Farewell, CDS Rawat: India Bids Final Goodbye to Gen Bipin Rawat, His Wife With Full Military Honour

India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were cremated with full military honour at the Brar Square crematorium in New Delhi on Friday. CDS Rawat, his wife, and 11 other defence personnel were killed after an IAF’s Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

The final rites of Rawat and his wife were performed by their two daughters. The CDS was accorded a 17-gun salute as per the laid down protocols. A ceremonial battery of 2233 Field Regiment provided a gun carriage, and about 800 service personnel were in attendance at the crematorium.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union minister Kiren Rijiju, Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain, and British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis were among several others who paid their final respects to Rawat and his wife. Top defence officials of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh were also present to bid final goodbye to the CDS.

The CDS’s and his wife’s final journey began amid chants of ‘Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Rawat ji ka naam rahega’.

As the CDS, Rawat had overseen the implementation of an ambitious tri-services modernisation plan to bring synergy among the armed forces and enhance their overall combat capabilities.

Earlier in the day, right outside his official residence at 3, Kamraj Marg, several people who had gathered, raised slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Gen Rawat amar rahe’, and ‘Uttarakhand ka heera amar rahe’, while dignitaries payed floral tributes and last respects till the funeral procession left the bungalow.

General Rawat’s two daughters performed traditional rituals before the caskets of their parents were moved to the gun carriage.

Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and a host of other dignitaries, among others, on Friday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of General Rawat and his wife.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Thursday paid tributes to Rawat, his wife and 11 others at the Palam airbase after the bodies were brought to Delhi on a C130-J Super Hercules aircraft. Along with PM Modi, the country’s top defence brass also paid their respects to the deceased.

Of the 13 deceased, bodies of only three — General Rawat, his wife and Brigadier Lidder — were identified so far. Brigadier Lidder was laid to rest earlier in the day with full military honours.

(With PTI inputs)

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