Newindpress

Bangalore, Aug 1: In two years Col Vasanth V, Commanding Officer of 9th Battalion of Maratha Light Infantry based in Uri sector near the LoC, could have been eligible for voluntary retirement from the Indian Army, with plans to develop a family estate in Madikeri into a tourist resort.

But the thoughts of a post-retirement career in the peaceful environs of Kodagu with his family did not stop the brave Colonel from laying down his life on Tuesday morning while trying to help his men who came under attack from armed insurgents.

Col Vasanth happens to be the senior most ranked officer from Bangalore to become a martyr.

According to initial reports, Col Vasanth’s unit had carried on a long-drawn battle with the insurgents on late Monday evening, which continued into the wee hours of Tuesday.

The insurgents reportedly counterattacked when Col Vasanth and his men returned to base.

On hearing gun shots outside, Col Vasanth noticed that his jawans had come under attack, and rushed to their help when he was hit.

A BSc in Economics-Maths-Statistics from MES College in Malleswaram, Col Vasanth graduated in 1987 even as he completed his ’C’ Certificate in National Cadet Corps (NCC), and was selected to join the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehra Dun.

He was commissioned in 1989. His aunt Gayathri said: “Even as a child Vasanth nurtured very strong patriotic feelings and dreamt of joining the Army. When the medical exams during the selection failed him pending correction for a defect in his nose, he got it surgically corrected and was then cleared for the IMA. Such was his determination to join the Army.”

Friends and relatives remember Vasanth as an affable, upright person who never compromised on ethics.

In fact, even as the Commanding Officer of a unit facing challenges from an unseen, faceless, cowardly enemy which has claimed the lives of hundreds of brave officers and jawans of the Indian Army, Col Vasanth recently commended the actions of a junior commissioned officer and a non-commissioned officer under him who apprehended an unarmed Hijbul Mujahideen militant without opening fire.

In his Battalion Order of the Day dated July 2, 2007, Col Vasanth commends them for “not only displaying uncommon alertness in discovering the individual (the militant) hiding in the foliage but also holding your fire on observing that he was unarmed. You...have proved yourselves to be “Gentlemen Warriors.”

Col Vasant V is survived by his wife Subhashini, a Bharatanatyam dancer, and his two daughters, Rukmini (10) studying in Class VII and Yeshoda, 8, studying in Class III at Air Force School, Yelahanka.

Col Vasanth’s brother-in-law, Vasan, says he was a doting father, and a jovial person, full of life who loved being with his daughters.

But from the portals of the IMA, a message is ingrained into the minds of the to-be officers -to put your country before everything else, the well-being of the men under you, next, and your own well-being, the last.