Honour and pride…forever (1967-2007)
Colonel Venugopal Vasanth was born on 25 March 1967 in Bangalore. His father, N K Venugopal, worked with LIC and was required to travel all over Karnataka along with the family. Vasanth studied in Udipi, Shimoga and Bangalore. He joined the MES College at Bangalore and was a member of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). He took part in the Indo-Canada Youth Exchange Programme in 1986-87 and graduated in 1988. He was a brilliant student and had been selected for MBA in the prestigious IIM but preferred to join the IMA (Indian Military Academy). Army was his passion since childhood.
He was commissioned into 9 Maratha Light Infantry (9 Maratha LI) on 10 June 1989. He served in Sikkim, Bangalore and Kashmir and got married to Subhashini, an exponent of Bharat Natyam. He had his share of non-family stations. Like all army brides, she did not like separation from her husband even for a day. Vasanth explained to her that it was a necessary condition of army service.
He took over the command of 9 Maratha LI on 28 October 2006. The unit was located in Uri in Kashmir. He familiarised himself with the area of responsibility, particularly the part of Line of Control (LOC), prone to infiltration. On 29 July 2007, reports were received of some activity near the LOC. He had reconnoitered that area a month earlier and set about there with a small party. He reached the spot after a night’s march over broken ground and narrow ridges. He was told that the reported activity was at Ghodetal and accordingly proceeded to that site. During the journey, he told his parents and Subhashini that he would not be able to contact them for a few days as an operation was in progress. The conversation was interrupted and it was the last talk he had with the family. He arrived at the site after a couple of hours. The party that had first sighted the infiltrators had surrounded them and asked them to surrender. They opened fire and retreated into a cave. Vasanth’s party joined them to effectively complete the cordon.
Firing continued from both sides till nightfall. Vasanth decided to wait till morning. The vigil continued throughout the night. At daybreak, Vasanth decided to outflank the militants and a fierce encounter followed. A soldier and Vasanth’s radio operator were hit. Vasanth rushed to save the radio operator from falling and exposed himself. He too was hit by fire but shot down two terrorists. He was bleeding profusely but managed to shoot down one more militant before slipping twenty metres down the ridge. He called upon his men to continue the fight.
Two men went down to evacuate the colonel. He died on his way to the hospital. Under his brave leadership all the eight terrorists had been killed. Vasanth, radio operator Shashikanth and L/Hav Ramanna made the supreme sacrifice. Vasanth was awarded Ashok Chakra (AC). He was the first person from Karnataka to get this honour.
His body was flown to Bangalore by a special aircraft. He is survived by wife Subhashini and two daughters, Rukmini and Yashoda. Subhashini was in a shock. The parents in their 70s had lost the younger son to pneumonia two years earlier. The mortal remains were cremated with full military honours. The former Chief Minister, Veerappa Moily and senior military and civil officers were present.
After the initial shock, memories remained. In keeping with the suggestion of her husband, Subhashini started an NGO, the Silent Front, dedicated to the welfare of the widows of martyrs. He had also advised her to move on if anything happened to him. Dance has helped her to channel her energy. She has brought out a biography of her husband based on four hundred letters from Vasanth. The daughter remarked, “Mummy, daddy was forty when he was martyred. So he will always remain forty.” The biography has been named “Forever Forty” and was released by General J J Singh, former Army Chief.
Col Venugopal Vasanth was an idealist and proud to be an officer of the Indian Army. His life time commitment was his word and his honour.