CHENNAI: Amidst tears and stoic faces, Major Mukund Varadarajan (31), who attained martyrdom while fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir last Friday, was given a hero’s farewell in the city on Monday with a 14-men military gun salute.The Last Post send-off not only evoked sadness among the family members and the officers and men in the olives, whites and blues, but also created a void among the common men.
“It is very unfortunate that a young officer has lost his life fighting militants. In the midst of the fierce exchange of fire. Major Mukund went in to evacuate a soldier, who had died. In the process, he came under fire and got fatally injured. He was taken to Srinagar military hospital where he succumbed to injuries,” said Major General R.G. Krishnan, Chief of Staff of Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala (ATNK&K) Area.
AI pilot emotional about flying Mukund’s body
For Air India pilot S. Srinivasan, the Sunday late night flight from New Delhi to Chennai turned out to be a sad one, as he flew the coffin of Major Mukund Varadarajan. Srinivasan, who initially was not aware that it was Major Mukund’s coffin, later wrote a letter to the brave soldier’s family expressing his deep condolences, which went viral on the Internet.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle from Delhi, Capt Srinivasan said he would have informed the passengers about the martyr’s coffin being flown in the aircraft had he known about it beforehand.
“I wanted to know whose coffin was being loaded on to my flight but I couldn’t do so then. Later, after we landed at Chennai, I was informed about the coffin,” said the captain sorrowfully.
He then wrote a letter to Mukund’s parents, which said: “Dearest Father & Mother, I had the honour of flying your brave son from Delhi to Chennai. I send my sincerest condolences and pranams to both of you. Please accept them. May God bless Mukund’s soul and give you strength. Please think of me as one of your sons.”
Capt Srinivasan said he wrote that personal letter to Mukund’s parents Varadarajan and Geetha, as he “felt emotional and considered it as a very personal and close to heart thing”. According to an Air India senior official, coffins were usually loaded on to the cargo section as the last item and unloaded first at the destination airport. Appreciating this act of an airline pilot, the colleagues of Mukund and the Army officers in general were overly happy.
“That is humanity. That is all we require. We in the Army are not requesting any special treatment from civilians. We only request for a change of attitude towards us,” said a Major, who had served in the hilly locales of Jammu and Kashmir.
