Nimrat Kaur Dad Was Killed by Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen Terrorists

Nimrat Kaur has opened up about her deep bond with her father. Major Bhupender Singh, an Indian Army officer, was stationed in the conflict-ridden Kashmir region during the 1990s.

In 2015, Nimrat candidly shared details of his tragic death for the first time, revealing how his abduction and murder by terrorists profoundly impacted the course of her life.

In a 2015 interview with Bombay Times, Nimrat Kaur recalled a harrowing moment from her childhood during a winter vacation in January 1994. She and her family had travelled to Kashmir to visit her father, who was posted there, while they continued to live in Patiala since Kashmir was not a designated family station. “During our visit, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen abducted him from his workplace. After seven days, they executed him,” she shared. The militants had made unreasonable demands for the release of certain terrorists—demands her father refused to comply with. “He was only 44 when he died. We received the news and flew back with his body to Delhi, and that’s where I saw him for the first time after his death,” she said.

Nimrat described that period as the most challenging chapter of her life. “Everything changed,” she reflected. “It wasn’t about financial insecurity. But overnight, the life I had known—surrounded by orderlies, army vehicles, and the structure of fauji living—disappeared.” Transitioning to civilian life was particularly difficult. “In the army, you live in a protected bubble. That’s one reason my father never enrolled me in an army school,” she noted. “You’re used to being around sevadars and attending regular army gatherings, and suddenly, all of that vanishes. Adjusting to a new environment without fellow fauji kids as friends was incredibly hard.” Going through puberty at the time only heightened her emotional struggles. Still, she expressed deep gratitude for the support system the armed forces provided. “The army stands by you like family. Even today, they’d show up in an instant if I needed anything. That kind of loyalty, I believe, also stemmed from the goodwill my father built during his service.”

In the same interview, Nimrat shared that her father was posthumously honored with the Shaurya Chakra, a prestigious gallantry award bestowed by the Indian Army. In a poignant twist of fate, the announcement was made on her birthday—March 13.

Nimrat Kaur started her journey in the entertainment industry as a model, later rising to prominence through music videos in the early 2000s. She made her film debut with The Peddlers in 2006, but it was Ritesh Batra’s critically acclaimed The Lunchbox in 2013—alongside Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui—that brought her widespread recognition. Since then, she has starred in successful films like Airlift and Sky Force and has also made her mark internationally with appearances in American television series such as Homeland and Wayward Pines.