NEW DELHI, Dec 10: The mortal remains of the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat was consigned to flames with full military honours in Delhi on Friday evening as government leaders and military officials paid silent tribute. The cremation was performed by his daughters, Kritika and Tarini.
The bodies of General Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat, were laid side by side on the same pyre. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stood in tribute to Gen Rawat as bugles sounded in the background. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also present to pay respects, as were a long line of senior defence officials.
Gen Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat, were cremated with full military honours at the Brar Square Crematorium, where, just a few hours earlier, the armed forces bid goodbye to his aide, Brigadier LS Lidder. Elaborate arrangements were made and 800 service personnel took part.
Decked with flowers and accompanied by dozens of civilians shouting ‘Bharat Mata ki jai‘ and waving the national flag, the gun carriage carrying the bodies drove slowly through the city before reaching Delhi Cantonment. Military personnel from the Army, Navy, and Air Force marched alongside as drummers played in tribute.
Starting at 11 am, a sea of mourners visited Gen Rawat’s residence in Delhi, where his wife and he were laid in state to allow family, friends, colleagues and the public to pay their final respects. Among those who came to offer condolences were Home Minister Amit Shah and NSA Ajit Doval.
Politicians cutting across party lines also came to express their grief, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and the chief ministers of Uttarakhand (PS Dhami) and Delhi (Arvind Kejriwal). Gen Rawat hailed from the Pauri Garwhal district in Uttarakhand. In attendance at the funeral were senior military commanders from Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Messages of grief have poured in from many more countries, including the US, the UK, China, France, Japan and Israel.
The bodies of Gen Rawat, his wife and the 11 who died in the chopper crash were brought back to Delhi last night on a C130-J Super Hercules transport aircraft. As the plane landed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led tributes in a brief but emotional ceremony.
Only four bodies have been identified so far – Gen Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar. Their bodies have been released to the families for last rites. The others will be kept at the Army Base Hospital till identified.
Group Captain Varun Singh – the sole survivor – was being treated at the military hospital in Wellington. He has been airlifted to the Air Force’s Command Hospital in Bengaluru. The Group Captain is stable but remains in critical condition, officials have said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
