Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Ravi Datt Mehta, KC (1954 / 1955 – 7 July 2008) was a flag officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. He died in the

suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

of the Indian Embassy in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

while serving as India's

Defence Attaché Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

on 7 July 2008. He was awarded the

Kirti Chakra The Kirti Chakra () is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the ...

, India's second highest gallantry award.

Early life and military career

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' states that he was a math wizard in his younger days. He joined the

in 1976 and went on to become a highly rated officer. His selection as

defence attaché Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

in Kabul is said to have followed an intensive screening process that shortlists the candidate pool to unofficially the "top three" officers of the Indian Army, prior to making the final selection for the job. He had proficiency in many languages, including

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

. His work as defence attaché in Kabul was praised in both Indian media and Pakistani media. In the words of a columnist for ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', he was: "an affable defence attaché who was popular with Indian expatriates and local Afghans alike." It is speculated that he was targeted, allegedly by the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

and its state-run '' de facto'' intelligence service, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), due to his close monitoring of the re-established links between those two organizations, and due to his significant role in training the Afghan army. He was said to have a "good relationship" with Afghan defence minister

Abdul Rahim Wardak General Abdul Rahim Wardak (; Pashto/; born 1945) is an Afghan politician and former Defense Minister of Afghanistan. He was appointed on December 23, 2004, by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

Legacy and honours

A road in his hometown

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

near his childhood home was posthumously renamed in his honour. India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award. His funeral was attended by

Chief of Army Staff Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

General

Deepak Kapoor General Deepak Kapoor PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC (born 1948,Patna) served as the 22nd Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, appointed on 30 September 2007 and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee appointed on 31 August 2009. Biogr ...

, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Suresh Mehta and Chief of the Air Staff

Fali Homi Major Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM, ADC served as the 21st Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, taking office on 1 April 2007, and becoming the first helicopter pilot in the service to be promoted to the offi ...

. Brigadier Mehta's wife was also working in Afghanistan for empowerment of women during his stay there. Brigadier Mehta has a son who was then serving in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

as a fighter pilot.

Kirti Chakra Citation

The

citation on the Official

Website reads as follows:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Ravi Datt 1955 births 2008 deaths Indian Army officers Indian expatriates in Afghanistan Recipients of the Kirti Chakra Military attachés for India People from Shimla Indian people murdered abroad