We Must Give Him A Smiling Send-Off: Brigadier Lakhbinder Lidder’s Widow

New Delhi: Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, who was those killed along with Gen Bipin Rawat in the Army helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on December 8, was the first to be cremated on Friday.

Brig Lidder’s widow Geetika, 17-year-old daughter Aashna, Defence minister Rajnath Singh, the three service chiefs and other top military officers were present when last rites were performed at Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment with full military honours.

“We must give him a good farewell, a smiling send-off. I am a soldier’s wife. I have nothing more to say. It’s a big loss,” Geetika said after her husband’s cremation even as she and Aashna broke down from time to time.

Her daughter said Brig Lidder was her greatest motivator.

“I am going to be 17. So he was with me for 17 years, we will go ahead with happy memories… It’s a national loss. My father was a hero, my best friend,” she said after the last rites were performed.

“Maybe it was destined and better things will come our way. He was my biggest motivator,” she added.