Although many occasions came in the History of free India, when some Sikh General could become
Chief of the Army Staff, but as per will of God, this opportunity came to General Joginder Jaswant Singh,
who, because of his distinguished career, was made the Chief on 31st January 2005. The first Sikh to lead
the Indian Army was the eleventh Chief of Army Staff from Western Command based at Chandi Mandir.
General J.J. Singh was born on 17th September 1945 at Samma Satta (Bahawalpur State, now in Pakistan)
in Punjab. In the house of Lieutenant Colonel Jaswant Singh Marwah and Jaspal Kaur. The General had a
Military background as not only his father but his grandfather also was in the army who had fought during
the first World War. He is an alumnus of the National Defense Academy and was commissioned into the 9
Maratha Light Infantry on 2nd August 1964. He received the colour of the battalion from the late President
Dr. Zakir Hussain at the Investiture Parade in 1968. Since then he held various posts including certain key
appointments such as Additional Director General Military operations at Army Headquarter, on which
post he contributed positively to evolving India’s policy on the Sino-Indian Boarder issue and visited Beijing
as part of the joint working group. He was also part of the team of the Defense Ministry which had talks
with Pakistan on the Siachin and Sir Peak issue in 1998. He also visited Serraleone with the Indian Defense
Minster where an Indian contingent carried out successful operation as part of the UN Mission. As General
of the Army, his focus was to increase the moral of the army and modernize it by the Engines of High
Technology and Revolution in Military affairs. As Additional Director he paid attentions to the health and
training of the personal. His tenure as western command saw a quantum leap in the implementation of the
Ex-serviceman Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). After his retirement from the Army General J.J., as he
is affectionately known, was appointed Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. As a Sikh, he had been following
the Sikh way of living in Sikhi sarup, the main mission being welfare of all. He has been associated with Sikh
and Punjabi activities for which he has been honoured also. Apart from his professional honours including
Param Vashishth Sewa Medal (PVSM) in 2004 for his distinguished services, he was also awarded the Sikh
of the Year by the UK Sikh Forum in 2007 and Punjabi Ratan Award by the World Punjabi Organization
in 2009. He is also the recipient of the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award by the Mother Teresa International
Awards Committee. After joining BJP recently, he is likely to contest Punjab Assembly Election 2017 from
Patiala.
