Misplaced Pages

#189810

115-623: General Bipin Rawat PVSM UYSM AVSM YSM SM VSM ADC (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army . He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 until his death in a helicopter crash in December 2021. Prior to taking over as

230-1009: A 73-day military border standoff happened between the Indian Armed Forces and the People's Liberation Army of China over Chinese construction of a road in Doklam near a trijunction border area between Bhutan , China and India . After the standoff ended Rawat said China had begun 'flexing its muscles' and was trying to 'nibble away' territory held by India in a gradual manner to test the limits of thresholds. He stated, India had to be "wary about" China, "and remain prepared for situations that could develop into conflicts". Rawat said that India did not "see any scope for reconciliation with Pakistan as its military, polity and people have decided that India wants to break their country into pieces". Rawat suspected Pakistan could "swing into action to take advantage of India's preoccupation with China". Rawat thus highlighted

345-721: A company in Uri , Jammu and Kashmir as a Major. He attended the Defence Services Staff College , Wellington . After the course, he was appointed General Staff Officer, Grade 2 (GSO2) at the Military Operations Directorate at Army headquarters. He also served as a logistics staff officer of a Re-organised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID) in Central India. He attended the Higher Command Course at

460-489: A Hindu religious identity". Scholars state that Hindu, Buddhist and Jain identities are retrospectively-introduced modern constructions. Inscriptional evidence from the 8th century onwards, in regions such as South India, suggests that medieval era India, at both elite and folk religious practices level, likely had a "shared religious culture", and their collective identities were "multiple, layered and fuzzy". Even among Hinduism denominations such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism,

575-516: A North western Indian region of seven rivers and as an India whole). The Greek cognates of the same terms are " Indus " (for the river) and " India " (for the land of the river). Likewise Hebrew cognate hōd-dū refers to India mentioned in Hebrew Bible ( Esther 1:1 ). The term " Hindu " also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent around or beyond

690-604: A common name for the country. Al-Biruni 's 11th-century text Tarikh Al-Hind , and the texts of the Delhi Sultanate period use the term 'Hindu', where it includes all non-Islamic people such as Buddhists, and retains the ambiguity of being "a region or a religion". The 'Hindu' community occurs as the amorphous 'Other' of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, according to the Indian historian Romila Thapar . The comparative religion scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that

805-523: A consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognised as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority". Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether Jainism is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006. Starting after the 10th century and particularly after the 12th century Islamic invasion, states Sheldon Pollock , the political response fused with

920-576: A diversity of beliefs, and seems to oscillate between Hindus holding a centralist and pluralist religious views. In the texts of Delhi Sultanate era, states Sharma, the term Hindu remains ambiguous on whether it means people of a region or religion, giving the example of Ibn Battuta's explanation of the name "Hindu Kush" for a mountain range in Afghanistan. It was so called, wrote Ibn Battuta, because many Indian slaves died there of snow cold, as they were marched across that mountain range. The term Hindu there

1035-566: A fixed set of religious beliefs within Hinduism. One need not be religious in the minimal sense, states Julius Lipner , to be accepted as Hindu by Hindus, or to describe oneself as Hindu. Hindus subscribe to a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but have no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, nor a single founding prophet; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Because of

1150-680: A general are: Appointments to the office of CDS and COAS are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which is chaired by the Prime Minister of India . The term length of the Chief of Defence Staff is three years or until the age of 65 of the holder, whichever is earlier. The Chief of the Army Staff reaches superannuation upon three years in the office or at the age of 62, whichever

1265-401: A reasonable construction of history. However, the existence of non-textual evidence such as cave temples separated by thousands of kilometers, as well as lists of medieval era pilgrimage sites, is evidence of a shared sacred geography and existence of a community that was self-aware of shared religious premises and landscape. Further, it is a norm in evolving cultures that there is a gap between

SECTION 10

#1732876275190

1380-430: A result of Western influence during its colonial history. Scholars such as Fleming and Eck state that the post-Epic era literature from the 1st millennium CE amply demonstrate that there was a historic concept of the Indian subcontinent as a sacred geography, where the sacredness was a shared set of religious ideas. For example, the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shaivism and fifty-one Shaktipithas of Shaktism are described in

1495-625: A sacred pilgrimage site is documented in the Varanasimahatmya text embedded inside the Skanda Purana , and the oldest versions of this text are dated to 6th to 8th-century CE. The idea of twelve sacred sites in Shiva Hindu tradition spread across the Indian subcontinent appears not only in the medieval era temples but also in copper plate inscriptions and temple seals discovered in different sites. According to Bhardwaj, non-Hindu texts such as

1610-747: A saint. [...] When Khusraw stopped at his residence, [Arjan] came out and had an interview with [Khusraw]. Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called qashqa in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. Sikh scholar Pashaura Singh states, "in Persian writings, Sikhs were regarded as Hindu in

1725-674: A short stint, he was promoted to the Army Commander grade and assumed the post of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command on 1 January 2016. After an eight-month tenure, he assumed the post of Vice Chief of the Army Staff on 1 September 2016. On 17 December 2016, the Government of India appointed Rawat as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff , superseding two more senior Lieutenant Generals , Praveen Bakshi ( Eastern Army Commander ) and P. M. Hariz ( Southern Army Commander ). The appointment made by NDA ruled Government

