'General Bipin Rawat was a visionary, called a spade a spade'

'General Bipin Rawat was a visionary who could have done much more for our armed forces and our country in the years ahead'

Bengaluru-based Major General (Retired) KS Venugopal, who was GOC of Kerala and Karnataka Sub Area, and General Bipin Rawat, the late Chief of Defence Staff, served in North Kashmir together as sector commanders in Rashtriya Rifles.

In a tribute to his former colleague, Venugopal talks about the soldier and the gentleman, the braveheart who would always call a spade a spade, the colleague who owned a fertile mind and was loved immensely by his men.

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"General Bipin Rawat was a great soldier and a die-hard infantryman. We served together in North Kashmir in 2007. I was commanding 10 Sector Rashtriya Rifles(RR) at Pattan Baramulla and he was commanding 5 SectorRR near Bandipore.

Both sectors were adjacent to one another and therefore a lot of coordination and planning was required in counterterrorism operations.

I found Brigadier Rawat always very keen and active in the conduct of operations and he was readily available with his units and the men loved him immensely.

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"He was very quick to understand the ground situation and outwit the terrorist resulting in a high level of success with very minimum casualties to the troops under his command.

He had a very fertile mind and he could logically and systematically find solutions to tricky situations and problems. One knew that he would rise to become a higher commander in our great Army.

"Bipin Rawat always called a spade a spade and spoke out his mind even if he had to become unpopular in the bargain. But before making any statement, he studied the subject in detail, weighed the pros and cons, and gave his views with confidence and clarity.

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He was liked by the jawans and officers immensely. As a commander, he inspired them to attempt the impossible and come out with flying colours. I continued to meet him on a number of occasions, till I retired in 2013.

He was always warm and affectionate. The most important asset that he possessed was humility. And he was always grounded.

I will miss General Bipin Rawat, a visionary who could have done much more for our armed forces and our country in the years ahead."