1,500 rakhis by Punjab school kids reach LoC

Srinagar: A Mohali woman brought over 1,500 rakhis made by school children for army jawans deployed in Kashmir.

Rinkle Kapoor, 40, from Zirakpur Punjab reached the Line of Control in Kupwara to celebrate Raksha Bandhan with the troops.

A Srinagar-based defence spokesman said each Rakhi was enclosed in a greeting card containing messages for soldiers.

A video from the students was also screened for the troops that had kids wishing the soldiers Happy Rakshabandhan which will be celebrated on August 11.

“I am pleased that I connected the school children from Chandigarh Tricity for this special gift for the Army men at our border post,” Rinkle told UNI.

She said it was her idea to be with soldiers on Raksha Bandhan.

“I thought that I should connect with more people for this cause and decided that the best thing was to find students," she said.

She contacted five schools in Chandigarh and Mohali and got the children to prepare 1,500 rakis and cards to be presented to soldiers, she added.

The former bank employee recalls that her love for the forces manifested especially after a 2020 gun battle in Handwara in north Kashmir left five soldiers including a decorated Commanding Officer Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, dead.

Two militants, including a Pakistani national, were also killed in the gun battle. She and her husband traveled this year to Handwara and attended a remembrance function at Col Ashutosh's unit in Handwara.

“We arrived in Srinagar on August 6 and have so far visited various units in Srinagar and Machil. We are planning to travel to Gurez in the coming days,” she said, adding that she is not part of any NGO. (UNI)