Governor of West Bengal CV Ananda Bose and his spouse LS Lakshmi visited Fort William today. They were accompanied by Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command and Maj Gen H Dharmarajan, GOC Bengal Sub Area.
The visit commenced with a wreath laying ceremony wherein Governor laid wreath to pay homage to bravehearts of Eastern Command who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. Later the Governor was conducted at the Martyrs Gallery where names of all the Braves who laid down their lives in Eastern Command during various operations since 1962 have been etched in stone. After the wreath laying, CV Ananda Bose interacted with specially abled students of ASHA school who presented a beautiful group song at Vijay Smarak . Thereafter Governor signed the Memorial visitor book, where he mentioned that “A unique place where valor meets patriotism. The symbol of India’s indomitable spirit of freedom which liberated this great nation from subjugation and ensured that the flag of India always flies high. This is a place where the inner strength always exhorts coming generations ‘Fight not Flight is the watch word of India’s Bravehearts’, Jai Hind”.
The visit then commenced with the tour of Netaji Cell in Dalhousie Barracks, where the legendary freedom fighter Netaji Subas Chandra Bose was imprisoned in the year 1940. After paying his respects to the visionary leader, Governor was taken to the Eastern Command Museum. The Museum, which originally was an ammunition dump, was converted in 1956 and houses numerous historic artifacts including Pakistan Army’s Instruments of Surrender from the 1971 Liberation War. He was then shown the historic Command Library which earlier used to be the St Peter’s Anglican Church. The Heritage building is 199 years old. Governor who has himself authored 50 books, was pleased to see the well maintained library and presented five signed books authored by him.
Thereafter the guests were conducted to New Command Building wherein mementoes were exchanged between CV Ananda Bose,and Lt Gen RP Kalita, Army Commander Eastern Command. The visit came to an end after this and the guests left with indelible memories of Fort William.
Source: Indian Army
