Indian Army hails Lt Gen PS Bhagat's bravery, says despite an eardrum puncture he carried task without break

New Delhi [India], June 14 : The Indian Army on Wednesday hailed the bravery of Lt Gen PS Bhagat, who served as the first General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the re-raised Northern Command and said that despite sustaining an ear drum puncture due to a mine explosion, he continued his task for 96 hours without a break.

In this regard, the Indian Army organised the first "Lieutenant General PS Bhagat Memorial Lecture" on "Legacy of Lt Gen Prem Bhagat- A Visionary and Strategic Leader", under the aegis of United Service Institution of India (USI) at Manekshaw Centre in Delhi on Wednesday.

The lecture was conducted as part of the "Lt Gen PS Bhagat Memorial Chair of Excellence" instituted at USI, by General Manoj Pande, COAS on 14 October 2022.

General Manoj Pande, the Chief of the Army Staff, General VP Malik (Retd), Former Chief of the Army Staff, General M M Naravane (Retd), Former Chief of the Army Staff, Vice Chief of the Army Staff and other senior military and civilian officials attended the inaugural lecture to draw inspiration from the legacy of Lt Gen Bhagat, whose charisma has left an indelible mark on the history of the Indian Army.

Speaking on the occasion, the Army Chief said, "Late Lt Gen PS Bhagat who served as the first General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the re-raised Northern Command was an outstanding professional and a prolific writer".

The Army Chief recounted, "As a young second lieutenant, Lt Gen Bhagat was the first Indian soldier to have been awarded the prestigious Victoria Cross in World War II, while clearing minefields, under enemy fire, with his vehicle encountering a mine explosion thrice, sustaining an ear drum puncture, yet going about his task relentlessly for 96 hours, without a break."

He also fondly mentioned the tale in which Lt Gen Bhagat as Army Commander at Lucknow in September 1971, saved the Lucknow city by pushing the trucks loaded with stones and boulders to plug the flow through the breach on the Gomti River, for which local newspapers captioned him as "the saviour of Lucknow", in next day's headlines.

General VP Malik (Retd), Former Army Chief delivered a keynote address during the lecture, in which he gave many anecdotes from the legacy of Lt Gen Bhagat from his early days as a Second Lieutenant to till his demise while working as Chairman of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

The next edition of the memorial lecture is scheduled to be conducted in April 2024, in which Lt Gen KT Parnaik (Retd), Hon'ble Governor of Arunachal Pradesh has kindly consented to deliver the keynote address.