod to knock down an insurgent, trying to climb up to his position.
In a BBC news article, Pun says, "I think I am a very lucky guy, a survivor. Now I am getting this award, it is very great and I am very happy."
The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross medal is only one level below the Victoria Cross, the highest medal a British Army personnel can get. The 31 year old Acting Sergeant Dipprasad Pun’s father and grandfather both had been Gurkha in British Army. (Photo credits – BBC)
Read more about Shrestha on Strategy Page, http://bit.ly/hyWzwF, another Gurka less hailed by the British.
ReplyDeleteFebruary 3, 2011: Such incidents are rare, but not that unusual for Gurkha soldiers. Two months before Shrestha fought the 40 bandits, another Gurkha solider in Afghanistan, found himself facing court martial for doing what Gurkha's are trained to do (beheading an enemy in combat with his khukuri). The trouble began when the accused Gurkha's unit had been sent in pursuit of a group of Taliban believed to contain a local Taliban leader. When the Gurkhas caught up with the Taliban, a gun battle broke out and several of the enemy were killed. The Gurkhas were ordered to retrieve the bodies of the dead Taliban, to see if one of them was the wanted leader. But the Gurkhas were still under heavy fire, and the Gurkha who reached one body realized he could not drag it away without getting shot. Thinking fast, he cut off the dead Taliban's head and scampered away to safety.
When senior British commanders heard of this, they had the Gurkha
arrested (and sent back to Britain for trial), and apologized to the
family of the dead Taliban. The head was returned, so that the entire
body (as required by Islamic law) could be buried. The British are very
sensitive about further angering pro-Taliban Afghans, and go out of
their way to collect all body parts of dead Taliban (especially those
hit with bombs), so that the body can be buried according to Islamic
law. The Taliban use accusations of Western troops disrespecting Islam
as a major part of their propaganda efforts. When there are no real
cases of such disrespect, which is usually the case, they make it up.
British officials have said nothing about this case since, indicating
that they are waiting for the fuss to go away.
As far as beheading goes, the Taliban often do that on living victims,
which even horrifies Afghan warriors. That's because Gurkhas have been
fighting Afghans for centuries, in the service of Britain or Indian
princes. Gurkhas, who tend to be Hindus, featured prominently in an
Indian effort to stop Moslem armies from entering India 1,300 years ago,
and pushing the Moslems out of Kandahar (which was then an Indian border town).
Gurkhas are tribal people (of Tibetan and Mongol origin) from the
mountains of Nepal, and have interacted, and intermarried, with Indians
for thousands of years. Britain fought a war with the Gurkha kingdom two centuries ago, and found them such formidable opponents that they began hiring them as mercenaries, and continue to do so. India has even more Gurkha mercenaries than Britain, and Gurkhas are popular security
operatives worldwide. Most Afghans are somewhat amused at the British
punishing a Gurkha for simply doing what Gurkhas have been doing to
Afghans for a long, long time. But the Gurkhas put their skills to use
wherever they are, no matter what they are up against. Bishnu Shrestha,
however, took the legend a step further, by defeating 40 armed bandits
all by himself. That was just a bit unusual, even for a Gurkha. But not
unexpected.