Over a decade after Major Mukund Varadarajan was killed in action during an anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir, a retired Indian Air Force officer has filed a petition urging the Tamil Nadu government to honour the Ashoka Chakra awardee by renaming a public park after him and erecting his statue in Paruthipattu, his birth place. According to the former Air Force Officer, residents of Paruthipattu have welcomed the proposal.
In a petition addressed to Avadi City Municipal Corporation, Group Captain VN Sainath (Retd), a retired Indian Air Force officer and a resident of Kendriya Vihar in Avadi, has requested that a public park located in Ward 48, near Paruthipattu, to be named after Major Mukund.
"We have given 2.658 acres for OSR land meant for public use. The corporation has now utilised the space by constituting a park and library. We request this park should be named after Major Mukund Varadarajan and we request a bust size idol in the premises and it would be the perfect place to inspire the young and old who frequent the park every day", Sainath told TNM.
Major Mukund Varadarajan, who hailed from Paruthipattu, was commissioned into the Rajput Regiment of the Indian Army in 2004. In April 2014, he led an operation against militants in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, killing three terrorists before succumbing to his injuries. He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award.
The park Sainath referred to was developed on OSR (Open Space Reservation) land provided by the Kendriya Vihar Apartments — a category mandated by urban planning rules to ensure green, accessible public spaces in large housing projects.
Pointing to the several Army-related establishments in Avadi, Sainath said this initiative would resonate deeply with the local population. "Residents around Kendriya Vihar and Paruthipattu, who frequent the park, have welcomed the proposal", he said.
The former Air Force officer added that the apartment association has also petitioned the Chief Minister’s office but has yet to receive a response from the government.
When TNM contacted Avadi Corporation Commissioner S Kandasamy, he said, “The request has been sent for government’s approval. Action would be taken once the approval is received.”