BELAGAVI: We have worshiped gods in temples and in mosques our entire life, but during these deadly floods we saw our gods in army uniform, say the residents of Shirgur village in Raibag taluk in Belagavi district, who celebrated Eid with soldiers on Monday.
After celebrating Eid with the jawans from the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment Center(MLIRC) in a mosque on Monday, they fed them sevian (sweet) and biryani to thank them for the rescue.
The soldiers had rushed to the flood-hit regions to save the people stuck in floods after a call from the district administration. In all, the soliders said they had rescued over 4000 people in the past 10 days in several flood-hit villages in Chikkodi, Athani, Raibag and Gokak taluks.
Aiding them were the boats and the ropes they had at their disposal. But sometimes they couldn't even turn to these and had to swim in deep waters.
The soldiers took up rescue operations in Muslim-dominated Shirgur village for two days - August 10 and 11. People here had lost hope of survival until they saw the men in army uniform.
Working round the clock, the soldiers evacuated about 100 people stuck in the village
Speaking to Express, Miansab Mulla, a senior citizen of village said, 'We would not have celebrated Eid this year had soldiers not rescued us from the deadly floods. The soldiers are the reason for our celebration, hence we invited them.'
Major Rajpal Singh Rathore of MLIRC said, "My column of 40 soldiers was engaged in operations ceaselessly during the last nine days. When they invited us for the celebrations, we agreed. We prayed for the villagers well-being. With love, they fed us sweets and biryani. It gave us immense satisfaction and we enjoyed being with the kind-hearted people."