As dawn was breaking in parts of North India on Monday, Punjab Roadways contractual driver Nanak Chand Sharma was on the road. He had started at 3:45 a.m. with a bus load of 76 passengers from Janail and was en route to the city of Chandigarh. At around 5:00 a.m., the bus was near Dinanagar police station.
Driving with concentration, Chand was taken aback when a man in Army fatigues, face covered with a cloth, suddenly stepped in front of the bus signaling him to halt. It was due to pure instinct that Sharma did not heed him, averting a probable bloodbath.
As Sharma pressed down the accelerator, swerving the bus away from the nearby bus station, the uniformed man, believed to be one of the terrorists who struck at Dinanagar police station, fired a volley of shots at the bus, injuring two passengers, creating terror among the passengers.
"I only stopped the bus at Gurdaspur Civil Hospital where medical treatment was given to the injured. Had I stopped the bus, all of us would have been probably gunned down by the terrorists. They were carrying automatic weapons. The other terrorists could have been hiding and may have come out to fire, but I didn't look back. It all happened in a flash. When death is staring you in the face, survival instinct takes over. Thankfully everyone on the bus is safe. I also got calls from my teenaged son and daughter who were worried about my safety. It is part of my duty to keep the passengers safe. I have been driving the bus for the past five years on this route," said Sharma to The Times of India. Sharma is a resident of the small village in Pathankot bordering Jammu and Kashmir.
"The driver's alertness saved several lives. Otherwise, the passengers could have been an easy target for the terrorists," said a Punjab Roadways general manager, applauding Sharma's action, according to India Today.
Amreek Singh, general manager of Punjab Roadways in Gurdaspur, said that he would recommend Nanak Chand for permanent post in Punjab Roadways, reports Speed Records World. Meanwhile, a spokesperson of deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal announced that the bus driver will be honored by the state government for saving passengers from the terrorist attack.
As the people of the region relive the tragedy, the bloodbath, the fear of terrorism, one story will be repeated often, the story of bus driver Nanak Chand Sharma, a brave heart who with heroic courage, saved many lives one summer morning.
You can read more on the Dinanagar terror attack at HNGN here.
