New Delhi, 10/12:There is an atmosphere of mourning in the entire country after the death of the country’s first CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 other army personnel in a helicopter crash. The country’s first CDS General Rawat was entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating between the three services and he was carrying forward this work for the last two years with a strict stand and specific deadlines.
Meanwhile, the last visit of Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat reached the Berar Square funeral site in Delhi Cantonment on Friday, where their daughters lit fire to them. Crowds of people gathered in the last yatra raised slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘General Rawat Amar Rahe’. During the fire, General Rawat was given a 17-gun salute.
General Rawat, his wife and 11 other defense personnel were killed when a Mi17V5 helicopter crashed in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh paid tribute to General Rawat. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also present at the crematorium.
Decorated with flowers, and dozens of citizens chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, bodies were carried in vehicles from Delhi Cantonment to the cremation site, traversing city streets. Throughout this journey, military personnel of the Army, Navy and Air Force marched with drummers to pay tribute to India’s first Chief of Defense Staff.
Politicians from all parties, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Uttarakhand CM PS Dhami and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, also reached to express their grief. General Rawat was a resident of Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.
Senior military commanders from Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh also attended the funeral. Many other countries including America, Britain, China, France, Japan and Israel have also expressed their grief over the incident.