Armed with courage and sheer willpower, a brother-sister duo from a village in Jammu killed a terrorist and wounded another three days ago after militants barged into their remote house in the mountainous Rajouri district in Jammu and tried to kill their parents.
In an exemplary fight against terrorism, 19-year-old Aijaz, a Class XII student, and his 21-year-old sister Rukhsana Kausar fought the heavily armed terrorists and warded off a terror attack.
Speaking to rediff.com on the cellphone, their father Noor Ahmad and mother Rashida Begum could not stop praising their children and thanking the almighty.
After all, what could have ended in yet another tragic incident of bloodshed had turned into an exemplary tale of willpower and victory because of their children.
"Perhaps it was the serious danger that my family faced that made us fight, as my father, mother and sister were being beaten by the militants as they lay down on the floor. They could have been killed any movement. But I gathered enough courage to face the militants, as I picked up the axe lying nearby," Aijaz told rediff.com.
Aijaz today wonders from where they had got the courage on the fateful night, as he and his sister mustered to face the heavily armed militants.
"I thought I was caught in a do-or-die situation, and I decided it is better to do something than to let my family members die," Aijaz said.
"I picked up the axe and attacked the group commander, Abu Osama, on his head. He fell down. Seeing this, I swung my axe towards the other militant and injured him on his face and he too fell down. Meanwhile, the third militant took my father out of the house," he recollected.
"I saw two cocked rifles lying on the ground belonging to the two injured militants. My sister and I picked them up and my sister ran out of the house and pulled the trigger firing volleys of shots at the militants. As I picked up the rifle, shrapnel hit Abu Osama who died on the spot. The militants then fled the house leaving my father. The volley of shots attracted the attention of a police party that was on its way to my house, as I had informed them of the attack on phone," Aijaz said.
Today, Aijaz and his sister feel very elated seeing their parents alive and smiling.
"We have handed over the two automatic rifles to the police," they said, in a parting note.
This is the second incident reported in the Valley where humble citizens have fought the terrorists. On Sunday night, a middle-aged woman from the same district had killed a militant with an axe.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra lauded the bravery of the woman from Rajouri district. Vohra has asked for a formal report from the director general of police to recommend the woman for a gallantry award.
The governor also plans to invite the woman to honour her at the Raj Bhavan, an official statement said.
