K M Cariappa's statue unveiled at Chennai's OTA

Statue of Field Marshal K M Cariappa, first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, was unveiled at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) here on Saturday.

The life-size statue of one of the finest army officers in the country was unveiled by his son, retired Air Marshal K C Cariappa, in the presence of retired Major Generals T K Kaul and V D Chowgule.

The statue was donated by the alumni of the 5th Short Service Commission course, to commemorate the golden jubilee of their Commissioning from the academy. They had passed out from the academy in June 1968.

Field Marshal Cariappa, who was born in Madikeri, in Karnataka's Coorg district, led the Indian forces on the Western Front during the first Indo-Pakistan war of 1947 and is one of the only two Indian Army officers to hold the five-star rank of field marshal; the other being Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

“My father had great regards for the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. Soon after he took over as commander-in-chief of Indian Army, he took us to Raj Ghat and said but for him, he wouldn't have been standing here,” K C Cariappa said.

Major General V D Chowgule, Commandant of the OTA, said the statue of Cariappa will continue to inspire future generations of soldiers.