Vasanth Venugopal
{{Short description|Ashoka Chakra recipient (1967–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Colonel
| name = Vasanth Venugopal
| honorific_suffix = AC
| image = Vasanth Venugopal.jpg
| image_size = 250 px
| caption = Portrait of Col Vasanth Venugopal
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1967|03|25}}
| birth_place = Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2007|07|31|1967|03|25}}
| death_place = Jammu and Kashmir, India
| allegiance = {{IND}}
| branch = {{army|India}}
| serviceyears = 1989-2007
| servicenumber = IC-48714L
| unit = 15px Maratha LI
| commands = 15px 9 Maratha LI
| awards = 20px Ashoka Chakra (posthumous)
| spouse = Subhashini Vasanth
| children = Rukmini Vasanth
}}
Colonel Vasanth Venugopal, AC (25 March 1967 – 31 July 2007) was an Indian Army officer. He was the commanding officer of the 9th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry. On 31 July 2007, he was killed while preventing heavily armed infiltrators from crossing the India-Pakistan border at Uri, Jammu and Kashmir.{{cite news|title=Colonel killed in Uri encounter|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/colonel-killed-in-uri-encounter/207876/|newspaper=Indian Express|date=31 July 2007}} As a result he was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest military decoration for peacetime gallantry.
Early life
Born to Praphulla and N.K. Venugopal in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Vasanth Venugopal was the youngest of two brothers. His father's work required the family to travel throughout the state of Karnataka and Vasanth went to schools in Udupi, Shimoga and Bangalore. He graduated from MES College, Bangalore in 1988. While in college, he was a member of the National Cadet Corps, through which he participated in the Indo-Canada World Youth Exchange Programme of 1986-87.{{fact|date=July 2024}}
Military career
Venugopal started training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 1988. On 10 June 1989, he was commissioned into the 9th battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry as a second lieutenant.{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=250 |date=17 March 1990|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1990/O-0546-1990-0011-23285.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}} He was promoted lieutenant on 10 June 1991 and to captain on 10 June 1994.{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=885 |date=15 May 1993|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1993/O-0408-1993-0020-16511.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}}{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=1803 |date=1 October 1994|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1994/O-0364-1994-0040-14343.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}} On 14 January 2000, Venugopal was promoted major,{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=1566 |date=11 November 2000|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2000/213191.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}} and was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 16 December 2004.{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=2539 |date=24 December 2005|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2005/W_52_2012_112.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}} In a military career spanning eighteen years, he served in Pathankot, Sikkim, Gandhinagar, Ranchi, Bangalore and various sectors of Jammu and Kashmir.{{fact|date=July 2024}}
"I go where my men go", he told his mother when she asked him if a colonel should participate in all operations conducted by his men. On 28 October 2006 he took over as the commanding officer of the 9th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry. The battalion was at that time posted in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir.{{fact|date=July 2024}}
On 31 July 2007, he and his troops surrounded militants in a forest and blocked all their escape routes in the Uri sector in Kashmir.{{cite news|title=J&K: Colonel among 6 killed in army operation|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/31jk.htm|newspaper=Rediff News|date=31 July 2007}}{{cite news|title=8 Afghan infiltrators, one jawan killed|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080254001200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016200637/http://hindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080254001200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 October 2007|newspaper=The Hindu|date=2 Aug 2007}} Despite being wounded, the colonel and his men engaged the terrorists in a fierce encounter. The daring officer led from the front and helped gun down the terrorists. He and radio operator L/Nk Bachhav Shashikant Ganpat were shot and died in hospital. "He ensured that all eight infiltrators were wiped out even as he laid down his life for the nation. He was a true soldier who was dedicated to the country and his force", Gen. Joginder Jaswant Singh, Chief of Army Staff at the time, said after Venugopal's death.{{fact|date=July 2024}}
Honours and legacy
Col. Venugopal was cremated with full military honours on 1 August 2007 in Bangalore.{{cite news|title=Col. Vasanth cremated|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080262540400.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016190638/http://hindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080262540400.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 October 2007|newspaper=The Hindu|date=2 Aug 2007}}
He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration for gallantry awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy.{{cite news|title=Three Army men awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=34842|newspaper=Press Information Bureau|date=23 Jan 2008}}{{cite web|title=Honours and Awards|url=http://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTempSimple.aspx?MnId=VvzgWD2RBLk=&ParentID=YG/CErIR6dY=|work=Official Website of Indian Army|access-date=25 July 2011}} Colonel Vasanth is the first person from the state of Karnataka, India to have received this honour.{{cite news|title=They paid the highest price for the nation's safety|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007102958880300.htm&date=2007/10/29/&prd=th&|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116011731/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007102958880300.htm&date=2007/10/29/&prd=th&|url-status=usurped|archive-date=16 November 2020|newspaper=Hinduonnet|date=29 Oct 2008}}
Venugopal's biography Forever Forty, written by his wife Subhashini Vasanth and Veena Prasad was released by Gen. Joginder Jaswant Singh and Santosh Hegde on 10 July 2011 at Crossword Bookstore, Bangalore.{{cite news|url=https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/columns/sunday-read/An-officer-gentleman-40-forever/articleshow/21562188.cms|title=An officer, gentleman & 40 forever|first=Jayanthi|last=Madhukar|date=9 July 2011|access-date=19 January 2016}}
His daughter Rukmini Vasanth is an actress.{{cite news |last1=Daithota |first1=Madhu |date=15 August 2023 |title=My father taught me that patriotism is not limited to overt gestures: Rukmini Vasanth |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/kannada/movies/news/my-father-taught-me-that-patriotism-is-not-limited-to-overt-gestures-rukmini-vasanth/articleshow/102719286.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906234858/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/kannada/movies/news/my-father-taught-me-that-patriotism-is-not-limited-to-overt-gestures-rukmini-vasanth/articleshow/102719286.cms |archive-date=6 September 2023 |accessdate=31 January 2024 |newspaper=The Times of India}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2007/dec/17yrvenu1.htm Rediff.com - A few good men]
- [http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/jan/24resl1.htm Rediff.com - Moments from a martyr's life]
- [http://vasantharatna.org/ Vasantharatna Foundation for Art - A foundation run in Colonel Vasanth Venugopal's memory by his wife Mrs Subhashini Vasanth]
{{Ashoka Chakra award recipients}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venugopal, Vasanth}}
Category:Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)