GUWAHATI: The Indian Army’s HQ 101 Area celebrated its diamond jubilee raising day on Monday in Shillong.
The Shillong- based HQ 101 Area is known as the “First in Dacca” for being the first Indian Army contingent to reach Dacca during the 1971 war of liberation in Bangladesh.
At the start of the celebrations, a solemn ceremony for paying tributes to martyrs was organised at the Shillong War Memorial, Rhino Prerna Sthal. Eastern Command army commander Lt Gen RP Kalita paid glowing tributes to the fallen heroes.
Officiating GOC 101 Area Maj Gen RK Jha and all ranks of Headquarters 101 Area also paid rich tributes to those who made the supreme sacrifice for the nation.
101 Communication Zone, as it was called at that time, was raised in the wake of the Chinese aggression on April 22, 1963. It was formed to provide logistic support to all formations and units in the northeast region, Defence PRO Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said
To celebrate the formation’s 60 glorious years of service to the country, the unveiling of a special cover and stamp was also organised. This was another highlight of the celebrations.
The unveiling of the busts of Major Generals Gurbaksh Singh Gill and Gandharv Nagra, who served as the GOCs of the 101 Area during the war in 1971 and contributed to the Indian Army’s overwhelming victory turned out to be another high point of the celebration.
Moreover, the GOC-IN-C flagged in the ‘Rhino Riders’ Motorcycle Rally which was flagged off on April 9 by Governor of Meghalaya Phagu Chauhan, in which the riders travelled across North East, celebrating the spirit of patriotism in the year of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
Commemorating the formation’s 60 glorious years of service to the country, the unveiling of a special cover and stamp was also organised, which was another highlight of the jubilee celebrations.
During the 1971 War, Headquarters 101 Area took an active part in combat operations in the Sylhet and Mymensingh districts of erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and was the first to reach Dhaka, thereby earning the sobriquet 'First in Dacca'.
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