Dixant Thapa

Biography

Major Dixant Thapa was born on 10 October 1994 at the Army Hospital in Yol Cantonment, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. The son of an army veteran, Junior Commissioned Officer (Retired) Deepak Thapa, and Smt Dimpi Thapa, he grew up in various army cantonments as his father moved between postings, studying at schools in Gwalior, Jammu and Pathankot. Coming from an army family, he was drawn to a life in uniform from his younger days. Beyond academics he was a man of many parts — a keen lover of music who wrote poems, sang and played instruments, and a fine athlete who excelled in competitions. Dixant secured first place in his Class XII examination and went on to qualify the Joint Entrance Examination, joining the Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Landran. During his eighth semester he was selected for the Technical Entry Scheme of the Indian Army, and after completing his B.Tech from CGC College of Engineering, Mohali, he joined the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. His dream was realised on 10 June 2017, when he was commissioned into the 6th battalion of the Mechanized Infantry, a regiment renowned for its gallant soldiers and battle honours. In August 2020, amid heightened tensions along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh following the Galwan Valley clash, Major Thapa's unit was on high alert. On the night of 30 August 2020, he was responsible for the swift induction of Infantry Combat Vehicles in an operational area at Karu, about 160 km from the Galwan Valley. Noticing an ICV in a precarious position, he rushed to the site and swung into action to prevent loss of men and material. As he was engrossed in the effort, a civil truck crashed into the site, severely injuring him. He succumbed to his injuries and was martyred, before he could even turn 26.