Army's paralympian, who lost a leg in mine blast, decorated with AVSM

Naib Subedar H. Hokato Sema, a paralympian who has made his mark in the international arena, was decorated with the Ati Vashisht Seva Medal (AVSM) on the eve of the Republic Day 2026 for his dedication, resilience and performance in sports.

The AVSM is the second highest military award for distinguished service and is rarely conferred to members from the rank and file. He is the only non-officer among this year’s 35 recipients of the AVSM.

Hailing from Nagaland, he was enrolled in the Ninth Battalion of the Assam Regiment in 2000. He was 19 years old and just about two years into military service when he lost his leg in a mine blast during anti-infiltration operations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002.

It was at the age of 32, that Sema took to sports he started shotput and trained under coach Rakesh Rawat. He first tried his hand in the discus (standing throw) but then switched to shot put. He trained at the Army Paralympic Node in Pune.

Sema won the bronze medal in the shot put F-56/57 category event at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China. He had also won the bronze medal in shot put F-57 category at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris with a personal best throw of 14.65 meters. He was conferred the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in sports and games for 2024.