1840-667: A special conference at Wilton Park , London, on 16 May 2009. Rawat was twice awarded the Force Commander's Commendation. After promotion to Major General , Rawat took over as the General Officer Commanding 19th Infantry Division ( Uri ). For his command of the Dagger Division, as the 19th Infantry Division is called, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2013. He subsequently served as

1955-569: A two-front war situation without offering a solution or remedy. Until 2019, Rawat had given statements warning India to be prepared for a simultaneous war on two fronts against China and Pakistan. In September 2017, during a seminar in Delhi, Rawat said that "warfare lies within the realm of reality" along India borders with China and Pakistan, even though all the three countries have nuclear arms. According to critics, Rawat neither prepared for such an outcome nor initiated measures to thwart it. He served as

2070-581: A uniform civil code, where all citizens are subject to the same laws, everyone has equal civil rights, and individual rights do not depend on the individual's religion. In contrast, opponents of Hindu nationalists remark that eliminating religious law from India poses a threat to the cultural identity and religious rights of Muslims, and people of Islamic faith have a constitutional right to Islamic shariah -based personal laws. A specific law, contentious between Hindu nationalists and their opponents in India, relates to

2185-598: A wedding or when a baby is born or cremation rituals. Some Hindus go on pilgrimage to shared sites they consider spiritually significant, practice one or more forms of bhakti or puja , celebrate mythology and epics, major festivals, love and respect for guru and family, and other cultural traditions. A Hindu could: In the Constitution of India , the word "Hindu" has been used in some places to denote persons professing any of these religions: Hinduism , Jainism , Buddhism or Sikhism . This however has been challenged by

2300-469: Is a controversial political subject, with no consensus about what it means or implies in terms of the form of government and religious rights of the minorities. There are 1.2 billion Hindus worldwide (15% of world's population), with about 95% of them being concentrated in India alone. Along with Christians (31.5%), Muslims (23.2%) and Buddhists (7.1%), Hindus are one of the four major religious groups of

2415-464: Is a term used to describe the culture and identity of Hindus and Hinduism , including the historic Vedic people . Hindu culture can be intensively seen in the form of art , architecture , history , diet , clothing , astrology and other forms. The culture of India and Hinduism is deeply influenced and assimilated with each other. With the Indianisation of southeast Asia and Greater India ,

SECTION 20

#1732876275190

2530-651: Is ambivalent and could mean geographical region or religion. The term Hindu appears in the texts from the Mughal Empire era. Jahangir , for example, called the Sikh Guru Arjan a Hindu: There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be

2645-474: Is an organic relation of Sikhs to Hindus, states Zaehner, both in religious thought and their communities, and virtually all Sikhs' ancestors were Hindus. Marriages between Sikhs and Hindus, particularly among Khatris , were frequent. Some Hindu families brought up a son as a Sikh, and some Hindus view Sikhism as a tradition within Hinduism, even though the Sikh faith is a distinct religion. Julius Lipner states that

2760-631: Is documented in Islamic literature such as those relating to 8th century Muhammad bin-Qasim , 11th century Mahmud of Ghazni , the Persian traveler Al Biruni, the 14th century Islamic army invasion led by Timur, and various Sunni Islamic rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. There were occasional exceptions such as Akbar who stopped the persecution of Hindus, and occasional severe persecution such as under Aurangzeb , who destroyed temples, forcibly converted non-Muslims to Islam and banned

2875-906: Is earlier. A general ranks at No. 12 on the Indian order of precedence , along with the CDS and the Chiefs of Staff of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force (the CNS and the CAS ). A general is at pay level 18, equivalent to Cabinet Secretary of India (at No. 11 on the warrant of precedence), with a monthly pay of ₹250,000 (US$ 3,500). Hindu Traditional Hindus ( Hindustani: [ˈɦɪndu] ; / ˈ h ɪ n d uː z / ; also known as Sanātanīs ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism , also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma . Historically,

2990-638: Is named for Rawat. The programme is aimed at enhancing professional military contacts between the two armed forces and facilitate the exchange of ideas and operational experiences. On Rawat's 65th birth anniversary, the Indian Navy instituted the General Bipin Rawat rolling trophy for the Woman Agniveer Trainee standing First in Overall Order of Merit. The trophy was instituted to honour his contribution to transformational Agnipath Scheme and

3105-928: Is presented at the sailors training centre INS Chilka . The Navy also instituted the General Bipin Rawat Rolling trophy for the Most Spirited Officer undergoing the Naval Higher Command Course (NHCC) at the Naval War College, Goa . In December 2013, the Jhelum Stadium in Janbazpora, Baramulla was renamed General Bipin Rawat stadium . Rawat had served as the GOC 19 Infantry Division, headquartered at Baramulla. During his career of nearly 43 years, he

