Raising day: Tributes paid to martyrs at Western Command

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 15

The 72nd raising day of the Western Command, the frontline operational command of the Indian Army, was observed with a wreath-laying ceremony wherein Lt Gen RP Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, paid floral tributes to martyrs at the Veer Smriti war memorial in Chandimandir today.

A large number of officers of the command and troops were present on the occasion.

The Command was raised in 1947 as the Delhi and East Punjab Command, and was subsequently re-designated as the Western Command in January 1948. The genesis of the Western Command was forged on the anvil of one of the most challenging trans-border migration of human population.

In 1954, the HQ of the Command moved to Shimla. After the Indo-Pak Conflict of 1971, the Northern Command was carved out of Western Command to assume operational responsibility of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1985, HQ Western Command moved to its present location at Chandimandir.

With “Ever Westwards” being its clarion call, the Western Command was instrumental in blunting the Pakistani aggression in 1947, 1965 and 1971. It has also, time and again, provided succor to the civilian population in times of natural calamities, undertaken counter-terrorist operations and participated in nation building activities.