Lucknow : The Lansdowne Cantonment Board has passed a proposal to change the name of Lansdowne town, a popular tourist destination in Uttarakhand’s Pauri district, to Jaswantgarh after the hero of the 1962 Indo-China war, Jaswant Singh. The recommendation to change the name has been sent to the Defense Ministry. A proposal to rename Lansdowne to Jaswantgarh after Mahavir Chakra winner Jaswant Singh was passed in a meeting chaired by Cantonment Board President Brigadier Vijay Mohan Chowdhary this week. Meanwhile, Brigadier Vijay Mohan Chowdhary said that the recommendation to change the name has been sent to the Defense Ministry.
Local people are opposing the name change
132 years ago this city was known as “Kalon Ka Danda”. Which means hill surrounded by dark clouds. Then in 1890, Lansdowne was named after the then Viceroy of India, Lord Henry Lansdowne. However, the Lansdowne Cantonment Board has mentioned that the local people are opposing the renaming of the hill station. The board, in its proposal, said that even if it had to be changed, it would be most logical to rename it as Jaswantgarh after the hero of the 1962 Indo-China war, who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
Martyred after stopping Chinese soldiers for 72 hours
Jaswant Singh was a resident of Bairia village of Bironkhal area of Pauri district. He was martyred on 17 November during the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, after preventing Chinese troops from advancing for 72 hours. He was then posted in the 4th Battalion of the Garhwal Rifles in Tawang. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also said earlier that the names of the British era, reminiscent of India’s colonial past, will be changed.
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