3220-554: Is this Rama to be described.. who freed Varanasi from the mleccha (barbarian, Turk Muslim) horde, and built there a golden temple of Sarngadhara". Pollock notes that the Yadava king Ramacandra is described as a devotee of deity Shiva (Shaivism), yet his political achievements and temple construction sponsorship in Varanasi, far from his kingdom's location in the Deccan region, is described in

3335-567: The 2015 Indian counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar took place where units under his command executed cross-border strikes against the NSCN-K . In early 2016, Rawat was promoted to Army Commander grade and appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command . After a short stint, he moved to Army HQ as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff . In December that year, he was appointed the next Chief of

3450-837: The Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) during Bipin Rawat's tenure as Chief of the Army Staff. She became the president of the Defence Wives Welfare Association (DWWA), upon the creation of the post and the appointment of General Bipin Rawat as the first CDS. She worked to make the wives of defence personnel financially independent. She was also involved with NGOs and welfare associations such as Veer Naris that assists widows of military personnel, differently-abled children and cancer patients. On 8 December 2021, Rawat, his wife and members of his staff were amongst 10 passengers and 4 crew members aboard an Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 helicopter flight en route from

3565-634: The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Until 1 January 2020, when the post of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) was established, the COAS was the only officer to hold the rank of full general. Upon the creation of the post and the appointment of General Bipin Rawat as the first CDS, there were two serving full generals for the first time in Independent India. The rank insignia of a general are: The gorget patches of

Bipin Rawat - Misplaced Pages Continue

3680-630: The Democratic Republic of the Congo ). Within two weeks of deployment in the DRC, the Brigade faced a major offensive in the east which threatened the regional capital of North Kivu , Goma . The offensive also threatened to destabilise the country as a whole. The situation demanded a rapid response and North Kivu Brigade was reinforced, where it was responsible for over 7,000 men and women, representing nearly half of

3795-487: The Hindu Sabhas (Hindu associations), and ultimately a Hindu-identity driven nationalism in the 1920s. The colonial era Hindu revivalism and mobilisation, along with Hindu nationalism, states Peter van der Veer, was primarily a reaction to and competition with Muslim separatism and Muslim nationalism. The successes of each side fed the fears of the other, leading to the growth of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism in

3910-642: The India International Centre in New Delhi, General Rawat touched upon the theory of clash of civilisations with regards to the western civilisation and China's growing relations with countries like Iran and Turkey. The next day, on 16 September 2021, India's Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that India does not subscribe to any clash of civilisations theory. In 1985, Rawat married Madhulika Rawat (née Raje Singh). A descendant of an erstwhile princely family, she

4025-483: The Indian Air Force is air chief marshal . As of 2024, there are two serving full generals in the Indian Armed Forces , General Anil Chauhan , the Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee , and General Upendra Dwiwedi , the Chief of the Army Staff . The first Indian to hold the rank of full general was K. M. Cariappa . He was promoted to the acting rank of General when he took over as

4140-762: The Sindhu (Indus) River . By the 16th century CE, the term began to refer to residents of the subcontinent who were not Turkic or Muslims . Since ancient times, Hindu has been used to refer to people inhibiting region beyond the Sindhu river, therefore some assumptions that medieval Persian authors considered Hindu as derogatory is not accepted by practicing Hindus themselves as those references are much later to references used in pre-Islamic Persian sources, early Arab and Indian sources, all of them had positive connotation only as they either referred to region or followers of Hinduism. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within

4255-725: The St. Edward's School, Shimla . He then joined the National Defence Academy , Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy , Dehradun , from where he graduated first in the order of merit and was awarded the 'Sword of Honour'. Rawat was also a graduate of 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

4370-543: The Sulur Air Force Base to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, where Rawat was to deliver a lecture. At around 12:10 p.m. local time, the aircraft crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, Bandishola panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor taluk, Nilgiris district . The crash site

4485-578: The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom . These together accounted for 99% of the world's Hindu population, and the remaining nations of the world combined had about 6 million Hindus as of 2010 . The word Hindu is an exonym . This word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu , which means "a large body of water", covering "river, ocean". It was used as

4600-599: The United Nations as the Commander of a Multinational Brigade as part of MONUSCO . Promoted to general officer , Rawat commanded the 19 Infantry Division at Uri . He then served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) at Headquarters Eastern Command . In 2014, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed General officer commanding (GOC) III Corps at Dimapur . During this tenure,

4715-549: The United States Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . As a colonel , Rawat commanded his battalion, the 5th battalion , the 11 Gorkha Rifles , in the eastern sector along the Line of Actual Control at Kibithu . For his command of 5/11 GR, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2001. He also served as Colonel Military Secretary (Col MS) and Deputy Military Secretary in

Bipin Rawat - Misplaced Pages Continue

4830-660: The Upanishads . The Puranas and the Itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabharata ) are enduring traditions among Indonesian Hindus, expressed in community dances and shadow puppet ( wayang ) performances. As in India, Indonesian Hindus recognise four paths of spirituality, calling it Catur Marga . Similarly, like Hindus in India, Balinese Hindus believe that there are four proper goals of human life, calling it Catur Purusartha – dharma (pursuit of moral and ethical living), artha (pursuit of wealth and creative activity), kama (pursuit of joy and love) and moksha (pursuit of self-knowledge and liberation). Hindu culture

