April 13, 2006

Javed : Meerut Hero Expires

Javed, the 18-year-old high school student who saved 15 children from the Meerut Brand India fair fire, succumbed to his burns today in Delhi. He was a student of Class 12 at Sarvodaya School in east Delhi and had gone to Meerut, his home, after appearing in the board examination. The fire in Meerut, 80km from Delhi, has claimed about 60 lives so far.

As the fire broke out, he rescued six children trapped in the hall and got severely burnt in the process. Mizaz, his father, said when the fire broke out, Javed managed to come out safe from a burning tented enclosure but went back to help those trapped inside. Anida, his mother, added, 'Javed saw six kids were stuck in one corner of a tent and so he went back inside the burning enclosure to save them. He tore a part of the synthetic cloth that was used to make the outer cover of the tent to make way for the children.

Meerut administration has recommended a posthumous bravery award for him. Puja Srivastava who also saved many people without fearing for her own life will also be honoured at the district level. She is currently undergoing treatment at a local nursing home in Meerut.

Javed parents are upset at the government for failing to come to Javed's rescue. They say he was left unattended from Wednesday night when they brought him to the hospital. He also said that though Javed had died at 6 a.m., doctors did not disclose the news till 10 a.m.

Is this how we treat our heroes?

(link : IBN Live)

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