CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, wife laid to rest with full military honours
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Dec, 2021 11:56 AM
New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) With 17 gun salutes by tri-services personnel, the last rites of India's first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, and his wife, Madulika Rawat, were performed with full military honours at Brar Square in Delhi Cantonment on Friday.
The tri-services buglers played 'Last Post' followed by 'Rouse' just before the funeral pyres were lit by their daughter.
Before that, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid a wreath and paid homage to the departed souls at the crematorium.
"Paid my last respects to General Bipin Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat. General Rawat devoted his life to serving and protecting our nation. India will remember his courage, valour and patriotism. Farewell General," Singh said in a tweet.
General Rawat, with his wife and 11 other armed forces personnel were killed after the IAF chopper they were travelling in crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
A funeral procession was taken out from the late General's residence on K. Kamraj Road to the Delhi Cantonment. Hundreds of people stood on both sides of the road during the procession to catch a glimpse of the final journey of India's first Chief of Defence Staff.
A total of 99 officers of all ranks from the Army, Navy and Air force, and 33 members of the tri-services band were the front escort, while 99 officers of all ranks from the three services acted as the rear escort. Twelve officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force of the rank of Brigadier and equivalent were on vigil duty.
The Indian Army also came up with an online link where one could pay tribute to the departed souls.
After the mortal remains reached the Brar Square crematorium, a ceremonial battery of 2,233 Field Regiment provided gun carriage.
Many senior military commanders from friendly foreign countries reached Delhi to attend the funeral of General Rawat and his wife.
From Sri Lanka, General Shavendra Silva, the Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, and Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne (Retd), former Chief of Defence Staff and General Rawat's course mate at the National Defence College, paid homage.
Brigadier Dorji Rinchen, Deputy Chief Operations Officer of Royal Bhutan Army, Lt Gen Bal Krishna Karki, Chief of General Staff of Nepali Army, and Lt Gen Waker-UZ-Zaman, Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh, paid their respect.
A total of 800 service personnel attended the funeral.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey and many others paid their last respects to General Rawat and his wife at their residence in Delhi.
The mortal remains of another victim of the tragic crash, Brigadier L.S. Lidder, also was also laid to rest with full military honours at Brar Square.
To deal with the ongoing Covid pandemic, India's civil aviation regulator on Friday extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights till November 30.
Modi reached Rome on Friday morning where he will join other G20 leaders in discussions on global economic and health recovery from the pandemic, sustainable development, and climate change in the first in-person summit of the G20 since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.
Three females farmers from Punjab died on Thursday after a speeding truck rammed into them near the protest site at Tikri border, police said. Two other women farmers were also injured in the accident which took place at around 6 a.m.
Ahead of Diwali, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the firecracker ban order needs to be strictly followed. A bench headed by Justice M.R. Shah emphasized that it is not against any particular festival, but it is also essential to protect the right to life. The bench also comprising Justice A. S. Bopanna said: "We do not want to come in the way of enjoyment, but for enjoyment one cannot play with the fundamental right of others."
Lakhbir's family -- wife, daughter, brother and father -- went to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence but as he was unavailable, they met the staff of the Home Minister and put forth their demands.
Organised by EcoSikh and Clean Air Punjab, a citizen's collective working on the issue of air pollution, over 50 prominent citizens across the state attended the meeting.