4945-399: The "lived and historical realities" of a religious tradition and the emergence of related "textual authorities". The tradition and temples likely existed well before the medieval era Hindu manuscripts appeared that describe them and the sacred geography. This, states Fleming, is apparent given the sophistication of the architecture and the sacred sites along with the variance in the versions of

5060-536: The 17th-century Bhakta Mala text using the phrase "Hindu dharma ". Scholar Arvind Sharma notes that the term "Hindus" was used in the 'Brahmanabad settlement' which Muhammad ibn Qasim made with non-Muslims after the Arab invasion of northwestern Sindh region of India, in 712 CE. The term 'Hindu' meant people who were non-Muslims, and it included Buddhists of the region. In the 11th-century text of Al Biruni, Hindus are referred to as "religious antagonists" to Islam, as those who believe in rebirth, presents them to hold

5175-484: The 1920s, as a reaction to the Islamic Khilafat Movement wherein Indian Muslims championed and took the cause of the Turkish Ottoman sultan as the Caliph of all Muslims, at the end of the World War I . Hindus viewed this development as one of divided loyalties of Indian Muslim population, of pan-Islamic hegemony, and questioned whether Indian Muslims were a part of an inclusive anti-colonial Indian nationalism. The Hindu nationalism ideology that emerged, states Jeffrelot,

5290-524: The 19th century as a response to British colonialism by Indian nationalists and neo-Hinduism gurus. Jaffrelot states that the efforts of Christian missionaries and Islamic proselytizers, during the British colonial era, each of whom tried to gain new converts to their own religion, by stereotyping and stigmatising Hindus to an identity of being inferior and superstitious, contributed to Hindus re-asserting their spiritual heritage and counter cross examining Islam and Christianity, forming organisations such as

5405-449: The 21st battalion of the Parachute Regiment struck an NSCN-K base in Myanmar . 21 Para was under the operational control of the Dimapur based III Corps , which was then commanded by Rawat. For his command of III Corps, he was awarded the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal on 26 January 2016. After relinquishing command of III Corps , Rawat was appointed General Officer Commanding Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa Area, headquartered in Mumbai. After

5520-400: The 7th-century CE Chinese text Records on the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang . Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose "connotation overflows in the religious" according to Arvind Sharma . While Xuanzang suggested that the term refers to the country named after the moon, another Buddhist scholar I-tsing contradicted the conclusion saying that In-tu was not

5635-417: The Army Staff superseding two senior generals. As the senior-most chief of staff amongst the three services, he served as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Indian Armed Forces from September 2019 to December 2021. He was appointed as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces in January 2020 and served until his death in December 2021. During Rawat's tenure as

5750-405: The CDS, he served as the 57th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman COSC) of the Indian Armed Forces as well as 27th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army. Born in Pauri, Pauri Garhwal district in present-day Uttarakhand to Lieutenant General Lakshman Singh Rawat , he graduated from the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy where he was awarded

5865-422: The COAS, in 2017, a 73-day military border standoff happened at Doklam between the Indian Armed Forces and the People's Liberation Army . Bipin Rawat was born in Pauri town of Pauri Garhwal district , present-day Uttarakhand state, on 16 March 1958 to a Hindu Garhwali Rajput family. His family had been serving in the Indian Army for multiple generations. His father Lakshman Singh Rawat (1930–2015)

SECTION 50

#1732876275190

5980-428: The Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army on 15 January 1949. All the chiefs of the Indian Army after him, have been full generals. Since 1950, it has been a tradition for the President of India to award the chief of the Nepalese Army with the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army. The rank is held by the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), the professional head of the Indian Army , and may also be held by

6095-400: 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 military-media strategic studies. Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GR) on 16 December 1978,

6210-420: The European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. Other prominent mentions of 'Hindu' include the epigraphical inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh kingdoms who battled military expansion of Muslim dynasties in the 14th century, where the word 'Hindu' partly implies a religious identity in contrast to 'Turks' or Islamic religious identity. The term Hindu

6325-678: The Hindu identities, states Leslie Orr, lacked "firm definitions and clear boundaries". Overlaps in Jain-Hindu identities have included Jains worshipping Hindu deities, intermarriages between Jains and Hindus, and medieval era Jain temples featuring Hindu religious icons and sculpture. Beyond India, on Java island of Indonesia , historical records attest to marriages between Hindus and Buddhists, medieval era temple architecture and sculptures that simultaneously incorporate Hindu and Buddhist themes, where Hinduism and Buddhism merged and functioned as "two separate paths within one overall system", according to Ann Kenney and other scholars. Similarly, there

6440-523: The Hindu identity and religious response to Islamic invasion and wars developed in different kingdoms, such as wars between Islamic Sultanates and the Vijayanagara kingdom, and Islamic raids on the kingdoms in Tamil Nadu . These wars were described not just using the mythical story of Rama from Ramayana, states Chattopadhyaya, the medieval records used a wide range of religious symbolism and myths that are now considered as part of Hindu literature. This emergence of religious with political terminology began with

6555-413: The Hindu-majority post-British India. After the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the Hindu nationalism movement developed the concept of Hindutva in second half of the 20th century. The Hindu nationalism movement has sought to reform Indian laws, that critics say attempts to impose Hindu values on India's Islamic minority. Gerald Larson states, for example, that Hindu nationalists have sought

6670-701: The Hindus and intensely scrutinized them, but did not interrogate and avoided reporting the practices and religion of Mughal and Arabs in South Asia", and often relied on Muslim scholars to characterise Hindus. In contemporary era, the term Hindus are individuals who identify with one or more aspects of Hinduism , whether they are practising or non-practicing or Laissez-faire . The term does not include those who identify with other Indian religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism or various animist tribal religions found in India such as Sarnaism . The term Hindu, in contemporary parlance, includes people who accept themselves as culturally or ethnically Hindu rather than with

6785-450: The Indian subcontinent. In the 20th century, the sense of religious nationalism grew in India, states van der Veer, but only Muslim nationalism succeeded with the formation of the West and East Pakistan (later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh), as "an Islamic state" upon independence. Religious riots and social trauma followed as millions of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs moved out of the newly created Islamic states and resettled into

6900-403: The Indic religious culture and doctrines. Temples dedicated to deity Rama were built from north to south India, and textual records as well as hagiographic inscriptions began comparing the Hindu epic of Ramayana to regional kings and their response to Islamic attacks. The Yadava king of Devagiri named Ramacandra , for example states Pollock, is described in a 13th-century record as, "How

7015-442: The Major General General Staff (MGGS) of the Eastern Command . Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General , he was appointed General Officer Commanding III Corps , headquartered in Dimapur . In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) in Manipur . The Indian Army responded with cross-border strikes in which units of

SECTION 60

#1732876275190

7130-403: The Military Secretary's Branch and as a Senior Instructor in the Junior Command Wing. On 26 January 2005, he was awarded the Sena Medal for devotion to duty. Promoted to the rank of Brigadier , he commanded 5 Sector Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore . He was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal for his command of 5 Sector RR. Rawat commanded MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in

7245-515: The Puranic literature. According to Diana L. Eck and other Indologists such as André Wink, Muslim invaders were aware of Hindu sacred geography such as Mathura, Ujjain, and Varanasi by the 11th century. These sites became a target of their serial attacks in the centuries that followed. The Hindus have been persecuted during the medieval and modern era. The medieval persecution included waves of plunder, killing, destruction of temples and enslavement by Turk-Mongol Muslim armies from central Asia. This

7360-611: The Sikhs and by neo-Buddhists who were formerly Hindus. According to Sheen and Boyle, Jains have not objected to being covered by personal laws termed under 'Hindu', but Indian courts have acknowledged that Jainism is a distinct religion. The Republic of India is in the peculiar situation that the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism" because the Constitution of India , while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen" on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language". As

7475-403: The Sword of Honour. He was commissioned into his father's unit - 11 Gorkha Rifles . He served during the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley. He commanded a company in Uri and his battalion - 5/11 GR along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh . Promoted to the rank of Brigadier , he commanded 5 sector Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore . He subsequently served with

7590-399: The United Nations, he was awarded the Force Commander's commendation twice. He was posthumously honored with the Padma Vibhushan in 2022. General (India) A general may be referred to as a full general or four-star general to distinguish them from lower general officer ranks like lieutenant general and major general . The equivalent rank in the Indian Navy is admiral and in

7705-434: The Yavanas [Muslims], The Kali age now deserves deepest congratulations for being at the zenith of its power, gone is the sacred learning, hidden is refinement, hushed is the voice of Dharma . The historiographic writings in Telugu language from the 13th- and 14th-century Kakatiya dynasty period presents a similar "alien other (Turk)" and "self-identity (Hindu)" contrast. Chattopadhyaya, and other scholars, state that

7820-408: The air force and navy. The statement had antagonised the Air Force and Navy. In early 2021, Rawat called the Indian Air Force a "supporting arm" of India's defence network and infrastructure. Air Chief Marshal R. K. S. Bhadauria made a public statement in response that the IAF served a bigger role than a supporting arm. On 15 September 2021 while speaking at an event in the capacity of the CDS at

7935-436: 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 the Army Staff Commendation Card by Rawat for counter-insurgency operations. Rawat had been criticized by the opposition party leaders for making political statements during the Citizenship Amendment Act protests . On his visit to the United States in 2019, General Rawat

8050-423: The celebration of Hindu festivals such as Holi and Diwali . Other recorded persecution of Hindus include those under the reign of 18th century Tipu Sultan in south India, and during the colonial era. In the modern era, religious persecution of Hindus have been reported outside India in Pakistan and Bangladesh . Christophe Jaffrelot states that modern Hindu nationalism was born in Maharashtra , in

8165-427: The creation of theatre commands, both integrated and joint commands, will take a number of years. Indian Air Force opposed the formation of unified theatre commands citing limitation of resources. Rawat put emphasis on the 'supremacy and primacy' of the Indian Army over the Air force and Navy, in fighting wars. Rawat had stated, "Wars will be fought on land, and therefore the primacy of the army must be maintained over

8280-431: The custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs is a modern phenomena, but one that is a convenient abstraction. Distinguishing Indian traditions is a fairly recent practice, states Lipner, and is the result of "not only Western preconceptions about the nature of religion in general and of religion in India in particular, but also with the political awareness that has arisen in India" in its people and

8395-472: The early medieval era Puranas as pilgrimage sites around a theme. This sacred geography and Shaiva temples with same iconography, shared themes, motifs and embedded legends are found across India, from the Himalayas to hills of South India, from Ellora Caves to Varanasi by about the middle of 1st millennium. Shakti temples, dated to a few centuries later, are verifiable across the subcontinent. Varanasi as

8510-437: The first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 until his death in December 2021. India as of 2021 had service–specific commands system. joint and integrated commands, also known as unified commands ; and further divided into theatre or functional commands, have been set up and more are proposed. In February 2020, Rawat said two to five theatre commands may be set up. The completion of

8625-534: The first Muslim invasion of Sindh in the 8th century CE, and intensified 13th century onwards. The 14th-century Sanskrit text, Madhuravijayam , a memoir written by Gangadevi , the wife of Vijayanagara prince, for example describes the consequences of war using religious terms, I very much lament for what happened to the groves in Madhura , The coconut trees have all been cut and in their place are to be seen,   rows of iron spikes with human skulls dangling at

8740-486: The highest percentage of Hindus (in decreasing order) are Nepal , India , Mauritius , Fiji , Guyana , Bhutan , Suriname , Trinidad and Tobago , Qatar , Sri Lanka , Kuwait , Bangladesh , Réunion , Malaysia , and Singapore . The fertility rate, that is children per woman, for Hindus is 2.4, which is less than the world average of 2.5. Pew Research projects that there will be 1.4 billion Hindus by 2050. In more ancient times, Hindu kingdoms arose and spread

8855-598: The historical records in Vaishnavism terms of Rama, a deity Vishnu avatar. Pollock presents many such examples and suggests an emerging Hindu political identity that was grounded in the Hindu religious text of Ramayana, one that has continued into the modern times, and suggests that this historic process began with the arrival of Islam in India. Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya has questioned the Pollock theory and presented textual and inscriptional evidence. According to Chattopadhyaya,

8970-476: The influential Asiatick Researches founded in the 18th century, later called The Asiatic Society , initially identified just two religions in India – Islam, and Hinduism. These orientalists included all Indian religions such as Buddhism as a subgroup of Hinduism in the 18th century. These texts called followers of Islam as Mohamedans , and all others as Hindus . The text, by the early 19th century, began dividing Hindus into separate groups, for chronology studies of

9085-486: The legal age of marriage for girls. Hindu nationalists seek that the legal age for marriage be eighteen that is universally applied to all girls regardless of their religion and that marriages be registered with local government to verify the age of marriage. Muslim clerics consider this proposal as unacceptable because under the shariah-derived personal law, a Muslim girl can be married at any age after she reaches puberty. Hindu nationalism in India, states Katharine Adeney,

9200-664: The local Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear. Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era , or that it may have developed post-8th century CE after the Muslim invasions and medieval Hindu–Muslim wars . A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and Bengali . The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati , Kabir , Tulsidas and Eknath used

9315-509: The memoirs of Chinese Buddhist and Persian Muslim travellers attest to the existence and significance of the pilgrimage to sacred geography among Hindus by later 1st millennium CE. According to Fleming, those who question whether the term Hindu and Hinduism are a modern construction in a religious context present their arguments based on some texts that have survived into the modern era, either of Islamic courts or of literature published by Western missionaries or colonial-era Indologists aiming for

9430-415: The mid-19th century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists , Sikhs and Jains , but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid-20th century. Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. At approximately 1.2 billion, Hindus are

9545-399: The military and political campaign during the medieval era wars in Deccan peninsula of India, and in the north India, were no longer a quest for sovereignty, they embodied a political and religious animosity against the "otherness of Islam", and this began the historical process of Hindu identity formation. Andrew Nicholson, in his review of scholarship on Hindu identity history, states that

9660-659: The name of the Indus River and also referred to its tributaries. The actual term 'hindu' first occurs, states Gavin Flood, as "a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu )", more specifically in the 5th-century BCE, DNa inscription of Darius I . The Punjab region , called Sapta Sindhu in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta . The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions

9775-431: The phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma ( Islam ). The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term 'Hindu' in a religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus , in contrast to Mohamedans for groups such as Turks, Mughals and Arabs , who were adherents of Islam. By

9890-511: The points, In the highways which were once charming with anklets sound of beautiful women,   are now heard ear-piercing noises of Brahmins being dragged, bound in iron-fetters, The waters of Tambraparni , which were once white with sandal paste,   are now flowing red with the blood of cows slaughtered by miscreants, Earth is no longer the producer of wealth, nor does Indra give timely rains, The God of death takes his undue toll of what are left lives if undestroyed by

