Rukhsana Kausar is a Pahari Gujjar lady who hails from the region of Upper Kalsi and shot to fame following the boldness displayed by her as she shot down a LeT militant right inside her residence, Rajouri District in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2009. Aijaz, who is her younger brother also assisted her in chasing down the other militants and approaching the police after the incident. The National Bravery Award was given to Rukhsana Kausar for assassinating the Laskar-E-Taiba militant leader at her home, with the aide of an AK47 rifle and an axe.

She dropped from the 10th standard. About 2 months prior to the militant incident in July 2009, Kausar had been kidnapped and the military invasion was an extension of that abduction. Thereafter, her family had been shifted to a secured government housing which enabled them to avert later militant attacks. Rukhsana Kausar and her brother received numerous awards in recognition for their bravery. However they both refused to work with the regional police force though they have been requested many times. She was born in the year 1989 to Rashida Begum and Noor Hussain.

Location of Rukhsana Kausar`s Home
Rukhsana Kausar`s home is situated in Rajouri District close to Shahda Sharief and is about 32 kms away from the line of cease-fire between Indian and Pakistani armies. The residence is very near the hideout of the group of LeT militants, in dense jungles. These militants are said to have masterminded the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Militant Incident related to Rukhsana Kausar
Three militants reached Rukhsana Kausar`s uncle`s house who was named Waqalat Hussain, during 9.30 pm on Sunday night. They persuaded Waqalat Hussain to guide them towards the home of his elder brother, Noor Hussain. The militants broke inside the house through a window since Noor Hussain refused to open the door. Meanwhile, Rukhsana was hiding under a cot while the militants demanded Noor Hussain and his wife Rashida Begum to permit them to seize Rukhsana. They and Aijaz were hit with rifle butts when they protested when Rukhsana attacked the LeT commander on the head with an axe. Her uncle Waqalat Hussain was wounded in the arm when the militants started firing and immediately other family members of Rukhsana began resisting the militants. She recovered an AK47 from one militant and handed it over to her brother Aijaz while she herself picked up the AK47 belonging to the LeT commander and instantly shot the commander dead. Along with her brother, she opened fire against the other militants which compelled them to retreat.

Thereafter, her brother accompanied Rukhsana to the Shahdra Shareif police post, where the weapons were surrendered to the police forces by the family members of Kausar. Aijaz, her brother constantly fired in the air at frequent intervals to make sure they could get rid of further attacks by these militants, till they approached the police station. Later, the main culprit was identified as Abu Osama who was a commander of Laskar-E-Taiba. As per the complaints of Rukhsana`s mother, Rukhsana was previously threatened by him to be cautious.

Aftermath of Military Attack
A special police force has been established near the house of Noor Hussain for ensuring the protection of the family of Rukhsana Kausar, while Rukhsana and her brother Aijaz have been offered jobs for the post of Special Police Officers. Rather, Rukhsana was keener to safeguard her family and therefore shift them all to Delhi. However, to avenge the incident, some unidentified gunmen fired two hand grenades aiming at her house around 10.30 pm on 31st October, 2009. Luckily, the grenades exploded much further away from her house. However the militants again tried to kill them by firing at their house from the summit of a hill but no family members were present in the house which is the reason why no one was killed. This was due to the fact that they had already been transferred to a high-security police quarter on 7th October, 2009. The police forces recovered an IED or improvised explosive devise during 10th November which was planted near Rukhsana`s home and later the bomb disposal squad managed to dispose it successfully.

Rukhsana Kausar paid visit to the Nariman House on 26th November, 2009 and paid homage to the victims of the 26/ 11 terror attacks which occurred at the Jewish centre.

Awards received by Rukhsana Kausar