Army Eastern Command celebrates Raising Day at Vijay Smarak
Our Correspondent
Itanagar: Headquarters Eastern Command on Friday celebrated its Raising Day by organizing a wreath-laying ceremony at the Vijay Smarak, the war memorial.
General Officer Commanding of Eastern Command Lt Gen Anil Chauhan paid homage to the fallen braves at Vijay Smarak and called upon everyone to continue working with dedication and devotion in the true traditions of the Army.
A spectacular display by the Army band was organized at the stadium in Fort William, Kolkata for all ranks and their families commemorating the occasion, a defence communique informed.
The command was raised at Nainital under General Sir H Hudson with territorial jurisdiction over Delhi, UP, Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Assam. Thereafter owing to operational commitments the Command Headquarters shifted to Barrackpore, Ranchi and Lucknow before permanently settling down in Fort William, Kolkata in the immediate wake of the Sino Indian Conflict.
The Eastern Command covers the largest geographical area spread over eight States overseeing 8,350 kms of the land borders of the country.
The command is responsible for guarding the borders with five countries, a task that it has carried out with distinction. The command has actively participated in all major wars fought by the country. However its crowning glory was 1971 war which led to the creation of a new nation Bangladesh.
Over the years the “Warriors of the East” have time and again proved themselves as a formidable professional force capable of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the nation and leading a highly successful counter-insurgency operation in the volatile regions of the Northeast.
The Eastern Command as the guardians of the east has been involved at every level to bring in meaningful changes in the lives of the people through Operation Sadbhavana and Operation Samaritan schemes which have left an indelible impact on the lives of the local population.
A large number of such projects encompassing all spheres of welfare activities like construction of infrastructure, creating awareness and educating the common masses on various issues including imparting training on skill development have been undertaken this year.
The command has also been at the forefront of all humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations which have aided thousands of affected people in this part of the country. Be it humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations or as the last bastion to restore law and order, the command has acquitted itself in an exemplary manner reinforcing the nation’s faith in the Army, the communique added.