A
sea of humanity poured out on the streets of Noida this morning to bid
farewell to Lt Vijayant Thapar, "hero of operation Vijay", who laid
down his life, along with two other officers and 17 jawans, in the Dras
sub- sector of Kargil on the night of june 28-29.Tens Of thousands of
people-a majority of them unknown to the bereaved family -came out on
the streets as the gun carriage carring the 22-year-old lieutenants
body passed by.
Some showered flowers and others shouted slogans-commending the young
officers Bravery and decrying "the nefarious designs of Pakistan". The
outpouring of grief and emotion was spontaneous. As the cortege left
the Thapar sector-29 residence here a little after 10a.m., local citizens
seemed to abandon all other activities to pay their last respect to
the lad who according to them had written the name of Noida in the annals
of Military history. Men left their offices and shops, laborers came
out of their factories, women poured out of their homes and children
out of schools. Even patients recuperating at a nursing home peeped
out through the windows of their rooms to catch a glimpse of the soldier
whose funeral brought Noida to a standstill. Those gathered outside
their homes Distributed water to passers- by while those standing outside
their commercials establishments offered flowers and wreaths as the
carriage passes by. All commercial Establishments
remained closed for the first half in the memory of Lt Thapar.The road
leading to his house has been re-named after him. Among the days early
visitors to Lt Thapars residence was the congress (I) President Mrs.
Sonia Gandhi, who spend a few minutes with the family. The former union
Minister, Mr. Rajesh pilot, accompanied her. The former youth congress
(I) President Mr. M.S Bitta was present later at the cremation ground.
A fourth generation Defence officer, Lt. Thapar was commissioned into
Army Service corps in December last year. He was attached to two Rajputana
Rifles And Kargil was his first posting. His Regiment had captured the
tooling peak and was in the process of winning Knoll, three pimples
and lone hill when he fell to a hail of bullets from the Pakistani infiltrators,
Lt. Thapars father, colonel V.N Thapar, is a retired officer, re-instated
into Jammu and Kashmir Light infantry.
When the cortege left the Thapar home, several thousand people had gathered
to pay their tributes. as the procession wound its way down to sector
-44-cremation ground, where the body was consined to the flames with
full military honours,the number swelled to well over 50,000 --- bringing
all activities to a standstill along the way. Policeman has a tough
time while managing the traffic. The atmosphere was Palpably surcharged
as people shouted slogans like, " Lt. Thapar Amar Rahe" "Jab tak suraj
chand rahega, Vijyant tera nam rahega"and even "Pakistan hai, hai" and
"Nawaj Shrarif murdabad". Over the cremation ground, all arrangements
made by Rajputana Rifles went haywire as moumers poured into attend
the last rites. They pulled down barricades and refused to desist from
slogan shouting despite repeated quests by army personnel. His younger
brother, Vijendra Thapar, who has also given the National Defence Academy
Examination, lighted Lt. Thapar's pyre. Lt. Thapar's parents and grandmother
put up a brave face throughout, as if telling those present that when
you go back home, tell everyone that our son sacrificed his today for
your tomorrow ----
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