"If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gorkha" - These were the words said by Field Marshal Manekshaw. The Gorkha regiment is India's most decorated regiment with 3 Param Veer Chakras(highest military award in India), 33 Maha Veer Chakras and 84 Veer Chakras .
They have played an important role in all the wars and have won Battle Honours in Uri sector in 1947-48, Ladakh in 1962, Jammu and Kashmir in 1965 and 1971. They were also a part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka. They always carry Khukri , a curved knife as a personal weapon.
An event which occurred in 2010 will tell about the braveness of the Gorkha soldiers. It will seem to you like a story of some movie but its 100% true.
On September 2, 2010, Bishnu Shrestha was aboard the Maurya Express, sitting at his window seat when the train made its way through the rather dense jungles of West Bengal. The 35-year-old ex-Gorkha soldier was on his way home, having just retired from his position as a Naik in the Gorkha infantry. The night was still and quiet.
Around midnight, the train came to an unexpected halt. Suddenly, armed men, seemingly from every direction boarded the train; some of them were also travelling as passengers, began charging at the innocent looting them with weapons—such as knives, clubs and even swords. 40 thugs in total made their way into the aisles stealing everything from wallets, to jewellery, laptops to watches by waving knives in the faces of terror-stricken hostages.
The thugs asked Bishnu to give away all his cash and valuables. He was clear from the start, to be quiet, hand over his valuables to the thugs and survive! Money is never worth dying for a soldier anyway. This was until the robbers turned their attention towards an 18-year-old girl and attempted to gang-rape her in front of her parents. This was it for Bishnu.
He leapt to his feet, drew his Khukri, flung into action and took on the robbers like a gallant Gurkha soldier! He took control of the woman's attacker, tackled him and used him as a human shield. He then killed three other thieves and gravely injured eight. The rest of the robbers, coward as they were, fled the scene after seeing Bishnu's bravery!
The scuffle gave him a serious blade injury to his left hand, but that did not deter the brave soldier. After 20 minutes, police arrived and rushed Bishnu to hospital where he took 2 months to recover. Fortunately all the robbers were arrested and 400,000 Rupees worth cash ,laptops, jewelry were recovered.
Bishnu was awarded two medals for his bravery, 50,000 Rupees in cash and the bounty over the head of robbers. He was also awarded with a silver plated khukri.
This was a single Gorkha. This regiment is considered the most feared in the world and have even won the respect of their enemies.
Resteem ,comment and let others know about the Brave Gorkhas! Jai Hind