Who is Aashna Lidder?

Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder’s daughter Aashna Lidder laid him to rest and performed his last rites after the devastating accident where he, the defence advisor to CDS General Bipin Rawat, had their helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. 

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Aashna Lidder later told ANI, “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. Maybe it was destined and better things will come our way. He was my biggest motivator.”

She was reportedly criticised on Twitter for her ideology expressed in the past, despite her fond yet brave remembrance of her father as her hero winning thousands of hearts. After her Twitter account was found to be missing on Friday evening, several political leaders, including Congress’ Karti Chidambaram and Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, denounced the ‘trolls’ and expressed their support for Aashna.

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Aashna Lidder has written a book called “In Search of a Title”, which includes a foreword by Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat. “Aashna has encapsulated the spirit of humanity through poems. Growing up in a military family, she has experienced the highs and the lows every child in a situation like her has been through. Words and phrases are expressions of her belief and there surely is a budding poet, waiting to be recognised. So continue your quest in poetry with passion and wish you the best,” Gen Bipin Rawat wrote.

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In the book, she chronicles a teen’s journey of trials, tribulations, musings, and learnings. She discusses the transition from being a baby to a child to an adult with her own mind who can judge society and identify its shackles and flaws while also admiring its culture and bonding.