Day 238

 Late General Bipin Rawat, CDS

The untimely and shocking martyrdom of the General has left a vacuum in the defence structure of the country which will be difficult to fill in easily…. The outstanding contributions of the General as army chief and lastly as CDS are now surfacing for common people to understand  through many YouTube  videos/interviews and public discussions  ..

 Very recently I saw a post from a senior army official as under..

He was one of the greatest soldier and martial leaders of our time. His path breaking contribution to the nation and armed forces in specific is priceless. His epochal tenure as CDS was instrumental in initiating a metamorphosis in the armed forces towards high tech, cutting, scissor sharp modernisation, which is a need of the hour. His legacy will live forever and guide the present and future warriors of this great army. We have lost a leader but he has left his thoughts and ideas to motivate us forever.  Salute  the noble departed soul and join in lamenting this great tragic national loss.

 I was watching a few interviews or talks by  late General.. some points  came up  very clearly to me.

1.He was extremely passionate about national security and no compromise on that at any cost.

2. Very keen to ensure a very efficient and effective army with right equipment and action ready in the years ahead.

3.He was sure that the warfare methods are undergoing changes and our forces have to be smart to meet all those emerging challenges- so he was  focussing on quality than quantity…

• In a public interview he was asked  as to how he felt about the Army being blamed/targeted for human rights violations etc… He answered that  the Army has never failed the Nation …  that answers everything for the countrymen..

( We must  concede that Army protects the country 24x7x365  during war, terrorism, civil unrest, natural calamities , including building of a Railway bridge at Lower Parel, Mumbai to cite some instances… we also notice that people forget the role of Jawans/Forces very fast and only remember them during calamities…that is a sad chapter/outlook  unfortunately seen in our country… there are many ungrateful elements in  the society…)

•  He was asked another question as to how he  takes the criticism levelled against him personally 
• R from various media quarters? For this he replied that one has to learn to accept the criticism and be undaunted by them, as that is part of  leadership qualities.
• Another question posed to him was, how India is placed vis- a- vis China in war preparedness? He replied that such a comparison is unwarranted as  China has global ambitions.. while India has only one aim to protect its borders and no other grand ambitions…. And country is ready and  always preparing to defend the borders effectively… wonderful responses..

 The Nation will  definitely miss the  General with such vast experience and passion…. But the Army has a tradition of building  right leaders to take over at any eventuality… so we are in safe hands…..while praying for the departed soul, we also hope that next CDS will rise to the occasion fast, as the previous CDS has articulated/laid down the road map very clearly.. 

RIP Sir.

वन्दे मातरम्

ॐ शान्ति

8.20 AM