Tribute in stone for martyred OTA alumnus

CHENNAI: Forty-five years after passing out of the city-based

Officers Training Academy

(

OTA

), 37 retired officers came together on Tuesday to unveil a bronze statue of their batchmate Major R Parameshwaran who died fighting LTTE militants in

Sri Lanka

in 1987. They pooled together Rs 7lakh and got Rs 1 lakh from the Mahar regiment he served.

Major Parameshwaran, part of the

Indian Peace Keeping Force

(IPKF) when he was killed he took down five militants before laying down his life was posthumously awarded the Param Veer Chakra. Also, the OTA drill square was named after him as was the army welfare housing board building in Kodambakkam. But, Tamil Nadu did not recognise him as other states had done in the case of armymen awarded the country’s highest military honour.

This rankled, and the officers who had passed out with him decided to do something in remembrance of ‘Parry’. The plan to have a statue was decided upon during a getogether organised in Thiruvananthapuram under Colonel K G Nair a year ago. Though many of the batchmates had left the army and are in different parts of the country, they coordinated for the initiative as a mark of respect and remembrance of they beloved batchmate. Under the patronship of senior-most officer of the course, Lt General Ram Pratap, Colonel Ram Krishnan coordinated the efforts.

“The men who received Param Veer Chakra were celebrated and their families were given compensation and honours. But in

Parameswaran

’s case he did not get his due because politically the operations in Sri Lanka was considered sensitive. In Tamil Nadu all political parties were against deployment of the Indian army in Sri Lanka. So we decided to do something and discussed it with OTA,” said Ram Krishnan.

Speaking of the time spent at the OTA, Ram Krishnan, a close friend, said, “The 1971 war was on and the one year’s traning was cut short into seven months. Many people were discontinuing the course. But Parameshwaran was a dedicated chap and a hard worker and dreamt of making it to the highest rank. We used to practise at the drill square which did not have a name at that time. He used to put extra effort and stayed till late at night to practise even after the training sessions were over. All of us were inspired by the war to join the army.”

After passing out, “we were posted at different units on the front. He was posted in Jammu and Kashmir while I was posted in Dhaka..,” he said.