The funeral of CDS General Bipin Rawat will take place today in Delhi

General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, will be laid to rest today (December 10, 2021) in the national capital. On December 8, General Rawat, his wife Madhulika, and 11 other defence personnel were killed when the Mi-17 chopper they were aboard crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.

General Rawat’s and his wife’s bodies will be kept at their Delhi home beginning at 11 a.m. for family, friends, and the general public to pay their final respects. The general public can pay their respects to the Rawats at their Kamaraj Marg residence from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., while military personnel can do so from 12:30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. According to media reports, the funeral procession will begin at 2 p.m., with the actual funeral scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Brar Square Crematorium.

So far, only the bodies of CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, and Lance Naik Vivek Kumar have been identified from the chopper crash. Brigadier Lidder’s funeral is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at Brar Square Crematorium. Others’ bodies will be kept at the Army Base Hospital until they can be identified. According to the Army, appropriate military funerals are being planned and coordinated for all deceased in close consultation with close family members. The mortal remains will be given to the next of kin for final religious rites as desired by the families.

On Thursday (December 9), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated, “The last rites of CDS General Bipin Rawat will be performed with full military honours.” Other military personnel’s last rites will be performed with appropriate military honour.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his respects to CDS Bipin Rawat and others who died in the helicopter crash on Thursday. The Prime Minister paid his final respects at Palam Airbase.

Apart from General Rawat and his wife, his Defence Adviser Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder and Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh also died in the crash. Other nine defence forces personnel who died in the chopper crash are Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan, Squadron Leader Kuldeep Singh, Junior Warrant Officer Rana Pratap Das, Junior Warrant Officer Arakkal Pradeep, Havildar Satpal Rai, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitendra Kumar, Lance Naik Vivek Kumar and Lance Naik B Sai Teja.

The mortal remains of General Rawat will be taken in a gun carriage for the funeral in Delhi Cantt Brar Square. The Defence Minister, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt, three service chiefs and other senior military officials will be among those present at the cremation of General Rawat. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami are also likely to be present. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan visited Madras Regimental Centre in Wellington on Thursday and paid floral tributes to General Rawat and others who had died in the chopper crash.

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