Apathy vanquishes martyr's valour

N C Bipindra / TNN / Jan 20, 2007, 01:59 IST

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The proposed memorial for Army martyr Lt Col Rajeev Bakshi of 13 Dogra has been caught in the official redtape.

PANCHKULA: The proposed memorial for Army martyr and gallantry Sena Medal awardee Lt Col Rajeev Bakshi of 13 Dogra has been caught in the official redtape. To add to the woes of the family, the file, containing the proposal plan, has been lost by the district commissioner's office here.
A frantic search for the file by officials of DC office on Friday, just a day ahead of the first anniversary of Lt Col Bakshi's martyrdom, yielded no results.
The proposal was mooted by Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan on the day Lt Col Bakshi fell to insurgent's bullets at Parbung village in Churachandpur district of Manipur. The martyr's father Lt Col JML Bakshi had submitted the proposal in writing to the DC office.
"The staff members rummaged through every paper, but could not lay their hands on the file,"said a close relative of the martyr who had gone to the office to check the case status. According to sources, the Sector 10-11 roundabout had long ago been zeroed in as the memorial site.

Meanwhile, the martyr's family has been hurt by the official callousness.
Says the martyr's mother Usha Bakshi: "We had great hopes that the first anniversary of Rajeev's martyrdom would be observed at his memorial, but even this small wish of ours has not been granted."
The proposal had been made when Brijender Singh was the DC. Singh moved out around a week ago and the new incumbent Neerja Rajsekhar told martyr's kin on Friday that she has no clue about the memorial proposal. Now, the Bakshis have been asked to make a fresh proposal and submit it on Monday to the new DC.

Coming from a family of Army men, Lt Col Rajeev Bakshi had embarked on the 9-day mission to bust an insurgent hideout on January 20 last year, being the officiating commanding officer of his unit, when he became a martyr on January 21.
Incidentally, his 71-year-old father Lt Col (retired) JML Bakshi was the commanding officer of the same battalion about 32 years ago in the same area. The martyr's wife Nandita, also a daughter of a retired Brigadier, lives in Pune along with daughters Aamanat and Aarzoo.
Rajeev's brother Lt Col Rajesh Bakshi is a serving officer with the 16 Dogra Regiment, which again was commanded by the senior Bakshi during his long career. His sister, Ranjana, is a teacher at the Army school here and is married to Lt Col Bhardwaj from the Air Defence.

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