DNA Special: 'Nationalist' tribute to bravehearts

Today, when General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were on their final journey, a lot happened that hardly anyone would have thought. Thousands of people were shouting slogans of Vande Mataram and Jai Hind outside his residence in Delhi. Often, such crowds are seen either outside cinema halls or in politicians' rallies. But the common people of this country took to the streets to bid farewell to General Bipin Rawat for the last time and made his last journey historic and spectacular.

During this last 10 kilometres long journey, there was a boy who had the national flag of the country in his hand and was constantly running with the army truck. What can be more powerful than when a youth of this country voluntarily carries the tricolour and runs with the mortal remains of his general. This is the spirit of real nationalism, which General Bipin Rawat has brought alive in the minds of the people with his demise.

When the army truck carrying the mortal remains of General Rawat came out of his house, a large number of people were running alongside him. A slogan was constantly echoing among this crowd and that slogan was "Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Bipin Rawat ka naam rahega". During this last journey, there was a huge crowd of people on both sides of the road. These people had reached there several hours ago and when the body of CDS and his wife passed by, they bowed down to them and showered flowers on them. With this, you can guess the popularity of General Bipin Rawat among the common people.

The last rites of General Rawat and his wife were performed by their two daughters Kritika and Tarini Rawat, who also lit the pyre. Generally, a 21-gun salute is given in India but General Bipin Rawat was given a 17-gun salute. In fact, only 17 gun salutes are given to senior officers of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of Army and Air Force. The post of Chief of Defence Staff is new in India and this post is associated with the army, that is why he was also given a salute of 17 guns, not 21. Ambassadors of many countries including France and Britain also attended this cremation. Britain's High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said that the Indian Army and India have lost a great soldier today. This shows that General Rawat was very popular among other countries as well.

Earlier, tributes were paid to General Bipin Rawat and his wife at their Delhi residence. Several big leaders and army officers, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, paid tribute to him. During this, a scene made people very emotional. the daughter of General Bipin Rawat, whose name is Kritika, had her younger son in arms, who offered flowers to her maternal grandmother and also touched his feet. A soldier's life ends at such a turning point. He dedicates his whole life to the security of the country and his family also does not back down from this sacrifice.

Be it Lal Chowk in Kashmir or Rajkot in Gujarat, Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh or Sulur in Tamil Nadu, today, everyone is paying tribute to General Bipin Rawat, saluting him and saying that this country will never forget its general.

You will often hear a lot about nationalism. In the last few years and especially after 2014, there has been a lot of discussion on nationalism in our country. Sometimes nationalism was described as limited to right-wing ideology, sometimes it was an attempt to prove it as a political idea by linking it to a party. But these pictures show that these efforts never came to fruition. A picture has come from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, where a simple man repairing shoes on the footpath paid tribute to General Bipin Rawat by placing a picture of him on the chair and accepted him as his god.

It is only a change of seven years that today people of different religions, castes and classes are joining the spirit of nationalism and paying tribute to General Bipin Rawat. You can also understand this from pictures from different places in Jammu and Kashmir, where people gave a stern reply to Pakistan by giving their last farewell to their general. These pictures must not be looking good to Pakistan today.

By the way, nationalism is defined in different ways. But in a few words, true allegiance to the nation, its progress and the principle of upholding all the rules and ideals towards it is the real nationalism. And General Bipin Rawat has given a formula of solidarity to the country by keeping this spirit alive. That is, in the form of nationalism, today India has that capital, which cannot be valued.