New Delhi: In a first, the Pakistan Army has promoted a Hindu officer, Kelash Kumar, to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, according to ARY News.
Kumar, who is from the Sindh province's Tharparkar area, is the country's first officer from the minority community to hold the position.
In 2019, he became the first Hindu Major in the Pakistan Army and was posted in the Ministry of Defence.
Taking to Twitter, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry congratulated Kelash Kumar on the promotion.
During the promotion boards, Kumar's rank was raised from major to lieutenant colonel. He graduated from the Pakistan Military Academy and was assigned to the army's medical corps.
Kumar completed his MBBS at LUHMS Jamshoro in Hyderabad and was then commissioned in the Pakistan army, according to a report in Daily Pakistan. Prior to his promotion to Major, he was a Captain in the medical corps.
He is also the first Hindu officer to be selected for the emergency medicine residency programme at the University Hospital of Birmingham.
He has also helped civilians (through free medical camps) in remote areas of Pakistan such as Tharparkar, Gilgit-Baltistan and the Hunza Valley.
He was awarded the Tamaga-e-Dafa (A Siachen Medal) for spending 36 days at the world's highest post saddle in the Baltoro sector near K2, at an elevation of roughly 22,000 feet. He also received Tamga-e-Baqa and Tamga-e-Azam for his efforts in combating terrorism.