Back
National
Rao, Mehta cremated
| Large number of mourners pay their last respects to the officials |
A SON’S GRIEF: Karthik, son of IFS officer V.Venkateswara Rao who was killed in an explosion in Kabul, during the cremation in New Delhi on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: Senior diplomat V. Venkateswara Rao and Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta, who were killed in the suicide attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Monday, were cremated with full State honours at the Delhi Cantonment on Tuesday.
Despite a steady drizzle, a large number of mourners led by Chief of the Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor turned up at the Delhi War Cemetery to pay their last respects to Brig. Mehta, the senior-most Army officer to die abroad.
Wreaths were laid on behalf of President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, All-India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi and a large number of Navy and Air Force officers. Defence Minister A. K. Antony, who had expressed his desire to personally attend the funeral, later sent a personal emissary.
Soldiers of the Rajputana Rifles gave a 21-gun salute and the buglers sounded the Last Post as Flt. Lt. Udit Mehta performed the last rites of his father.
Speaking to the media later, Flt. Lt. Mehta said that he was proud of his gallant father who had always been a source of inspiration. “The way he lived his brave soldierly life was worth emulating.”
Earlier, Army officers handed over the Tricolour used for draping Brig. Mehta’s coffin and his uniform to Sunita, as a mark of respect to the gallant officer.
Considered a bright and competent officer, Brig. Mehta had served in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East.
He joined the Indian mission just five months ago and his family was staying with him in Kabul.
V. Venkateswara Rao was cremated later at the same venue. The scene at the cremation ground turned emotional when the 11-year-old son of the diplomat, Karthick, broke down while performing the last rites . Mr. Rao’s wife Malathi Rao and daughter Amulya were also present at the funeral.
Fluent in Dari, one of the main languages in Afghanistan, Mr. Rao was considered an authority on the neighbouring countries, especially Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
Earlier, the bodies of Mr. Rao and Brig Mehta were brought back by a special aircraft to New Delhi early on Tuesday.
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu