Chief of Defence Workers Common Bipin Rawat and his spouse Madhulika Rawat have been cremated with full army honours on the Brar Sq. crematorium on Friday, with the final rites carried out by their two daughters.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain, and British Excessive Commissioner to India Alex Ellis have been among the many a number of dignitaries current and paid tribute to Common Rawat and his spouse.
Common Rawat, his spouse and 11 defence personnel died in a helicopter crash on Wednesday. They have been in an Mi-17V5 helicopter of the Indian Air Power taking them from Sulur Air Base to the Defence Providers Workers School in Wellington. The helicopter crashed in a closely forested space in Coonoor ghat round 12.25 pm. .
The mortal stays of Common Rawat and his spouse have been saved at their official residence to permit individuals to pay respects. Their daughters Tarini and Kritika carried out conventional rituals at their house, earlier than the mortal stays have been moved to carriages for taking them to the crematorium.
Dignitaries pay homage
Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, House Minister Amit Shah, Nationwide Safety Advisor Ajit Doval, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, former Defence Minister AK Antony, quite a few Union ministers and senior leaders of political events, non secular gurus and a number of other lawmakers paid their final respects to the nation’s first CDS and his spouse.
Vijay Rawat, 60, youthful brother of Common Rawat, and a former Military officer, stated, “I had spoken to him earlier than he went to Tamil Nadu to attend the operate at Wellington. Had by no means thought, destiny would take him away from us…we shall be taking his ashes, after cremation, to Haridwar tomorrow (Saturday).”
Defence personnel
Defence officers of a number of international locations additionally paid tribute. The CDS was accorded a 17-gun salute. A ceremonial battery of 2233 Area Regiment offered the gun carriage. About 800 service personnel have been in attendance.
As India’s first CDS, he was tasked with bringing in theatre command and coordination among the many three companies, and he was pushing these with a troublesome strategy and particular timelines within the final two years.