I bet many of us remember the epic train fighting sequence from the Rajnikanth movie Robot, where he fights more than 40 goons to save the heroine from getting raped, getting a flashback? Yes! Me too, let’s admit it, it was really awesome. But what if I say, something like that has happened in reality. What if I say that one person single handedly took over 40 goons during loot and that person was not a robot nor a machine but a human being like everyone else, no I am not making up a story, trust me, it’s true.
I am talking about non-other than Bishnu Shreshtha, an Ex Gorkha Regiment Jawan of the Indian army who was on his way back to Gorakhpur from his home town in Maurya express (Hatia-Gorakhpur) on September 2 2010, when 15-40 armed robbers attacked the train near Chittaranjan, West Bengal and started snatching valuables from the passengers and tried to rape an 18 year old girl.
The brave Jawan without caring about his life took out his khukhuri knife and charged over to the robbers. Being professionally trained in combat proved to be an advantage for him, he managed to fight for a full 10 minutes in which 3 bandits were dead and six of them were injured and the rest of them were badly injured, but during the fight he did end up injuring one of his arms which landed him into the hospital for a few months.
Post the incident when he was offered cash as a token of gratitude from the girl’s family, he completely rejected giving the following reason “It was my duty”. Now that’s what I call a true hero, and a great human being. Officers like Bishnu Shreshtha still keep the faint glimmer of hope lit in our hearts that humanity still exists amongst us.
It’s quite a shame in a country of millions only a handful of people even know about this incident, I will rest the fact of knowing the ex Jawan’s name. When we read the newspaper every day, we find many things common which are written in big columns, for example: office corruption, bribery, rape, political party issues, superstar interview or controversy, etc.. The things we don’t find are these acts of bravery, and if luckily mentioned then it would be found in small corners where we would have to look twice or search specifically as if tracking a location in a map. Neither had I seen any interviews of him, nor any other sort of recognition was given to him. Is this really justified?
And not just only this brave Jawan, there are many brave soldiers out there who fight for us each and every day, but don’t get that proper respect which they should, and to top it all officer Bishnu Shreshtha’s name was not even mentioned in the official Indian army website under the Sena medal bravery award, though many websites on the internet say he was awarded.
To be true, I am feeling ashamed that I got to know about this brave hero after such a long time. So via this article this is my small tribute to the brave hero who is a true example of an exceptional human being, brave officer and a true Indian. “SALUTE”.
