Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 28

When the Army detected a group of militants close to the Line of Control (LoC) in the Lachipora area of the Uri sector on Tuesday, they had no idea that one of the infiltrating militants was Abdul Qayoom Najar — the longest-surviving and one of the most wanted militants of Kashmir.Najar became the first Kashmiri militant to be killed this year while trying to infiltrate into Kashmir. The Army said they didn’t know who was coming from across the LoC when it intercepted a group, resulting in a brief gunfight at the Zorawar post.“Around 4 am on Tuesday, our jawans noticed movement of at least three to four terrorists close to the LoC fence. They were challenged and a gunfight ensued. It lasted half an hour. During searches, we found the body of a militant. That time our focus was to trace his other two accomplices, who probably returned,” an Army officer said. “The body was handed over to the police. In the afternoon, we came to know that he was Najar, one the longest surviving local militants and the head of the Lashkar-e-Islam militant group. His identity was established by his family members,” he said.Police sources said they had an “intelligence input” about Najar’s infiltration into Kashmir, as he was asked by Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in Muzzaffarbad to “rebuilt the outfit” after the killing of top Hizbul brass in Kashmir recently.“We knew he (Najar) was coming,” said a senior police officer. The police said had Najar been able to infiltrate into Kashmir, it would have been a “big problem”. “Neutralising him would have been difficult because of his network,” Imtiyaz Hussain, SSP Baramulla, had said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in New York. AFP

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 22

Terrorism remained the key theme as India went all guns blazing at Pakistan-sponsored terror at the UN General Assembly session and sideline meetings today.A young diplomat, Eanam Gambhir, minced no words while dubbing Pakistan “terroristan” in India’s right to reply during general debate at the 72nd session. “In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. The quest for a land of the pure has actually produced ‘the land of pure terror’. Pakistan is now terroristan,” she said. India was replying to Pakistan PM Shahi Khaqan Abbasi’s speech earlier where he had accused India of “abetting terrorism” and had sought a UN envoy for Kashmir.Participating in the BRICS ministerial meeting along the sidelines, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj emphasised on collective efforts to “disrupt terrorist networks, their financing and movement” and early conclusion and adoption of the CCIT (comprehensive convention on international terrorism) at the UN.Taking a jibe at tPakistan, Sushma said, “Terror groups continue to draw sustenance from support systems, including those based in South Asia. They continue to find support and shelter in countries that use terrorism as an instrument of state policy. Countering terrorism must not be a matter of political convenience.”The BRICS meet, attended by Sushma’s Chinese counterpart Wang Yi among others, in its joint release, said, “The Ministers reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They urged concerted efforts to counter terrorism on a firm international legal basis, under the UN auspices, and expressed their conviction that a comprehensive approach was necessary to ensure effective fight against terrorism.”But unlike the joint statement issued after the recent BRICS Summit in Xiamen, the New York statement did not mention terror groups ‘Taliban, Isil/Daish, Al-Qaida and its affiliates, including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb ut-Tahrir’.

The man who led the IAF in the 1965 war has sold off his farm near Delhi. File photo

Roopinder Singh

Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Arjan Singh, DFC, has always had a larger-than-life image, and this is one person whose deeds continue to justify it. The Indian Air Force’s only Field Marshal has inspired generations of flyers ever since he joined the IAF in 1939 and was posted to IAF’s Number 1 squadron at Ambala in January 1940, flying in frail Westland Wapitis.The man who led the IAF in the 1965 war has sold off his farm near Delhi, and entrusted a corpus of Rs 2 crore to a trust devoted to the welfare of retired Air Force personnel. Known for personal probity and punctiliousness, the MIAF has set a wonderful example in using personal wealth for the welfare of others.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)“This is leadership from the front, which the IAF has seen right from the time he joined it in 1939, the gallantry in the Imphal campaign of 1944 and the conflict of 1965. It is unprecedented and completely selfless, which is what his actions have been throughout,” says Pushpinder Singh, editor of the Vayu Aerospace Review.The Marshal of Air Force and Mrs Arjan Singh Trust will seek to open avenues of financial relief for ex-IAF personnel and their dependents who need assistance.The money has been invested in RBI bonds and it is expected that the returns from it will be Rs 16 lakh and “15 per cent of the interest will be added to the corpus and the rest disbursed to those applying for assistance,” says the MIAF.MIAF Arjan Singh, his wife Teji Arjan Singh and their son Arvind Singh will be the trustees for life, but it will be run by the president of the Air Force Association and other ex-officio members of the IAF.“I had full support of the family,” says Arjan Singh. His wife, Teji recalls that when she asked him, why he had put her name on it, he replied: “If you hadn’t agreed, how could I have done it?”The farm that MIAF Arjan Singh sold was the last link he had with land, which was very dear to him. His grandfather, Risaldar-Major Bhagwan Singh, had a farm near Lyallpur, now called Faislabad, in Pakistan, where the young Arjan Singh spent his childhood, watching planes and dreaming of flying one, someday. After Partition, the family was allotted 80 acres of land in Churwali village, near Adampur, Punjab. “I was also allotted a pucca house. Kartar Singh, a good man, used to look after the land and when I sold it, I gave the house to him. I sold off the land because I could not take care of it as I was in service. In fact, when I told Sardar Swaran Singh (the then External Affairs Minister), in whose constituency my land fell, how much I had sold it for, he chided me for selling it below the market rate,” he said in an earlier interview when this writer wrote his biography. The family also had land in Terai, which was tilled by his father Kishan Singh and other family members.“I am no longer a Jat as you said in the book, I have no land now,” said Arjan Singh, recalling a comment made in the book, written two years ago, that the Jat in him was kept alive by the farm.For this Aulakh Jat, giving up his land is a great gesture, and by setting up a trust for the welfare of others, Arjan Singh has set a shining example in a nation where such things have become rare. He has also institutionalised the trust by ensuring that family members do not run it. IAF officials “who are more in touch with the current needs” control it. This makes it even more important that his example be emulated. For this a climate has to be created, where such trusts are encouraged.The founder of The Tribune, Dyal Singh Majithia, set up a number of trusts to serve the public, including The Tribune Trust, Union Academy (later known as Dyal Singh School and Dyal Singh College), Lahore, Dyal Singh Library and Dyal Singh College, New Delhi. The nation, on the whole, had gained a lot from philanthropic trusts like the Dorabji Tata Trust, which helped set up the first cancer hospital in Asia, and the Birla Educational Trust that runs hundreds of primary schools and colleges.Unlike these luminaries, MIAF Arjan Singh comes from a service background. His father, Kishan Singh, a civil engineer, worked in Ceylon Railways. However he has always been large-hearted, and eventually it is not what you have that counts, it is what you give that makes a difference. The IAF will surely remember this magnificent gesture of its Field Marshal for a long time.
This piece was originally published in The Tribune on December 24, 2004

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inside MiG-21 Bison at Uttarlai Air Force station in Gujarat. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today issued a set of instructions under which she will meet the chiefs of three armed forces and the Defence Secretary on a daily basis.The Ministry of Defence said the minister shall meet the three chiefs of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Navy at morning meetings. A separate daily meeting with the Defence Secretary has been formatted. The ministry spokesperson said this was “a new practice for quick decision making”.To date, the chiefs of the three services used to be called by the Defence Minister as and when required or they could walk across to the chamber of the Defence Minister in South Block.Sitharaman was today briefed by senior officials to familiarise with the activities and functioning of various activities of the forces and the ministry. Yesterday, the minister had seen operations of the IAF at Uttarlai, Barmer and Navy’s flying operations at Dabolim, Goa.Today, the minister laid special emphasis on the need to step up the pace of acquisition proposals. Towards ensuring time-bound and speedy disposal, it has been decided to hold Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meetings on a fortnightly basis. The DAC is the highest decision-making body of the MoD.Sitharaman has scheduled a range of meetings with the three Defence service chiefs to review Defence preparedness and allied issues of strategic interests.Other areas of focus would be settling all outstanding land-related issues for infrastructure projects and matters relating to welfare of Defence personnel and their families.Today, Sitharaman visited a forward area along the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat. The minister and Army Chief General Bipin Rawat flew in an IAF plane to Naliya air base in Kutch, Gujarat where she interacted with Indian Army troops.

