Kolkata, (Asian independent) India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), late General Bipin Rawat, has now got a military garrison close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China named after him.
On Saturday, the Indian Army garrison at Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh was formally named Gen Bipin Rawat Military Garrison. Gen Rawat (then a Colonel) had commanded a unit of the 5/11 Gorkha Rifles at this garrison in 1999-2000.
There are few military stations in India named after people. INS Netaji Subhas – the Indian Navy’s headquarters in Kolkata – was probably the first one. The second one was Air Force Station Arjan Singh at Panagarh, also in West Bengal. Now, Gen Bipin Rawat has got an Indian Army Garrison with his name on it.
During his tenure at Kibithu, a strategic location, Gen Rawat named a nearby feature as ‘Bogra’ to commemorate Battle Honour Bogra conferred on the 5/11 Gorkha Rifles after the 1971 Indo-Pak War.
Bogra was a stronghold of the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan that was captured by this Battalion before the onward march towards Dhaka and the Liberation of Bangladesh. During his tenure at Kibithu, Gen Rawat also improved civil-military ties and formalised the Border Personnel Meeting mechanism with China.
On Saturday, the military station was formally named as Gen Bipin Rawat Military Garrison by Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig B.D. Mishra (retd) in the presence of Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
Gen Rawat’s daughter was also present during the event. Chief Minister Khandu also named the 22-km-long road from Walong to Kibithu as Gen Bipin Rawat Marg.
According to the Indian Army, this was a befitting tribute to the General who died in a tragic helicopter crash in December 2021. An official said that Gen Rawat contributed immensely in strengthening the security of the area. The infrastructural development and social growth he brought about also benefitted locals greatly.
