To join Army & kill militants was officer’s childhood dream

When children of his age were engrossed in games and toys, Captain Tushar Mahajan was already dreaming about dedicating his life to the nation by joining the army and killing terrorists. As his mortal remains wrapped in tricolor reached his hometown on Monday, his friends recalled an essay that the braveheart had written in school expressing his desire to join the army.

“He was such a boy that when he was asked to write an essay in the class he wrote that his aim was to join the Army and kill terrorists. That was the time when his other classmates did not even know what terrorists or the army was,” his classmate and childhood friend Sushant said.

Mahajan was one of the two army captains who were killed while fighting terrorists in the EDI building in the Pampore area of the Pulwama district in Kashmir.

As the officer’s body reached the headquarters of army’s Northern Command at Udhampur, his mother broke down and almost fainted while hugging the coffin.

Recalling Mahajan’s passion for the army, his inconsolable father, Dev Raj said, “He always wanted to join the army and at the age of 16 he got selected for NDA. We never objected to it as it was his childhood dream to serve the nation.” 

Describing Mahajan as a naughty child who was loved by all, the retired principal said even though he has lost his son, Mahajan has made the entire nation, especially his hometown proud.