NEW DELHI: The nation on Friday bid farewell to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat who, along with his wife and 11 armed forces personnel, died in an IAF chopper crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
General Rawat was cremated with full military honours with a 17-gun salute as per laid down protocols. Post the playing of the 'Last Post' and 'Rouse' by the tri-services buglers, the funeral pyre was lit by his two daughters.
General Rawat, 63, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other defence personnel were killed when a Mi17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. Group Captain Varun Singh is the lone survivor and his condition remains critical but stable.
A gun salute is a formal way to honour a dignitary and it varies as per the individual’s position, rank and hierarchy. It is performed by firing cannons or artillery. A 21-gun salute, the highest, is fired for heads of state and government. The number decreases with the rank of the recipient of the honour.
In the morning on Friday, six officers (2 each from Army, Navy & Air Force) of the rank equivalent of Lieutenant General were the pall (National Flag) bearers. Wreaths were laid by visiting the dignitaries while the mortal remains were laid at the official residence of the CDS at 3 Kamraj Marg.
Later, from his residence to the Brar Square Ceremonial, the battery of 2233 Field Regiment provided a gun carriage. As many as 99 personnel from all ranks from the Army, Navy and Air Force and 33 members of the tri-services band formed the front escort while 99 personnel from all ranks from the three services acted as the rear escort.
A total of 800 service personnel will be in attendance for the military funeral of the CDS.
Among the dignitaries who paid tribute to General Rawat are General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne (Retd), Former Chief of Defence Staff (his course mate at National Defence College and a dear friend), Brig Dorji Rinchen, Deputy Chief Operations Officer, Royal Bhutan Army, Suprobal Janasewashree Lt Gen Bal Krishna Karki, Chief of General Staff (equivalent to Vice Chief of Army Staff), Nepali Army and Lt Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman, Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division, Bangladesh.
Earlier, amid chants of 'Vande Mataram' and 'General Rawat amar rahe', the funeral procession of General Rawat and his wife left his official residence for the last rites at the Brar Square crematorium.
Military personnel drawn from all the three services marched towards the streets as drummers played along in tribute to India's first CDS.
As the mortal remains of General Rawat, carried in a casket wrapped in a tricolour, was moved to a gun carriage, decorated with flowers, people showered petals and raised slogans in his praise.
As India's first Chief of Defence Staff, General Rawat was tasked to bring in theatre command and jointness among the three services, and he was pushing these with a tough approach and specific timelines in the last two years.
The mortal remains of General Rawat and his wife were kept at their official residence here before cremation, to allow people to pay respects.
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 paid floral tributes and last respects till the funeral procession left the bungalow.
Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and a host of other dignitaries on Friday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of General Rawat and his wife.