Football Tournament in Honor Of Martyred Captain Kenguruse

Love for football in North East India is at a different level altogether. It is for this love that the Assam Rifles decided to organize an annual football tournament in honor of the Martyred Captain Kenguruse who made the supreme sacrifice to the Nation in Operation Vijay- Kargil. Serving the Nation in itself is Heroic but what these guys have done is a different level of Heroism. The Captain was leading a platoon and his mission was to neutralize well entrenched enemy on a cliff and capture the Area "Black Rock." It was one of the toughest missions. The Platoon came under intense enemy fire and Captain Kenguruse was hit and was bleeding profusely. The easiest thing would have been to retreat and get medical help but being the hero he was, Captain Kenguruse continued to climb the cliff to finish his mission.

To ensure that his platoon was able to climb and reach the top of the cliff he secured a rope for his men but his feet started slipping. In freezing temperature of -10 degrees, he kicked off his boots, secured the rope and launched himself in the line of fire, armed with a RPG. He fired it at enemy bunker and took out the gunner.

He engaged in hand to hand combat with the enemy and killed two enemies with his rifle and two enemies with his commando knife and finally a hail of bullets took him down. By then, he had done enough damage to the enemy troops. In the end, he successfully neutralized the enemy single handedly- 'Mission Accomplished' and his platoon managed to capture the Lone Hill. The son of the soil who was about to get married, scarified his life and future for us. He was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.

It is high time we idolize and respect men and women serving the Nation selflessly rather than going crazy about silver screen heroes.

This tournament encourages the love for football and helps provide a platform for sportsman interested in pursuing a professional career. The total cash prize was for Rs 5 lakhs with 1.5 lakhs for the winners, 70 thousand for the runners up and 40 thousand each for the teams who qualified for the semi finals. The remaining 2 lakhs was set aside for individual performers.

We were lucky to witness the semi finals and the finals of this tournament. The second semi final was played between teams 'Head hunters' vs 'Naga FC.' Naga FC won quite comfortably and went on to face the other finalist 'Naga Police.' The semi finals was a cakewalk but the finals which was held on November 30th was a very interesting game with both the teams putting in their best and eyeing the champions title. The who is who of the Assam rifles had come to attend the tournament and the Chief Guest was the CM of Nagaland.

During half time, the army band put up a beautiful and chilling performance. The crowd went berserk and applause and whistles of encouragement was all the we could hear in the ground. The ground was packed to it's full capacity and the best part was there were no tickets required to watch the game. Locals had gathered in full swing to cheer for their favorite team and in the end it was the Naga FC team who were the winners.

It was awesome to see the state take so much effort to promote football. This initiative is a brilliant effort as it brings together the Army and the locals and we hope that it helps in bridging the gap between them for a better future and better India.

Maha Vir Chakra Citation.