Soldier from Old City makes the ultimate sacrifice
HYDERABAD: A phone call from Jammu on Tuesday afternoon, a day before Eid, came as a bolt from the blue for the family of Lance Naik Mohammed Feroz Khan at Salaheen Colony in Nawab Sahab Kunta area of the Old City.
It was from one of Khan's colleagues. Instead of Eid greetings, he broke the tragic news of Khan's death.
Feroz Khan, 33, was killed in a ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops at the Line of Control in Balakote sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.
Feroz was with the 18 Madras Regiment and had served a major part of his service along the border. He had also represented the country in a UN Mission to Congo in 2010-11.
'He was here at home for a month during Ramzan and had expressed his inability to come home for Bakrid. He had said it was very difficult for him to call home regularly but we know he would have called on Eid after the morning Namaz,' said Syed Pasha, Feroz's brother-in-law.
Feroz, his family members recalled, was a brave soldier and a confident man who took great pride in protecting the frontiers. 'He had finished 15 years of service but due to his passion, decided to extend his service by three more years which was to end in another six months,' said Shaik Moinuddin, his father-in-law. Feroz was extremely jovial and would share stories about his experience in the army, he added.
On Wednesday evening, as the family waited for the arrival of Feroz's body, his mother Razia Begum and wife Nazrin Fathima appeared shell-shocked. His children Afshin Fathima (4), Arshad Khan(2) and 8-month-old Aysha Fathima played with their cousins, too young to know what tragedy had struck them.
Feroz's father (late) Md Jaffer Khan too was with the Army for 25 years and passed away 15 years ago. 'Feroz had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
His children are too young and his younger brother and sister are unmarried while three other sisters are married,' said Mohammed Khalim, his cousin, trying to explain the family's irreparable loss.
News Posted: 17 October, 2013
|
