“Whenever we hear the words special forces or commandos, we immediately think of the American Delta Force, Israeli Special Forces, Russian Spetsnaz and other units that are capable of carrying out near to impossible missions. Sadly, we never recall Indian Special Forces like Para (Special Forces), National Security Guard (or Black Cats), MARCOS, COBRA and more…”
Says AAN Comics founder Rishi Kumar, whose endeavour has always been to highlight the war heroes of India through his comics.
Then what is different about the series he is working on now? Most of his comics are on war heroes who defend our nation, but the stories of surgical strikes are not very much heard of. Surgical strikes are fights intentionally taken to the enemy turf to hit them when they least expect.
Kumar’s new series under AAN Comics will feature stories of daring military operations carried out by our armed forces deep inside enemy territory. The stories will comprise of commando raids and great escapes, based on real life situations.
“The few such stories that I came across were extremely interesting and felt worth telling. I want the audience to be aware of what our military is capable of, and these will definitely make any reader proud of our armed forces,” says Rishi Kumar on attempting something different this time.
The first comic in the series will be based on Maj Hari Chand, who led a commando raid deep inside enemy territory during the 1947-48 war, with every soldier making it back without a scratch. The other story is on Flying Officer Dara P Chinoy, who had to make an escape after his fighter jet was shot down inside enemy territory.
Details of surgical strikes are not openly publicised. De-classified information is made available to the public but the government usually takes 40 to 50 years to de-classify military operations, whether secret are not. So how did Kumar manage to dig for the precise information? “Research can take about a month, and is time consuming. One cannot entirely rely on internet. Books written by our military veterans are consulted and you have to personally visit and talk to them in certain cases,” explains Kumar.
For Maj Hari Chand, Maj Gen Ian Cardozo proved helpful while in the case of flying officer Dara P Chinoy, his nephew Darius Chinoy provided the story. Since these operations were carried out six decades ago, not much is available on the internet about them.
Kumar, through his comics, will try best to narrate the stories of these officers in a meticulous way, at the same time also keeping in mind the sensitive information. The stories of Maj Hari Chand and Dara P Chinoy will take 48 pages and 40 pages respectively, and both will be published in the coming months.
“Such stories will take readers into the heart of secret operations and keep them totally engrossed till the end,” shares he.
Apart from his own series, Kumar is also working with Roli Books on their Param Vir Chakra comics which is authored by Maj Gen Ian Cardozo. Darius Chinoy has already written for two of his previously published stories on Maj Asaram Tyagi and Maj Mohit Sharma.
Well, what can be a better tribute for these war heroes!
