The Army is no exception when it comes to burying its mistakes. Often, accidents occur due to someone’s negligence but others end up paying for the same with their lives. A retired Army officer and his brother remember the Army Ordnance Corps Raising Day celebrations in 1983 when an accident took a havildar’s life. Major (Retd) R.R. Narasimham was a doctor in the Army, posted at AOC Centre, Secunderabad, and an eyewitness to an incident that took place in 1983. He lives in the US now.
After hearing of the fire on the TN Express on July 30, he called his brother Pratap Narayan, who lives in Habsiguda. “He wanted me to find out if the Army had done anything to commemorate Havildar Rao, who lost his life while playing music at Thapar Stadium,” Mr Narayan said. He said that in April 1983, hundreds had gathered at Thapar Stadium, to enjoy aerial fireworks. “Unfortunately, the fireworks display did not follow the safety rules. The first mortar bomb fired to commence the fireworks went up in the air and failed to explode. The unexploded mortar bomb plunged towards the spectators and pierced the head of Havildar Rao of No. 2 Training Battalion, AOC Centre,” Mr Narayan said. His brother remembers the havildar was a young, healthy, married man.
The brothers have appealed to AOC to honour the memory of the soldier by placing a memorial at Thapar Stadium maintaining, “We may bury our dead but we must never bury our mistakes.” AOC officials pleaded inability to give details as the accident took place almost two decades ago.