Remembering - martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll,  is a large village and community on the island of Anglesey, Wales.  The original name of the medieval township, within whose boundaries the present-day village lies, was Pwllgwyngyll, meaning "the pool of the white hazels" 

The 12445 / 12446 Uttar Sampark Kranti Express connects New Delhi railway station to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station. The train runs daily via Jammu Tawi, Jalandhar Cantonment, Ludhiana, Ambala, Panipat and Udhampur, covering a distance of 655 km at an average speed of 57 km/h.  

The Shivalik Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The literal translation of "Sivalik" is 'tresses of Shiva'.  The district of Udhampur is located in the Shivalik range of Himalayas and the terrain is mostly mountainous. The upper reaches of the district experience snowfall in the winter season.   

Udhampur is a city - is in a relatively flatter part of the district at an elevation of 756 metres (2480 feet) and it rarely experiences any snowfall.  It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capital and the Northern Command headquarters of the Indian Army. A Forward Base Support Unit (FBSU) of the Indian Air Force is also stationed here.   

Udhampur railway station is situated in the  average elevation of the station is 660.054 metres (2,165.53 ft) above mean sea level. The rail distance between UHP and JAT is 53 km (33 mi). The Uttar Sampark Kranti Express train from New Delhi was the first train to run on this link in 2005.  The rail link to Katra was inaugurated and opened in 2014. Jammu Mail and Uttar Sampark Kranti Express have been extended to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station  from  2015. As of now, 39 trains halt at udhampur en route to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station from major cities in India and vice versa.  

Pampore  is a historical town situated on the eastern side of the Jhelum River on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. It was known as Padmanpur in antiquity.  It is famous worldwide for its saffron and known as the Saffron town of Kashmir.   

Back in 2016   in a three-day battle between security forces and terrorists holed up in the EDI building ended with the death of two militants, the army announced.  Three army commandos, including two Captains, were killed  in the fierce gunfight with a group of terrorists holed up inside a government building on the outskirts of Srinagar, raising the toll to seven in the encounter.  The multi-storied building of Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building in Pampore caught fire as the encounter between army and the heavily-armed terrorists, suspected to be 3-4 in number, continued for couple of days. Through the day, the terrorists kept on firing and throwing grenades on the security forces who surrounded the building.  

Army lost Captain Pawan Kumar, Captain Tushar Mahajan and jawan Om Prakash, all of the elite Para commando units, in the gunbattle. 

Now comes the news that Udhampur Railway Station is being named  after Captain Tushar Mahajan, an officer of 9 PARA (Special Forces of the Indian Army), who was killed while protecting other army personnel in a terror attack on JKEDI building in Pulwama in February 2016. 

This was informed by the Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh through a tweet on ‘X’, on Thursday. He thanked the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji  for acceding to the long pending request of family, friends, local people and the politicians on this account. Captain Mahajan, who hailed from Udhampur, had killed the terrorists  before laying down his life in the service of the motherland.  Singh further added that communication  to this effect was sent to the UT government to formally issue the required Gazette notification. 

Following it, ‘The Tushar Mahajan Trust’ thanked the Prime Minister, Singh and other BJP leaders for making it happen. Singh represents Udhampur-Doda-Kathua constituency in Lok Sabha.

Hail the martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan and all our army soldiers. 

In Apr 2019, the main Railway Station of Chennai – Central railway station  officially renamed "Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station.”  The name became the World second longest name for a Railway station after   Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales. 

 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
8.9.2023