NEW DELHI, March 19 -- In one of the rare occasions, President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday awarded Shaurya Chakra to 16-year-old Irfan Ramzan Sheikh for fighting militants who attacked his residence in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Shaurya Chakra is usually awarded to armed forces and para-military personnel for "gallantry otherwise in the face of the enemy".
During the intervening night of October 16-17 of 2017, militants cordoned off the house of Sheikh. His father Mohammad Ramzan was an ex-sarpanch with affiliations to the People's Democratic Party (PDP).
When Sheikh, the eldest son of Mohammad Ramzan, opened the door, he found three militants in the verandah of the house armed with rifles and grenades.
"Sensing that the mili...