NEW DELHI: At a time when his state Haryana and his hometown Jind were ablaze with rioting and caste wars over quota, Captain Pawan Kumar, a Jat and a JNU degree holder, laid down his life while leading his team against terrorists in Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir.

For Pawan Kumar (23), all that mattered was love for the country and not calls of “azadi” on the campus or reservation demand by his community members in Haryana. In his last Facebook post, Pawan said, “Kisiko reservation chahiye to kisiki ko azadi, Bhai. Humein kutch nahin chahiye bhai, Bas apni razai. (Some want the reservation and some want independence. I do not want brother, I want only my quilt).”

The young para commando had been in the Army for only three years after graduating from the National Defence Academy. Under a tie-up NDA has with JNU, he had a degree from the prestigious university in Delhi.

He was considered an intrepid officer who never shied away from life-endangering risky missions. Commissioned into the Dogra Regiment in December 2013, he had enthusiastically volunteered to join the elite, much-decorated 10 Para-Special Forces in June 2015.

Pawan was leading his men from the front in a complicated operation in a 7-storey building in Pampore where at least three terrorists had holed up. “Pawan was a very brave officer, a true commando. Despite barely three years in service, he had maturity beyond his years. He was killed leading his men. The operation was tricky as the possibility of some civilians being trapped in the building was not ruled out,” said a senior Army officer.

The Army appealed to the people of Haryana to “extend their full support in giving a befitting farewell to this brave son of the soil”, which is slated at Jind on Monday. As the Jat community continues to stir up a storm demanding reservation, here is a son from their land who proved one doesn’t need a reservation to serve the country.