Bravery knows no age limit. The National Bravery Award, which will be presented on Republic Day, was awarded to three children from Punjab who demonstrated this.
In Sangrur district, 16-year-old Amandeep Kaur rescued four children from a burning school van by showing exemplary courage. During a landslide in Kashmir, 11-year-old Azaan from Amritsar saved several lives during a mobile snatching incident and 15-year-old Kusum fended off snatchers in Jalandhar.
According to Amandeep, she was seated in a school van with other students on February 15, 2020, when the van caught fire on its way to the institution in Longowal village. In no time, she smashed the window and jumped out. She pulled four kids out of the burning vehicle without considering her own safety.
Kusum’s act of courage also made headlines the following year. On her way home in Jalandhar, she bravely fought off two mobile snatchers. During the attack, one of the snatchers even used a sharp-edged weapon to injure her. As some people came to her rescue, the brave teen kept fighting and managed to get hold of the snatchers. A knife was used by one of the snatchers to attack me. It took me a while to catch them, but I didn’t give up. Kusum said, “I didn’t fear them.”.
When Azaan alerted people at a campsite about a landslide in Kashmir during his visit to Amarnath shrine last year, he saved several lives.
Immediately, the camp’s residents were relocated. The water gushed towards the site of a camp as I served langar. In an effort to save many lives, I rushed and informed police personnel,” the braveheart said.
For meritorious acts of courage against all odds, children under 18 years of age are presented with the national bravery awards.
