Nazir Ahmad Wani

Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, AC, SM Bar was an Indian Army soldier and a recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime military decoration. At the time of his death, he was serving with an auxiliary battalion of the army's Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment, the 162nd Infantry Battalion of the Territorial Army. He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra for his actions during a counterterrorism operation in which his unit was attached with the 34th Rashtriya Rifles battalion. He was the first recipient of the Ashok Chakra from Jammu and Kashmir.

Early life Nazir was a resident of Cheki Ashmuji village in the Kulgam district of the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India into a Kashmiri Muslim family of the Wani clan. In the early 1990s, when Wani was a young boy, he weaved Kashmiri carpets for a monthly salary of few hundred rupees. When the insurgency broke out in the 1990s, it impacted their work and finding work became a struggle.

Militancy According to a senior Army officer who spoke to The Times of India, "Wani was a terrorist initially and became a counter-insurgent after he realised the futility of violence". According to Wani's brother Mushtaq, Wani had joined Ikhwan "out of his free will, and that of God, nothing else". Three militia groups of that time had merged to form the Ikhwan to fight against the militancy. According to one of his relatives, Wani had killed around thirty militants including some major militants.

Operation Batagund

On 25 November 2018, a counter-terrorist operation known as Operation Batagund was launched by 34 Rashtriya Rifles at Hirpora village near Batagund, Shopian district.

Funeral On 26 November, Wani's body was taken to his family at Chak Ashmuji, wrapped in the Indian flag. During the funeral ceremony attended by 500–600 people, Wani was accorded a 21-gun salute while his body was lowered into his grave.

Ashoka Chakra On 26 January 2019 on Republic Day, President Ram Nath Kovind posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra to Nazir Ahmad Wani. The award was accepted by his wife Mahajabeen at an official ceremony during the Delhi Republic Day parade. He was the first recipient of the Ashok Chakra award from the Kashmir region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Personal life Nazir is survived by his wife Mahajabeen who worked as a teacher and two sons, Athar and Shaid. The Hindu reported that "Wani comes from a humble background and had worked for the benefit of the underprivileged section in his village and surrounding area."