Hero of forgotten war

Lt.Col. Abjit Singh Sekhon never approved of escort vehicles. Nor did he permit gun toting bodyguards even when he was deployed in an insurgency ridden Naga town. The infantry officer didn’t think his rank made his life more valuable. “Why should I risk their lives? They also have mothers,” he would chide his wife Kanwaljeet Kaur, or anyone who dared to suggest that he should get an escort.

Commissioned into 7 Madras, Sekhon considered himself very fortunate when he was chosen to command it. Those were turbulent times and the battalion was part of the IPKF in Sri Lanka but the Lt. Col was upbeat about his assignment. 

Soldiering was in his genes. His grandfather in the pre-independence Army was decorated with the Order of British Empire (OBE) while his father, a civil services officer, had earned the title of “Sardar Sahib” for participating in World War II.

Sekhon’s entry into the armed forces was a foregone conclusion. The tough conditions in Lanka suited him just so. On April 13, 1988 he received a tip-off about the presence of some hard core militants at Vannerikulam. He took a calculated risk, reached the unmapped area and took the LTTE militants by surprise. Leading the action, Lt. Col. Sekhon killed two Tigers, one of whom was an area leader. Again on April 21 when information came about the presence of militants at Urithirapuram, Sekhon led two platoons and got out of his vehicle to shoot down a militant. But his luck was running out. A LTTE sniper close by shot him through the chest. The man who believed in leading from the front died on the spot. Later, he was awarded Vir Chakra for his exemplary gallantry.

But the shock of his death was too much to bear for his father Gurdial Singh who passed away a year later. 

It’s been 18 years but Sekhon continues to inspire his beloved battalion, 7 Madras. Kanwaljeet says it’s the affection shown on her by the unit that gave courage to her and her two young sons during those traumatic years. “In all this time never once have they forgotten to invite me to his martyrdom anniversary. And even though it’s a Madras regiment, they hold an akhand path on this occasion.” Sekhon’s two sons, one a commercial pilot and the other a management graduate, are equally fond of their extended family. Their father would approve. The bonds of OG, he believed, are thicker than blood.