‘Proud of him,’ say grieving parents of fallen Darj soldier
Times of India | 18 July 2024
Siliguri: The parents of Brijesh Thapa, a 27-year-old Army captain who died — along with three other Armymen — in a gunfight with terrorists in J&K’s Doda on Monday night, expressed pride at their son’s sacrifice for his country, even as they struggled to cope with the loss.
“I am proud of my son,” said Brijesh’s father Bhuvnesh Kumar Thapa, a retired colonel of 11 Garhwal Rifles, adding that he could not believe it when he got the heartbreaking phone call from the commanding officer late on Monday.“I asked them to re-check, as I could not believe it,” Bhuvnesh said, recalling how his son had always wanted to join the Army, following in his and his father’s footsteps. “He used to often wear my old uniform, saying he would get his own some day. I wanted him to be a General some day, but that was not to be. We are proud of him, as he was killed in action while serving the nation.”
Brijesh had told his father that he was busy in an operation and would return home to Lebong, on the outskirts of Darjeeling, after it was over, sometime in July. He had last come home in March.
In a cruel twist of fate, Brijesh will be home, but in a coffin, on Wednesday.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee condoled Captain Thapa’s death in a post on X.
Brijesh, a resident of Ging in Lebong, had joined the Army in Sept 2019. His first posting was in Ambala with 145 Army Air Defence (AAD), and was posted in 10 Rashtriya Rifles in Doda in Jammu & Kashmir on Sept 23, 2023, for two and a half years. He was to get married in 2026.
Brijesh’s mother, Nilima, said she spoke to him last on Sunday morning. “He had called around 9am on Sunday, and said they would be leaving at 11am as they had to walk up to their company from their unit, as vehicles cannot ply there,” she said. “They had a walk of around seven to eight hours. After that, we did not hear from him. Unfortunately, we received a call at 11pm on Monday, saying he was killed in action at Doda”. She, too, recalled how Brijesh always wanted to join serve the nation by being the third generation from the family in the Army.
Brijesh completed his studies at Army Public School in Mumbai’s Colaba, after which he completed his BTech from a Bandra college in 2018. In July, 2018, he passed the Combined Defence Services (CDS) Examination and was in Officers Training Academy, Chennai, after which he joined 145 AD, Ambala, in 2019.