10005-739: The protection of the vulnerable population. This operational period lasted for four months. Goma never fell, the East stabilized and the main armed group was motivated to the negotiating table and has since been integrated into the FARDC. He was also tasked to present the Revised Charter of Peace Enforcement to the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General and Force Commanders of all the UN missions in

10120-433: The province of Hi[n]dush , referring to northwestern India. The people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian language in the 8th century text Chachnama . According to D. N. Jha , the term 'Hindu' in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term and did not refer to a religion. Among the earliest known records of 'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in

10235-511: The religion and traditions across Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand , Nepal , Burma , Malaysia , Indonesia , Cambodia , Laos , Philippines , and what is now central Vietnam . Over 3 million Hindus are found in Bali Indonesia, a culture whose origins trace back to ideas brought by Hindu traders to Indonesian islands in the 1st millennium CE. Their sacred texts are also the Vedas and

10350-449: The religions have drawn their curved swords;" however, the date of this text is unclear and considered by most scholars to be more recent. In Islamic literature, 'Abd al-Malik Isami 's Persian work, Futuhu's-salatin , composed in the Deccan under Bahmani rule in 1350, uses the word ' hindi' to mean Indian in the ethno-geographical sense and the word ' hindu' to mean 'Hindu' in

10465-637: The same unit as his father. During the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley, then Captain Rawat's battalion was deployed against the Chinese People's Liberation Army . The standoff was the first military confrontation along the disputed McMahon Line after the 1962 war . Early in his career, Rawat had an instructional tenure at the Indian Military Academy , Dehradun . He had much experience in high-altitude warfare and spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations. He commanded

10580-473: The sense of a follower of the Hindu religion". The poet Vidyapati 's Kirtilata (1380) uses the term Hindu in the sense of a religion, it contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks (Muslims) in a city and concludes "The Hindus and the Turks live close together; Each makes fun of the other's religion ( dhamme )." One of the earliest uses of word 'Hindu' in a religious context, in a European language (Spanish),

10695-443: The sense of non-Muslim Indians". However, scholars like Robert Fraser and Mary Hammond opine that Sikhism began initially as a militant sect of Hinduism and it got formally separated from Hinduism only in the 20th century. During the colonial era, the term Hindu had connotations of native religions of India, that is religions other than Christianity and Islam. In early colonial era Anglo-Hindu laws and British India court system,

10810-470: The term 'Hindu' retained its geographical reference initially: 'Indian', 'indigenous, local', virtually 'native'. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves and their "traditional ways" from those of the invaders. The text Prithviraj Raso , by Chand Bardai , about the 1192 CE defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Muhammad Ghori , is full of references to "Hindus" and "Turks", and at one stage, says "both

10925-408: The term Hindu referred to people of all Indian religions as well as two non-Indian religions: Judaism and Zoroastrianism. In the 20th century, personal laws were formulated for Hindus, and the term 'Hindu' in these colonial 'Hindu laws' applied to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in addition to denominational Hindus. Beyond the stipulations of British colonial law, European orientalists and particularly

11040-452: The term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent . It is assumed that the term "Hindu" traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term Sapta Sindhuḥ (This term Sapta Sindhuḥ is mentioned in RigVeda that refers to

11155-522: The total MONUSCO force. Whilst simultaneously engaged in offensive kinetic operations against the CNDP and other armed groups, Rawat (then Brigadier ) carried out tactical support to the Congolese Army ( FARDC ), He sensitised programmes with the local population and detailed coordination to ensure that all were informed about the situation and worked together in the progress of operations. He was responsible for

11270-505: The various beliefs. Among the earliest terms to emerge were Seeks and their College (later spelled Sikhs by Charles Wilkins), Boudhism (later spelled Buddhism), and in the 9th volume of Asiatick Researches report on religions in India, the term Jainism received notice. According to Pennington, the terms Hindu and Hinduism were thus constructed for colonial studies of India. The various sub-divisions and separation of subgroup terms were assumed to be result of "communal conflict", and Hindu

11385-451: The vernacular literature of Bhakti movement sants from 15th to 17th century, such as Kabir , Anantadas, Eknath, Vidyapati, suggests that distinct religious identities, between Hindus and Turks (Muslims), had formed during these centuries. The poetry of this period contrasts Hindu and Islamic identities, states Nicholson, and the literature vilifies the Muslims coupled with a "distinct sense of

11500-424: The wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it". A Hindu may, by his or her choice, draw upon ideas of other Indian or non-Indian religious thought as a resource, follow or evolve his or her personal beliefs, and still identify as a Hindu. In 1995, Chief Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar

11615-472: The world's third-largest religious group after Christians and Muslims. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million (94.3% of the global Hindu population), live in India , according to the 2011 Indian census. After India, the next nine countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order: Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , the United States , Malaysia ,

11730-560: The world. Most Hindus are found in Asian countries. The top twenty-five countries with the most Hindu residents and citizens (in decreasing order) are India , Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , United States , Malaysia , Myanmar , United Kingdom , Mauritius , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Canada , Australia , Saudi Arabia , Trinidad and Tobago , Singapore , Fiji , Qatar , Kuwait , Guyana , Bhutan , Oman and Yemen . The top fifteen countries with

