The tragic death of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat along with other Armed Forces personnel in the chopper crash near Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on Wednesday refreshed the plane crash of 1963 in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Top commanders of the Indian Army and the Air Force were killed on that ill-fated day in 1963 in a helicopter crash in the Poonch district of the Jammu region.
Lieutenant General Daulat Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief (GoC-in-C), Western Command; Air Vice-Marshal E.W. Pinto, Air Officer Commanding, Western Command; Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps; Major General K.N.D. Nanavati, Military Cross, General Officer Commanding 25 Infantry Division; Brigadier S.R. Oberoi, Military Cross, Commander 93 Infantry Brigade and Flight Lieutenant S.S. Sodhi died in a helicopter crash November 22, 1963.
On 22 November 1963, an Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter of the Indian Air Force crashed in Poonch district en route to Poonch town, killing all six people on board. Six distinguished officers of the Indian Armed Forces were on board, including three general officers, an air officer, and a brigadier.
Senior generals were banned traveling together after the incident
The generals were en route on a reconnaissance mission and the accident impacted a protocol change wherein senior generals of the Army were banned from traveling together in the future. This was the first major accident in which Indian Army and Air Force officers lost their lives.
Lt Gen Bikram Singh was cremated at Jammu, rotary named after him
Although he was a native of the Kahma village in Nawanshahar of Punjab, Lt Gen Bikram Singh, also famous as the 'Hero of Ladakh", was cremated on the bank of the river Tawi in Jammu. Lt Gen Bikram Singh was so loved by the people of J&K that the body of the martyr was cremated in Jammu at Bikram Chowk.
"After the 1963 plane crash cremation of Lt General Bikram Singh was held at a place when Bikram Chowk exists now because locals wanted to conduct his last rites here. His mother herself approved of the ceremony because people loved him", Prab Dayal a local of Jammu recalled.
A square (Chowk) in Jammu has been named after him as Bikram Chowk where his statue has been installed as a mark of respect for the supreme services rendered to the Jammu and Ladakh region where every year people gather to garland the statue and pay tributes.
Raj Bhavan condoles the sad demise of Gen. Bipin Rawat
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha along with officers and staff of Raj Bhavan today condoled the sad demise of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and 11 Armed Forces personnel, who lost their lives in a tragic helicopter crash on December 8.
Raj Bhavan officials also observed silence for two minutes in the memory of General Rawat, his wife, and 11 Armed Forces Personnel. Conveying his deepest condolences to the members of bereaved families, the Lt Governor said that General Rawat's passing away is an irreparable loss to the nation.
"The country will forever remain indebted to General Rawat for his reforms in armed forces, outstanding leadership, and vision," Lt Governor said.
