President Ramnath Kovind gets emotional while presenting Ashoka chakra to corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala’s family.
Ashoka Chakra
The Ashok Chakra is India’s highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield.It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel.Ashoka Chakra is equivalent to US army’s peacetime Medal of honor and The British George cross.
President’s Reaction
After presenting the award to corporal Nirala’s wife Sushmanand and his mother Malti Devi at the republic day parade at Rajpath, Mr. Kovind was seen wiping his face and eyes with his handkerchief.
Jyoti Prakash Nirala
Corporal Jyoti Prakash Yadav Nirala, AC (b. 1986 – d. Nov 18, 2017, age 31) was a member of the Garud Commando Force. He hailed from Bihar and joined the Indian Air Force in 2005. He was deputed to the Rashtriya Rifles and stationed in Jammu and Kashmir.
On November 18, 2017, he was taking part in an operating in Chanderger village in Bandipora district. His unit approached a house that had suspected terrorists hiding in it. Corporal Nirala, who was armed with a light machine gun, positioned himself close to the approach of the hideout, thus cutting off an escape route. The six terrorists rushed out in a bid to escape, firing and throwing grenades. Corporal Nirala killed two terrorists and injured two more in retaliatory fire. In the exchange, he was hit by a volley of small arms and kept firing despite his injuries until his death. All six terrorists were killed as well.
He is credited with eliminating the top local leadership of Lakshar-e-Taiba. During the operation against the terrorists, two of them were killed by the Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala. One of those terrorists was the nephew of LeT Chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who was the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai Attack.
On January 26, 2018, he was awarded the Ashok Chakra. He is the third airman to receive this award after Suhas Biswas and Rakesh Sharma and the first one who received it for ground combat.