General Bipin Rawat's funeral today; PM Modi leads nation in paying last respects

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying last respects to General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat. Apart from the Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, senior Congress leader Harish Singh Rawat, Delhi Lieutenant General Anil Baijal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also paid their tributes to General Bipin Rawat.

Mortal remains of CDS General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were brought to their official residence at Kamraj Marg at around 10:20 am. Civilians can pay their tributes at his Kamraj Marg residence between 11:00 am-12:30 pm at his official residence and military personnel can pay their last respects from 12:30 pm-1:30 pm.

Civilians can also pay their respects to General Bipin Rawat at https://generalbipinrawaattributes.in, according to the Indian Army.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat will be laid to rest thereafter and last rites of General Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat will be held at 2pm today and the cremation is likely to be held at around 3pm. General Rawat’s unit 5/11 Gorkha Rifles is looking after all the arrangements at his last rites as he was commissioned to this unit and went onto command it.

Brigadier LS Lidder was laid to final rest with full military honours today at Delhi Cantonment’s Brar Square. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and IAF Chief Air Marshal Vivek R Chaudhari and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also paid their last respects to Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder at Delhi Cantonment’s Brar Square. Brigadier LS Lidder’s wife and daughter were also present at the occasion.

Meanwhile, Base Hospital located in Delhi Cantonment also paid its last respects to India’s first Chief of Defence Staff by putting up General Rawat’s picture with his wife, charting his journey in the Indian Army right from his joining to becoming the country’s first-ever CDS and also listing down the names of all those who lost their lives in the IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter crash in Coonoor with the heading “Deep Condolences and Salute”.

Besides this, the FMCG brand Amul also paid glowing tributes to the General, who was known for his blunt statements, in a heartwarming topical. “Har sainik ke yaar the who, Dushman ke liye talwar the woh,” Amul wrote in its black-and-white topical on the General.

Sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik also shared sand art of General Rawat with the tweet, “A tribute and Grand salute to our CDS General Bipin Rawat sir. You will live in the hearts of every Indian forever. My sand art at Puri beach in Odisha.”

General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others, who were onboard the ill-fated Mi-17V5 helicopter, died in the crash on Wednesday. Those who died in the crash include General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, his Defence Adviser Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh and nine other Armed Forces personnel including the Air Force helicopter crew.

These include Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik B Sai Teja.

Also read: General Bipin Rawat demise: Condolences pour in from around the world

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