Army Chief General Dalbir Singh paid tribute to the colonel.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has stoked a controversy by paying tributes to 2 militants who were killed in an encounter in Tral area of Kashmir, in which an army commander and a policeman died.
'All commanding officers and their superiors are sure to have taken note of the betrayal that killed Colonel Rai. Corrective measures will be taken quickly. And the Indian Army will continue to do its duty without rancour and remorse.'
Colonel M N Rai's supreme sacrifice highlights that the Indian Army continues to be led from the front by its officers.
A veteran of anti-insurgency operations, Head Constable Sanjewan Singh was martyred with Colonel M N Rai in Kashmir. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and a three-year-old son.
The team of 21 Rashtriya Rifles had entered the house of a civilian to prevent a hostage situation when they came under attack from the terrorists who had already reached there. While the four army personnel and the police Sub Inspector lost their lives in the encounter, the civilians trapped in the house were safely evacuated.
'The vocal pacifists who monopolise the media in India need to answer a simple question: Would they have the Taliban or ISIS take over Kashmir or the rest of the country or let the army do its duty so that we are safe in our beds and free to demonise the soldiers in our cozy drawing rooms and television studios,' asks Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A commanding officer of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles, a cop and two militants were killed and a soldier was seriously wounded in a fierce encounter in south Kashmir's Tral area on Tuesday afternoon.
'Reduce the perks and privileges of MPs, but let there be no reduction in the money spent on the education of martyrs' children,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
'Whether Kashmir or anywhere else, whether in peace or in war, pay commissions or no pay commissions, hollowness and shortages notwithstanding, the Indian Army -- and Sekin Fif -- will always be there to keep India together.'
On Monday, Colonel Rai had won the Yudh Seva medal. A day later, he fell to bullets.
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