Nirmala Sitharaman meets Aurangzeb’s family

Jammu and Kashmir: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman met the family of Aurangzeb, the soldier who was kidnapped and killed by terrorists in Pulwama in south Kashmir on June 14. “I came to meet the martyr’s family. I have spent some time here. One message I can take back is that here’s a family, here’s a martyr, who stand out as an inspiration for the entire nation,” Ms Sitharaman told news agency ANI.

“Here is a family, here is a martyr, who to me and I am sure to the whole nation, stands out as an inspiration… and that is the message I am carrying from here,” she added. Aurangzeb, who was posted with 44 Rashtriya Rifles, was on his way home to celebrate Eid when terrorists abducted him from south Kashmir on June 14 and killed him same day. He had boarded a private vehicle for Shopian, from where he was supposed to go to Rajouri district.

The terrorists intercepted the vehicle as it approached Kalampora and abducted the jawan. His bullet-riddled body was found at Gussu village, about 10 km from Kalampora, in Pulwama district. The minister’s visit to his family came two days after Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat spent over 30 minutes with his parents.

Earlier, Aurangzeb’s family had made an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir government to eliminate militancy from the State and avenge his death.

“My son has laid down his life for the country. He was a brave soldier. My sons and I will also sacrifice [ourselves] for the nation. We want goons to be wiped out,” Mohammad Hanief, Aurangzeb’s father and a former sepoy of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, had said.