Don Bosco Palin

Itanagar, July 12: A braveheart’s sacrifice has been given the recognition it deserves, albeit posthumously.

Five months after a boy sacrificed his life to save the lives of several of his classmates when a fire raged through their hostel, he has found mention in the recommendation list for a gallantry award.

The boy, whom Congress legislator Lokam Tasar referred to as Takam, had played “saviour” to at least half-a-dozen students, on the evening of February 10, when fire engulfed the private hostel housing them near Don Bosco School at Palin in Arunachal Pradesh.

Even as nine of his companions were charred before they could run to safety, the alert boy raised alarm and began rousing others who were fast asleep and hardly had any idea that a fire had broken out in their hostel.

He did not panic and scampered through the rubble of the almost gutted hostel room, braving the blaze and blinding smoke, saving at least six of his friends.

“The little boy, who sacrificed his life while saving the lives of his friends who were asleep, and lost way into the fire, deserves a gallantry award. The high-level committee, led by education minister Bosiram Siram recommended the boy for a gallantry award in its recently submitted report,” assistant deputy commissioner of Kurung Kumey district, Chukhu Takar, said today.

Takam was among the 10 students who were killed.

The authorities, who are finding it tough to trace the family of the boy, for his identification, sought the help of local people.

The dead students were among the youngest in the hostel, ranging from KG to Classes I and II.

The exemplary courage and supreme sacrifice of Takam has also prompted the local people to make arrangement for erecting a temporary memorial for him.

“He is like Lord Jesus to us. We salute his extraordinary courage. Like many others he saved the life of my son, Yura, 5, who was sleeping at the time of the accident and would have met the fate of others. We have no words to thank him. The boy is dead but he will remain in our hearts always. We will erect a memorial for him,” Marcus, the father of a rescued child, said.

The hostel was, in fact, just a large dormitory with the only door close to the kitchen. The fire broke out in the kitchen and blocked the only exit point. The students who died had no chance of escaping, sources said.

Most of the students escaped through the window and by breaking open the weaker portions of the bamboo walls. The report submitted by two high-powered committees, one headed by education minister Siram and the other by Kurung Kumey deputy commissioner Bidol Tayeng, however, failed to specify the cause of the fire though it did not rule out the possibility of “sabotage”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to families of the students who were killed and Rs 1 lakh each to those seriously injured in the accident.

Singh made the announcement on February 13 after a four-member delegation led by MP Takam Sanjoy met the Prime Minister in New Delhi.