Ranjit Parihar
After fulfillment of a long cherished demand reiterated a number of times by local residents of Udhampur and especially by Martyr captain Tushar Mahajan trust to rename Udhampur railway station after Captain Tushar, people and Tushar trust has expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Dr Jitendra Singh , Home Minister Amit Shah and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and in favour of all those who supported their demand of renaming Udhampur railway station .
The Union Government approved the name change of Udhampur Railway Station to “Martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan Railway Station” on Thursday. This was informed by MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh on his twitter handle. MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, shared the news on his twitter handle and posted,” #Janmashtmi Gesturefor #UDHAMPUR:ThanksPM Sh @NarendraModi ji.
In response to our request, the Government of India has approved the naming of Udhampur Railway Station as “Martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan Railway Station”. A communication to this effect has been sent to the UT Government of Jammu and Kashmir to formally issue the required Gazette notification.”.
Captain Tushar Mahajan memorial trust along with general public was reiterating this demand from long time in order to respect the brave soldiers of the country who have sacrificed their precious lives for integrity and solidarity of the country and was demanding from present Government to rename important public places after martyrs so that a message in society goes that the martyrs are respected and honoured which was finally fulfilled on Janamashtami festival.
Captain Tushar Mahajan was an officer of the 9 PARA (Special Forces of the Indian Army), and he achieved martyrdom after killing a terrorist while protecting the lives of other Army personnel in the terror attack on the Jammu & Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) Building in Pulwama district in February 2016..
Captain Tushar Mahajan was born on 20 April 1989 in a family of academicians. His father Dev Raj Gupta is a well-known educationist in Udhampur and retired as a principal. Captain Mahajan always nurtured the dream of becoming a soldier for taking on terrorists and eliminating them. Before getting selected for National Defence Academy training he joined NDA in the year 2006 (Batch 116) and thereafter went to IMA in the year 2009 (Batch 126). Capt Tushar Mahajan was given the gallantry award “Shaurya Chakra” for his bravery, unyielding fighting spirit, and supreme sacrifice
Father of Martyr Captain Tushar Dev Raj Gupta and his mother Asha Gupta showing gratitude to Prime Minister of country ,”We are aware that it wouldn’t bring back Captain Tushar but it will help in keeping his story alive as a constant reminder for people across the length and breadth of India. Those who would visit this town in Jammu and Kashmir would know how selflessly a young man laid down his life for them, the motherland and that he didn’t give it a second thought but fought for the pride of his nation by taking several bullets so bravely”. Local residents showed gratitude to Prime Minister for renaming railway station after martyr Tushar by saying “hundreds of Army jawans , security forces and civilians in Jammu and Kashmir have sacrificed their lives for the nation while combating militancy. The nation is eternally indebted and no award or prize can ever repay for the supreme sacrifice of brave hearts like Tushar but renaming of public place after martyrs whether civilians or from defence forces will keep their name alive in hearts of younger generation and will inculcate spirit of patriotism among them”.
Renaming of public place after martyrs like Tushar will act as motivation for not only the present generation but for endless generations to follow who can derive inspiration from his sacrifice and that our children be nurtured with the supreme fact that India is our pride.
The J&K Administrative Council constituted under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, had already approved the move to name schools, roads and buildings after “martyrs and eminent persons” as part of the Indian Government’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative aimed at celebrating the country’s 75 years of independence last year . The decision to acknowledge the exceptional contributions of these martyrs towards the security and development of the Union Territory and renaming Government infrastructures after the martyrs is being widely welcomed on the one hand but now there is discontentment and anger among patriotic people living in militancy infested areas of Jammu province for not honoring hundreds of those unsung civilian heroes, who attained martyrdom during thirty years of long turmoil in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir while combating terrorism by sacrificing their lives. People are demanding Prime Minister of India should also honour such civilian martyrs by renaming public places school, building and roads afer their name also so that they real tribute could be given to them at par with other martyrs.