Nirmala Sitharaman inducted into CCS, CCEA, CCPA

• The government on Monday notified the induction of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman into the all-powerful five-member Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)
• Headed by PM Narendra Modi, other members of the committee are Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
• The CCS decides on each security-related issue of the country be it new weapons, new raising of forces, appointments of the top brass, military relations with other countries, among other aspects
• She will also be a member of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA)

ARMY LOWELY PAID AND STATUS DEGRADED BUT ALWAYS CALLED IN HOUR OF NATIONAL CRISIS::: DERA ISSUE EXPOSES HARYANA POLICE

ARMY RECRUITMENT RALLY::PUNJAB

SGPC TO SET UP SARAGARHI GALLERY

ARMY REFORMS ALONE WON’T WORK

 

Police ‘reluctant’ to search dera

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, August 31

The Haryana Police have no immediate plan to enter Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa to sanitise its premises even though searches are being carried out in Naam Charcha Ghar in many other towns across the state.It is being alleged that the state government is avoiding search of the dera till paramilitary forces and the military are deployed in the area, as recovery of any incriminating material or weapons will cause it much embarrassment. The government in a report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the Rampal incident had given the dera the clean chit.“We will inform you if and when we have any plan to enter the dera,” Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh told The Tribune.However, police sources confirmed that there was no immediate plan to enter the dera as there were no such orders from the higher authorities. “The state government is deliberately avoiding entering Dera Sacha Sauda lest the Army and paramilitary forces get to know about its connivance with Ram Rahim Singh. The government had given the clean chit to the dera in a report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the Rampal incident,” said Lekh Raj Dhot, a senior advocate from Sirsa.After the Rampal incident, the High Court had ordered a search of Dera Sacha Sauda to unearth illegal arms and ammunition and periodical monitoring of its activities in view of intelligence inputs that ex-servicemen were imparting weapon training to dera activists.“When Sirsa administration and police officers went to search the dera, they were made to leave their weapons and security guards outside. The dera men took the officials to the places of their choice and they were made to sign on the dotted line, as per the directions of the BJP government. Now, if the Army and paramilitary forces recover illegal weapons, it will be a major embarrassment for the government,” said Dhot.Meanwhile, the district authorities today relaxed the curfew in areas around dera buildings for three hours. However, residents alleged that the police harassed those who wanted to go towards the Arnianwali road.Meanwhile, the situation in Sirsa town remained peaceful throughout the day. Most of the schools and colleges, except those managed by the dera, were open though the attendance was very thin.

5 cops sacked for bid to ‘free’ dera chief

Key confidant in custody, four on run

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. File photo

Chandigarh August 31

The Manohar Lal Khattar government today dismissed five Haryana policemen in convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s security team for trying to “free” him after the special CBI court verdict on August 25, even as the incharge of dera mouthpiece “Sach Kahoon” Surender Dhiman Insan, facing sedition charges, gave himself up at a police station here. A local court remanded him in police custody for seven days.Of the five dismissed cops — Ajay, Ram Singh, Vijay Singh, Balwan Singh and Sub-Inspector Krishan Das — three were trained commandos. They, along with dera’s two private security guards Pritam Singh and Sukhbir, were initially booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) and the Arms Act with sedition charges slapped later. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)In the ‘Z plus’ security team of the dera chief for several years, they had allegedly “slapped” an IG-rank official, scuffled with two more senior officers and blocked a police vehicle at the Panchkula Districts Courts Complex.Meanwhile, lookout notices have been issued against dera spokesperson Aditya Insan and three others, booked for “inciting violence”. An alert has been issued to ensure they did not flee the country. — TNS

Ex-servicemen are engulfed by a smouldering disconnect following the inept handling of the OROP issue by the government. In their sunset years, they are being made to feel as if they are a spent force.

