Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Rajiv Kumar Joon, AC, SC was a highly decorated Officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. He was posthumously awarded the

Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

, India's highest peace-time military decoration. He was previously decorated with the

Shaurya Chakra The Shaurya Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, sometimes posthumously ...

, the third-highest peacetime military decoration.

Early life and education

Rajiv was born on 5 December 1969 in Gaddi Kheri Village in Rohtak district in

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

to Dharam Singh Joon and Shanti Devi, the eldest among their six children - 2 boys and 4 girls. In 1980, with the death of Dharam Singh Joon, 11 year-old Rajiv shouldered responsibility of the family. He attended the Sir Chhotu Ram memorial public school in

Rohtak Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on NH 9(old NH 10). Rohtak forms a part of the National ...

and later completed his schooling from Sainik School, Kunjpura. In 1987, he joined the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

Army career

Rajiv graduated from the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

in 1991 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 22nd battalion

The Grenadiers The Grenadiers is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, formerly part of the Bombay Army and later the pre-independence British Indian Army, when the regiment was known as the 4th Bombay Grenadiers. It has distinguished itself during the tw ...

(22 Grenadiers) on 8 June 1991. In September 1992, 22 Grenadiers was inducted into Jammu and Kashmir for Counter insurgency operations. Joon was promoted lieutenant on 8 June 1993. On 16 April 1994, as a young

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, Rajiv led a Ghatak Force and eliminated 3 terrorists in an encounter. He was awarded the

for this operation.

Ashoka Chakra

Citation ''On 16 September 1994, a search party under Major Rajiv Kumar Joon carried out cordon and search operation in village Arijan Dessar in district Anantnag of Jammu and Kashmir.'' ''At 1300 hours Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, discovered two militants hiding inside a house in a wall between the door and the ceiling of the room. The hiding militants were persuaded to come out but they sprang out of the hideout firing indiscriminately all over the room and at the search party located at the doorway, injuring a member of the search party.'' ''Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, realising the gravity of the situation, immediately ordered his search party to cover and engage the militants. The trapped militants jumped into the basement of the house and brought heavy volume of fire on the search party from an opening. Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, sensing that his comrades could not engage the well-entrenched militants effectively from their location, crawled up to the loophole on the outer side of the basement at great risk to his personal safety, lobbed two hand grenades into the loophole, and fired into it killing one hard core Pakistan trained militant. The other militant continued firing from the corner of the basement with renewed vigour.'' ''At this moment, Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, risking his life for the safety of his comrades, daringly approached the loophole to effectively engage and neutralize the concealed militant. In this closest of the close encounters, the Major and the militant came face to face with each other. The latter having the advantage of darkness, fired at Major Rajiv Kumar Joon injuring him grievously on the throat damaging his chest.'' ''Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, grievously wounded and profusely bleeding, refused to move back and in a final bid sprayed bullets all over the basement killing the militant. In this valiant act of extreme courage and sacrifice, Major Rajiv Kumar Joon single handedly killed both the armed militants saving the lives of his comrades. The two killed militants were later identified as Bashir Ahmed Padar alias Nur-Ur-Haq, self styled company commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and the assassin Ex cabinet Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Mushtang Ahmed Khande 'Madassar'. Two AK 56 rifles with 3 magazines AK 56 and 22 rounds of ammunition were also recovered in this operation.'' ''Major Rajiv Kumar Joon, thus displayed conspicuous courage and gallantry of the highest order, undoubtedly beyond the call of duty and laid down his life fighting the militants.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joon, Rajiv Kumar Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration) National Defence Academy (India) alumni 1994 deaths Indian Army officers Indian Military Academy alumni Ashoka Chakra