11845-668: Was 10 kilometres (6.2 mi; 5.4 nmi) from the flight's intended destination. Rawat's death – and those of his wife and 11 others – was later confirmed by the Indian Air Force . Rawat's liaison officer, Group Captain Varun Singh initially survived the incident, but later succumbed to injuries on 15 December. Rawat was 63 at the time of his death. Rawat and his wife were cremated according to Hindu rituals with full military honours and 17 gun salute at Brar Square Crematorium in Delhi Cantonment on 10 December 2021. Their cremation

11960-711: Was awarded multiple times for gallantry and distinguished service. He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2001, the Sena Medal in 2005, the Yudh Seva Medal in 2009, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2013, the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal in 2016 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2019. He was also awarded the COAS Commendation on two occasions and the Army Commander's Commendation. While serving with

12075-537: Was carried out by their daughters, who took their ashes to Haridwar and immersed them in the Ganges at the Har Ki Pauri ghat on 12 December. Among the foreign ilitary commanders ho attended the state funeral were: Lt Gen Bal Krishna Karki ( Chief of General Staff ) Nepali Army Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne (Retd) (Former Chief of Defence Staff ) On Rawat's first death anniversary, his bust

12190-673: Was codified by Savarkar while he was a political prisoner of the British colonial authorities. Chris Bayly traces the roots of Hindu nationalism to the Hindu identity and political independence achieved by the Maratha confederacy , that overthrew the Islamic Mughal empire in large parts of India, allowing Hindus the freedom to pursue any of their diverse religious beliefs and restored Hindu holy places such as Varanasi. A few scholars view Hindu mobilisation and consequent nationalism to have emerged in

12305-664: Was constructed by these orientalists to imply people who adhered to "ancient default oppressive religious substratum of India", states Pennington. Followers of other Indian religions so identified were later referred Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains and distinguished from Hindus, in an antagonistic two-dimensional manner, with Hindus and Hinduism stereotyped as irrational traditional and others as rational reform religions. However, these mid-19th-century reports offered no indication of doctrinal or ritual differences between Hindu and Buddhist, or other newly constructed religious identities. These colonial studies, states Pennigton, "puzzled endlessly about

12420-642: Was from Sainj village of the Pauri Garhwal district; commissioned into 3/11 Gorkha Rifles in 1951, he retired as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff in 1988 in the rank of Lieutenant General . His mother was from the Uttarkashi district and was the daughter of Kishan Singh Parmar, the ex- Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Uttarkashi . Rawat was educated at Cambrian Hall school in Dehradun and at

12535-431: Was inducted to the United States Army Command and General Staff College International Hall of Fame. He was also an honorary General of Nepalese Army in accordance with the tradition between the Indian and Nepali armies to confer the honorary rank of General upon each other's chiefs to signify their close and special military ties. Rawat served as the 57th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee . In 2017, at Doklam

12650-435: Was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later Rajataranginis of Kashmir (Hinduka, c.  1450 ) and some 16th- to 18th-century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts, including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata . These texts used it to contrast Hindus from Muslims who are called Yavanas (foreigners) or Mlecchas (barbarians), with the 16th-century Chaitanya Charitamrita text and

12765-501: Was politically controversial. Rawat was accused of nepotism and gratuitously politicising the appointment, by the senior serving and retired military officers. He took office of Chief of the Army Staff as the 27th COAS on 31 December 2016, after retirement of General Dalbir Singh Suhag . He was the third officer from the Gorkha Brigade to become the Chief of the Army Staff , after Sam Manekshaw and Suhag. In 2018, Rawat defended

12880-442: Was quoted in an Indian Supreme Court ruling: Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, Hindus share philosophical concepts, such as but not limiting to dharma , karma , kama , artha , moksha and samsara , even if each subscribes to a diversity of views. Hindus also have shared texts such as the Vedas with embedded Upanishads , and common ritual grammar ( Sanskara (rite of passage) ) such as rituals during

12995-511: Was the daughter of Kunwar Mrigendra Singh, sometime Riyasatdar of the pargana of Sohagpur (Shahdol) Riyasat in Shahdol district and an Indian National Congress MLA from the district in 1967 and 1972. She was educated at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya in Gwalior and graduated in psychology at University of Delhi . The couple had two daughters, Kritika and Tarini. Madhulika Rawat was the president of

13110-407: Was the publication in 1649 by Sebastio Manrique . In the Indian historian DN Jha 's essay "Looking for a Hindu identity" , he writes: "No Indians described themselves as Hindus before the fourteenth century" and that "The British borrowed the word 'Hindu' from India, gave it a new meaning and significance, [and] reimported it into India as a reified phenomenon called Hinduism." In the 18th century,

13225-877: Was unveiled at the United Service Institution of India (USI) by the Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt . A chair of excellence and a memorial lecture was instituted at the institute by the Indian Armed Forces and the USI. The General Bipin Rawat Block at the Military Engineer Services Inspection Bungalow (MES IB) in Colaba , Mumbai is named for Rawat. The General Rawat India-Australia Young Defence Officers' Exchange Programme established in March 2022

#189810