Lansdowne Cantonment Board proposes to rename town as Jaswantgarh

Dehradun: The Lansdowne Cantonment Board has passed a proposal to rename Lansdowne town, a popular tourist spot in the Pauri district of Uttarakhand, as Jaswantgarh after the 1962 India-China war hero Jaswant Singh, sources said.

A proposal to this effect was passed by the board earlier this week at a meeting chaired by its president Brigadier Vijay Mohan Chaudhary, they said.

The recommendation has been sent to the Defence Ministry which had sought proposals from all cantonment boards to rechristen places named during the British era, they said.

The town was called "Kalaun ka Danda", meaning a hill surrounded by dark clouds, before it was being named Lansdowne after the then Viceroy 132 years ago. However, the Lansdowne cantonment board has mentioned that locals are opposed to renaming of the hill station.

Still, if it has got to be changed then it would be most logical to rename it as Jaswantgarh after the 1962 India-China war hero who was posthumously awarded the Paramveer Chakra, the board said in its proposal.

Jaswant Singh hailed from the Baria village in Beeronkhal area of Pauri district. He attained martyrdom on November 17 at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh during the India-China conflict of 1962 after preventing the Chinese troops from advancing for 72 hours.

He was deployed at the time in the 4th battalion of Garhwal Rifles at Tawang.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also said earlier that British era names reminiscent of India's colonial past will be changed.