Veteran servicemen at a protest seeking OROP in New Delhi. PTI

Col Dabby S De mello (Retd)In times of war and not before,
God and soldier we adore.
But in times of peace and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted.
—Rudyard KiplingManohar Parrikar apparently is an ardent fan of the legendry poet Rudyard Kipling. Within a month of his swearing in as Raksha Mantri, he has revealed to the country that the nation no more holds the defence services in high esteem. His reason: “These days, people don’t look up to the military in high esteem since there has been no war for so many years.”True, there has been no general war, but just count the horrendous losses suffered in the interim years, battling an insurgency and terrorism, largely the creation of the failed political ideologies, and at times open support to anti-nationals. Coming, therefore, from a Raksha Mantri whose mandate is to uphold the morale of the three services, this statement was most shocking. Parrikar is neither rustic nor illiterate. Nobody becomes an IITian with limited knowledge. All the more reason his disparaging remarks are repugnant. But by saying so, did he bare his party’s mindset towards the faujis or that of the collective conscience of the Indians  as a whole? The revelation, true or false, by  the Raksha Mantri, spoke volumes about the way Defence Services will be treated by the NDA (read BJP). The entire defence fraternity was shocked and felt angry.September 15, 2013, remains a sad day for the exservicemen (ESM) for, on that day, they got carried away by the rhetoric and honeyed words of Narendra Modi, the NDA’s prime-ministerial candidate, during the ESM rally at Rewari. Having seen their stock lowered by the earlier governments, they, rightly or wrongly, allowed themselves to be considered a vote bank by the BJP, a decision they now regret. In his election bhashan, Modi promised to honour the long-pending demand of One Rank One Pension (OROP) in its entirety and true essence, if NDA was voted to power. That it was voted to power with an unexpected majority was also due to the faujis voting en bloc for the BJP, a fact it  should remember. Faujis, for whom an oral commitment is sacrosanct, felt utterly cheated and decided to take an unprecedented step — peacefully protest throughout the country with Jantar Mantar as the pivot. To press home their rightful demands, the ESM, mostly in their twilight years, have been sitting on a relay hunger strike on a footpath near Jantar Mantar non-stop for more than two years. How disgracefully can the government and its leaders behave with the faujis is a new and bitter experience for a disciplined force. And they are angry. 

ESM’s Tiananmen moment

Early morning of August 14, 2015, was the ESM’s Tiananmen moment, when the might of the state pitted itself against peaceful demonstrators; young policemen were allowed to manhandle grey-haired retired soldiers (many of them war-decorated ones) and widows engaged in a peaceful and permitted protest near Jantar Mantar. No one from the government apologised for this shameful behaviour. The faujis have not forgotten that day, and are angry.To break the protest movement, the government even attempted to create an officer-jawan divide by maliciously goading another set of retired jawans to set up an alternate OROP stage a few feet away from the main protest tent at Jantar Mantar. From there, the misguided jawans denounced their officers by reading out the script handed out to them; what sort of government is this that uses such lowdown methods against its own veterans? Fortunately, this misguided lot soon realised its folly and joined the main protest, but the collateral damage it did to the strong officer-man bond which sustains our military, is frightening; a damage which can seriously impair the fighting abilities of our defence forces. The entire fauji fraternity took no time to fathom the design of the establishment and is angry.  Finding far too many anomalies, some very serious, in the notification issued on OROP, the ESM rejected it outright and conveyed it in no uncertain terms to the government. To address the anomalies, the government on December 14, 2015 constituted a one-man judicial committee comprising a retired chief justice and asked for his recommendations within six months, a job which could be done within a month. After five months, the government maliciously extended its term by six months, apparently to tire out the protesting ESM.  The honourable judge finally submitted his report on October 26, 2016, but more than nine months later, the report has not been made public. Maybe the judge was convinced about the genuineness of OROP demands and has recommended in favour of the ESM. If that be so, implementation of his   recommendations can be a win-win situation for the government as well as for ESM. But the govt hasn’t budged from its hardened stand and as a result, the faujis are angry.

Babus vs faujis

The establishment continues to pit the bureaucracy against the defence services, resulting in systematic degradation of the services. An  undesirable and unhealthy civil-military equation exists today.  The faujis are not oblivious to the step-brotherly treatment meted out to them vis-a-vis the bureaucrats and are very angry.Due to the inept handling of the OROP issue, and indifferent attitude of the establishment on many other matters, including the warrant of precedence, a smouldering disconnect has engulfed these men who once were sentinels of our borders during their prime years, but are now considered a dispensable and a spent force. Their collective protest has been on for 27 months, but none from the establishment has bothered to discuss a way out with them. The faujis have started feeling that they are being treated unfairly and are angry. By now, the Pradhan Sevak knows too well that the one-time raise given to the military pensioners is not the OROP approved by the two parliamentary committees; yet he mocks the ESM by repeatedly misinforming the countrymen from just about any platform, “Hamari govt ne fauji bhaiyon ko ek rank-ek pension de di hai!” What an emotional assault on the naïve veterans! No fauji, whether in or out of uniform, remains emotionally unmolested by the government’s highhandedness and indifference, and is angry.There are more counts on which the faujis are angry, the manifestations of which have not gone unnoticed by the BJP thinktank. Their appeasement has commenced and is gathering momentum to bring them back, yet again in good humour. But there is a saying that you cannot fool everyone all the time. The vote bank it created in 2013, and successfully milked in 2014, can’t be left unamused. 2019 is not far and 4.91 crore voters make a formidable electorate. All media is put in high gear to woo the ESM by cosmetic gestures. Courtesy the BJP, faujis are no more apolitical or gullible as in 2014. They know their vote will make a difference, like it did in 2014. The faujis are angry and not without reason. Let us not forget that this patriotic lot of Indians also includes the soldiers in uniform guarding the borders in most adverse conditions. Populist measures of the state to keep their morale to the optimum will never be enough. The cumulative anger of these forgotten soldiers needs to be addressed the soonest in national interest. In military parlance, it is the captain of the ship that must bear responsibility for the errors of his command, no matter who lower in the chain, may have been responsible. Whether by design or by default (heeding to biased advice from biased advisers), whatever, the Pradhan Sevak is responsible for the current state of affairs. PS. Let the statesmanship prevail over ego and faujis be also taken along in the Sab ka Saath venture. Far too many elections have been won on the name of the fauj, faujis and “surgical strikes”. It’s high time the BJP won their hearts by giving the ESM their rightful due. By staging a countrywide peaceful protest, they are only reminding the Pradhan Sevak to fulfil the promise he made to them at Rewari. Can the BJP risk antagonising this large vote bank, if their promises are not fulfilled? I am not too sure. Jai Hind. Jai Hind ki Sena. JaiHind ki Bhootpoorv Sena. 

Marshal of IAF Arjan Singh. File photo

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 16

Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh passed away at the Army Research and Referral Hospital here on Saturday, according to the reliable sources. However, an official confirmation still awaited.He was 98. He was promoted to the five-star rank in 2002.

Arjan Singh is the only officer of the Indian Air Force to be promoted to five-star rank, equal to a Field Marshal, to which he was promoted in 2002.

He was Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from August 1, 1964 to July 15, 1969, and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1965.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

He became the first Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force to be upgraded to the position of Air Chief Marshal from the rank of Chief of the Air Staff in recognition of his Air Force’s contribution in the 1965 war.He took retirement from services in 1970 at the age of 50.In 1971, he was appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Switzerland. He concurrently served as the Ambassador to the Vatican.

The Present one dealing with aspects like what does “apolitical” means in terms of law and “Coup Proofing Vs Coup Phobia” and third one on “What Rots Indian Military within”? This is an attempt to answer ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ on issues of military. The questions answers given are not a complete set and shall be kept updated time to time. 

Marshal Arjan Singh effortlessly transcended stereotypes. This teetotaller dapper fighter pilot was a soldier’s General and also a successful diplomat.

MIAF Arjan Singh DFC (1919-2017)

Marshal Arjan Singh was the only officer of the IAF to be promoted to a five-star rank.

Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with the then Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh, during the late 1960s.

Celebrating togetherness Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh with his wife Teji, who left for her heavenly abode in 2011.

Marshal Arjan Singh deboards a MiG 21. file photos

Roopinder Singh

India has lost a great man. The Indian Air Force’s only 5-star officer — a towering personality in all respects — Arjan Singh, DFC Marshal of the Indian Air Force, was a gentleman, soldier, and a diplomat. Above all, he was a leader who led from the front—in peace, war and even in philanthropy.Arjan Singh effortlessly transcended stereotypes. This teetotaller dapper fighter pilot was a soldier’s General and also a successful diplomat. His ramrod posture and piercing gaze gave him a commanding presence, but he had the knack of making people feel at ease while he was talking to them. I was a diffident college student when I first introduced myself to him, but he made me comfortable. Decades later, when I requested his permission to write his biography, he started off by saying that there was not much that could be written about him. He was truly modest, with not much to be modest about.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)MIAF Arjan Singh DFC passed away at 98. Risaldar-Major Bhagwan Singh’s grandson Arjan Singh was born to Kishan Singh and Kartar Kaur on April 15, 1919, at Kohali village in Lyallpur, now in Pakistan. Soon after the birth of his son, Kishan Singh went to Edinburgh University to study engineering and then worked with Ceylon Railways. Arjan Singh studied in Government School, Montgomery, and then at Government College, Lahore. He was in his fourth year when he was selected for the Indian Air Force. He trained in England and later joined No. 1 Squadron at Ambala in January 1940. He flew a Hawker Audax, which was shot down in the NWFP by the Pathans later that year. His gunner was injured in the crash.Squadron Leader Arjan Singh was in Delhi for a meeting in 1943 when he met the pretty, young and petite Teji. The rest, as they say, is history. The two married in 1948 in Delhi at the Janpath house of Sir Sobha Singh, father of noted writer Khushwant Singh. Promotions and postings followed. Arjan Singh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in June, 1944 by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South-East Asia during World War II, for his bravery in defending the Imphal Valley.After Independence, Arjan Singh built up the Indian Air Force virtually from scratch and was a key force in all the three major wars. He was the first Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force when, in recognition of the Air Force’s contribution in the 1965 war, the rank of the Chief of Air Staff was upgraded to that of Air Chief Marshal. He was also conferred the Padma Vibhushan that year.  He retired as Air Chief Marshal in 1969.Two years later, he was appointed Indian Ambassador to Switzerland and the Vatican. In 1974, he was appointed High Commissioner to Kenya. He was Member of the Minorities Commission in 1980 and served as Lt. Governor of Delhi in 1989. He was conferred the rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force on Independence Day in 2002. He was pleased that the adjunct Retd. would no longer be used with his name, ever. Field Marshal is a life-long appointment. Two years later, I got a call from Arjan Singh Aulakh. “I am no longer a Jat as you said in the book, I have no land now,” he said. I had written in his biography that the Jat in him was kept alive by the farm. “I discussed it with Teji and my children, and we sold the farm to set up The Marshal of Air Force and Mrs Arjan Singh Trust to provide finances for ex-IAF personnel and their dependents in need of help.” The couple had three children. Son Arvind teaches in a university in America, elder daughter died in a car accident in 1999 and is survived by her husband and two children and youngest Asha lives in Delhi. It was in 2011 that Arjan Singh lost his wife Teji, his partner in all his endeavours and the wind beneath his wings.After her, he continued to soldier on strongly as ever, making his presence felt on all important occasions, national and those connected with the Indian Air Force. His 97th birthday was celebrated in great style by the IAF and the Panagarh (West Bengal) air base was named after him. Today a heart attack sent him to hospital and eventually, as the Marshal of the Indian Air Force soared to meet his maker, he would certainly have looked back at the fulfilling sorties in a life well lived.