To squeeze in time to pay tribute to a martyr who hails from the state or to call on his family members to offer condolence may be considered far too ‘insignificant’ for our politicians.
However, it is not the same with this martyr’s colleagues and senior officers, battling it out with terrorists everyday in Jammu and Kashmir, who paid glowing tributes and stated that the Indian Army has lost one of its brightest young officers.
Cutting across the ranks, Bangalore born Col Vasanth Venugopal , Commanding Officer, 9 Maratha LI , who laid down his life while foiling a major infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector of Baramulla district earlier this month was a role model for all.
Unlike Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his cabinet colleagues who haven’t found  time pay tribute to the martyr from the state, Col Vasanth’s colleagues from Uri and Baramulla spoke highly of his heroics and how he fought till his last breadth.
Accolades
Maj Gen Ramesh Halagali, General Officer Commanding, 19 Infantry Division under whom Col Vasanth worked said that the Indian Army has lost an excellent officer who excelled be it during the counter insurgency operations or while handling other issues.
“ We have lost one of our brightest asset who, true to the Indian Army’s traditions fought from the front and died for the country,” said Maj Gen Halagali.
Col Rohit Gupta, Col GS 19 Inf Div, said that prior to ‘Operation Justin’ during which Col Vasanth was killed, he had taken part in many successful operations during the year to flush out terrorists.
“ Col Vasanth actively took part in many such operations during which we were successful in nabbing terrorists and also recovering large quantities of ammunition and money
belonging from the terrorists. Even here he fought till the last minute, gunning down three terrorists,” he said. 
Similarly, other officers posted there and commissioned into the force at the same time as Col Vasanth in the Army told Deccan Herald that he personally supervised the operation along this portion of the LoC where the terrain is in-hospitable and the thickly wooded.
“Despite the odds against him, Col Vasanth led his team and a major infiltration attempt to cross the LoC was foiled by his brave act,” said an Officer
‘Operation Vasanth’
For Col Vasanth’s colleagues at the LoC, it seems insignificant that the state government has not paid its tribute to the courageous soldier.
They paid a befitting tribute to their brave colleague when they conducted a similar terrorist flush out exercise two days after his death,  in which eight hard-core terrorists were killed and major ammunition recovered. The operation was aptly titled ‘Operation Vasanth.’