Netizens took to social media and hailed the move of the Indian Army

Maintaining that every soldier deserves respect and honor in death, irrespective of the country he belongs to, the Indian Army on Thursday said it had restored the damaged grave of a “fallen” Pakistani soldier who was killed in action in 1972.

“In keeping with the traditions & ethos of the #IndianArmy, #ChinarCorps resuscitated a damaged grave of Major Mohd Shabir Khan, Sitara-e-Jurrat, Pakistan Army, who was Killed in Action (KIA) at a forward location along LC in Naugam Sector on 05 May 1972,” the official handle of Chinar Corps, Indian Army tweeted.

The epitaph read: ''In memory of Major Mohd Shabir Khan, Sitar-e-Jurrat Shahid 05 May 1972, 1630 H, killed in counter attack by 9 Sikh''.

“A fallen soldier, irrespective to the country he belongs to, deserves respect & honour in death. #IndianArmy stands with this belief. White heavy check mark This is #IndianArmy for the world,” the Chinar Corps said in another tweet.

Former Indian Army Chief Gen (retd) VP Malik also took to Twitter to say,” We kept alive these ethics and values during Kargil war. Returned their soldiers' bodies whenever accepted by Pakistan. Buried remaining with proper honour”.

He was the Army Chief during the 1999 Kargil war when the Pakistani Army refused to accept the bodies of many of their soldiers who died when the Indian forces took back commanding heights overlooking the strategic Srinagar-Leh highway.

While India approached the Pakistani Army to take back the bodies of their fallen soldiers so that they could be accorded due respect and honour, the enemy’s treatment of captured Indian soldiers was brutal. In several instances, Pakistani soldiers left behind mutilated bodies bearing signs of torture.

General (retd) Malik was replying to an Indian Army veteran who recalled a visit by the parents of the Pakistani officer to the place where he had fallen.


Hailing the Indian army’s move, netizens took to social media. “Bravo great Indian soldiers and Indian culture you are born,” a Twitter user said.

“First we are humans, second we are Indians. It is good to see we as humans first and honoured the enemy soldier shows our humanity. Which always guard our country,” another Twitter user said.

The gesture from the Indian Army came despite New Delhi's strained ties with Islamabad over the latter’s support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.