India’s inspiring Commander
Bipin Rawat was born in Pauri, Pauri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, on 16th March 1958. His mother hailed from Uttarkashi district and was the daughter of Kishan Singh Parmar, ex- MLA from Uttarkashi.
Rawat attended Cambrian Hall School, Dehradun and St. Edward’s School, Shimla. He then joined the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla. Bipin Rawat had also qualified for IIT Chennai (Indian Institute of Technology). He ranked first in NDA and was awarded the ‘Sword of Honour’. He was commissioned into the 5th Battalion, the Eleven Gorkha Rifles [5/11 GR] on 16th December 1978, where his father also served.
He attended the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington and the Higher Command Course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1997. From his tenure at the DSSC, he obtained an MPhil degree in Defence Studies as well as diplomas in Management and Computer Studies from the University of Madras. In 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut for his research on strategic studies.
He spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations. Promoted to the rank of brigadier, he commanded 5 Sector of Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore. Rawat commanded MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in Congo). Within two weeks of deployment in the DRC, the Brigade faced a major offensive in the East which threatened to destabilise the country. The situation demanded a rapid response and North Kivu Brigade was responsible for over 7,000 men and women. Rawat carried out tactical support to the Congolese Army (FARDC) and carried out detailed coordination to ensure that all were informed about the situation. Rawat was twice awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation.
He took over as the General Officer Commanding 19 Infantry Division (Uri) and later commanded III Corps, headquartered in Dimapur. In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by militants belonging to UNLFW in Manipur. The Indian Army responded with cross-border strikes in which units of 21 Para struck an NSCN-K base in Myanmar. 21 Para was under the operational control of III Corps.
He assumed the post of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command on 1st January 2016. After a short stint, he assumed the post of Vice Chief of Army Staff on 1st September 2016.
On 17th December 2016, the Government of India appointed Rawat as the Chief of the Army Staff, superseding two more senior Lieutenant Generals, Praveen Bakshi and P. M. Hariz. He took office of Chief of Army Staff on 31st December 2016.
In 2018, Rawat defended the army Major involved in the Kashmir human shield incident, where a Kashmiri man was tied to a jeep as a human shield. The officer was awarded a Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card by Rawat for counter-insurgency operations.
On his visit to US in 2019, General Rawat was inducted to the United States Army Command and General Staff College International Hall of Fame. He was an honorary General of Nepalese Army.
In 2017, at Doklam a 73-day military border standoff happened between the Indian Army and the Chinese Army due to construction of a road in Doklam near a tri-junction border area between Bhutan, China and India. Rawat did not hesitate to flex muscles. He also did not see any scope of reconciliation with Pakistan.
He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 and was responsible for coordination of the three services.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 other persons who were on board IAF’s Mi-17V5 chopper died after it crashed near Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor He was cremated with full military honours. Besides government officers and political leaders, large number of people paid homage to him at the funeral.