“A soldier gives and forgets, but a ‘ neta ’ gets and forgets and that is the attitude that hurts us the most,” says Tripta Thapar, mother of Captain Vijayant Thapar who died while leading an attack of 2 Rajputana Rifles at Tololing during the Kargil War on June 29, 1999. He was 22 and is a fourth generation officer in his family.
Sitting beside his photo in her Noida home, Ms. Thapar says: “The emptiness that he left behind can never be compensated but we are proud of his achievements. He was posthumously awarded India's high military honour, the Vir Chakra, which was received by his grandmother. It was a proud moment for the entire family.”
Captain Vijayant Thapar’s father Col. Virender Nath Thapar, who participated in the Vijay Diwas celebrations at the memorial in Kargil, talking to The Hindu on phone said: “Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on July 26 every year in honour of the Kargil War heroes. I have been coming to the memorial every year since September 1999 and the first time that I was there the soldiers showed me two large dark patches of soil at 16,000 ft. and told me that my injured son’s body was kept there for the last time. It was a heart-wrenching moment for me. I carried a fistful of soil from the spot and we have kept it in a jar at home in memory of our brave son.”
“Now my wife gets worried when I come here because of the steep climb. She hasn’t been able to come here even once because she feels that her students in school shouldn’t suffer because of her absence, but since she is retiring this year she plans to come with me next year till the base,” said Col. Thapar.
Stating that war is an evil which is here to stay, Col. Thapar notes: “Conflict is human nature and we have to be aware and alert of the position that India is in today.”
Captain Vijayant Thapar’s family was given a petrol pump in Sector 41, Noida, after his death. Dwelling on the Government’s support to the martyrs, Ms. Thapar says: “We have seen the compensation given to the wives of jawans been taken away by their family members. We do feel bad when civil society and people from the Government don’t even bother to make a phone to thank the parents of the son who died and gave up his future to give the country a safe present.”
