Srinagar, May 31: Lt General Om Prakash will assume the charge as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps on June 9. On the same day Lt General SA Hasnain will leave the Valley to take over as first Muslim Military Secretary (MS).
Gen Hasnain was scheduled to demit GOC 15 Corps office Thursday and was supposed to take over as MS Friday. However the schedule was delayed because of General Bikram Singh taking over as new Army Chief.
Gen Hasnain will take over from incumbent Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra who has been appointed the Commander of Western Command in place of Lt Gen S R Ghosh who retired from service Thursday.
General Hasnain was the second Muslim General who commanded Valley-based 15 Corps. He was also the first officer who held the post for 18 months.
Late Wednesday evening, Public Relations Officer (PRO) Ministry of Defence in Srinagar sent invitations to journalists for last media interaction with Gen Hasnain on Thursday. But the program was postponed at the eleventh hour.
“Now the interaction is being held on June 8, and on June 9 Gen Hasnain will demit the office,” sources in Army said adding Gen Om Prakash will take over on take over on June 9.
Sources added that the take-over was delayed because of developments in New Delhi. “New Chief has assumed the office and today’s development took place in that backdrop only,” sources said adding that otherwise Om Prakash was scheduled to arrive here Thursday evening.
Gen Prakash has served at important positions in J&K. He has commanded the Siachen Brigade in Ladakh region and an Army Division in Jammu region.
Presently, Hasnain is the only Muslim holding the post of Lt General in the Army.
During his 18-month stint, General Hasnain interacted with the people across the Valley and was instrumental in engaging youth with Kashmir Premier League (KPL) and other programs.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 31 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 31 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST