Remembering Kargil hero Captain Vijayant ‘Robin’ Thapar on his 21st death anniversary. He stayed in #Gwalior for a month before he was moved to #Kashmir. Here is his brief story –

When 22-year-old #Captain Vijayant Thapar left his home before being dispatched to fight in the Kargil war, the prescient young man, foretold his own end. He set out anyway, writing his father a letter before he left.
“By the time you get this letter, I will be observing you all from the sky, enjoying the hospitality of apsaras. I have no regrets; in fact, even if I become a human again, I will join the army and fight for my nation. If you can, please come and see where the Indian #Army fought for your tomorrow.”

Two decades later, on June 29, 2019, Colonel (retd) V.N. Thapar stands, as he does every year, at the spot of his son’s martyrdom. The army veteran, who spoke to Deccan Chronicle on his son’s 20th #death anniversary, says he received the call when he was in Alwar, on court marshal duty, on June 29, 1999.

“I was on a tea break, when I got a call from the Army headquarters, telling me my son was in casualty.” The stricken #father believed his son had been wounded.

“I learned later that he had been #martyred,” Colonel Thapar recalls. “He was martyred at the age of 22. This is my 20th trip.”

Captain Vijayant Thapar had led the attack on an impossible feature called the Knoll. Determined to honour his son’s final wish, the retired colonel has made it a point to visit the spot of his son’s martyrdom every year since his passing. He recalls that ‘Robin’ who was named after the Vijayanta tank, played music from the film #Border, to pep up his unit. Commissioned into the army on December 12, 1998, the young fourth generation officer, joined the prestigious No 2. Rajputana Rifles in Gwalior and was involved in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir. There, he and his unit were ordered to move to the Drass sector to evict the Pakistani intruders.

By Deccan Chronicle