Mohammed Arif Shafi Alam Khan Pathan

Biography

Rifleman Mohammed Arif Shafi Alam Khan Pathan was born on 10 March 1996 in Navayard village of Vadodara district, Gujarat. He joined the Army in 2015 at the age of 19 and was inducted into the 18 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles of the Jammu & Kashmir Rifles Regiment, an infantry regiment renowned for the valour of its soldiers. In 2019, his unit was deployed in the Rajouri district of Jammu & Kashmir, with troops manning forward posts along the Line of Control. The LoC remained highly active and volatile, with frequent ceasefire violations despite repeated appeals for restraint. In the early hours of 22 July 2019, Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked cross-border firing, targeting Indian Army posts and civilian areas in Rajouri with heavy shelling. The Indian Army responded strongly, and intense exchanges continued intermittently for several hours. Rifleman Pathan, deployed at one of the forward posts along the Line of Control, was gravely wounded during this cross-border shelling. He was evacuated to the Army Base Hospital, but later succumbed to his injuries. A brave and committed soldier, he laid down his life in the line of duty at the age of 23.