Sikh Regiment
The Sikh Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army that recruits from the Sikh community. It is the most decorated regiment of the Indian Army and in 1979, the 1st battalion was the Commonwealth’s most decorated battalion with 245 pre-independence and 82 post-independence gallantry awards, when it was transformed into the 4th battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment. The first battalion of the regiment was officially raised just before the annexation of the Sikh Empire on August 1, 1846, by the British East India Company. Currently, the Sikh Regimental Centre is located in Ramgarh Cantonment, Jharkhand. The Centre was earlier located in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
Motto: Nischay Kar Apni Jeet Karon (With determination, I will be triumphant).
War Cry: Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akaal (one will be blessed eternally who says that God is the ultimate)
Regimental Insignia: Lion, symbolic of the name (Singh) every Sikh carries, ringed by a chakra
Regimental center: Ramgarh Cantt. (Jharkhand)
The modern Sikh Regiment traces its roots directly from the 11th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army like its sister regiments, and extra battalions were raised, transferred, or disbanded to meet army needs. With a humble beginning of two battalions, today the fraternity has grown to a regiment of 19 regular infantry and two reserve battalions strong.
Sikh soldiers have exhibited raw courage on every battlefield and shown unflinching devotion to duty in the face of daunting odds. The movie Kesri brings out in graphic detail the story of the heroic fight to the ‘last man, last round’ by 21 Sikh soldiers who fought Orakzai and Afridi Lashkars while defending Saragarhi Fort in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa in 1897. Each of the soldiers was awarded the Indian Order of Merit, at that time, the highest award that was given to Indian soldiers serving in the British Indian Army.
The Sikhs fought gallantly on numerous battlefields in the First and Second World Wars. In all, 83,005 Sikh soldiers made the supreme sacrifice on the battlefields of the two World Wars, while another 1,09,045 were wounded in battle.
While the Sikhs from Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir serve in large numbers in the Punjab and Dogra regiments and other fighting arms like the Regiment of Artillery and the Corps of Engineers, the Sikh Regiment and the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment are the only two regiments that comprise only Sikh soldiers.
The Sikh Regiment is the most highly decorated regiment of the Indian Army in terms of gallantry awards and good service medals. The regiment has earned 10 Victoria Crosses, two Param Vir Chakras (Lance Naik Karam Singh, Kashmir operations, 1948 and Subedar Joginder Singh, Chinese aggression, 1962), 14 Maha Vir Chakras and 68 Vir Chakras. Battalions of the Sikh Regiment distinguished themselves in each of independent India’s wars including the Kargil conflict of 1999. The Sikh Regiment has also been awarded a large number of battle and theatre honors for distinguished service in particular battles or in the whole theatre.
The motto of the Sikh Regiment is Nischay Kar Apni Jeet Karon (With determination, I will be triumphant). The regimental motto of the Sikh Light Infantry, Deg Teg Fateh, stands for “prosperity in peace, victory in war”. These mottos underscore the belief that all victory belongs to God and emphasizes the importance of charity for the needy and the sword against oppression.
Deeply religious in their outlook on life, Sikh soldiers draw their inspiration from the selfless service rendered by their gurus and the numerous sacrifices made by them, particularly by Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh, the first and 10th gurus, respectively.
’’Deh Shiva bar mohe ehey shubh karman se kabhun na taro. It goes on to seek God’s blessings to be brave and resolute in battle: Na daro arr seo jab jaye laro, nischey kar apni jit karo.’’
Operation Blue Star
An Indian Army operation that attacked the Sikh community’s most prominent shrine, some of the recruits at Ramgarh, Bihar mutinied. They shot and killed the commandant of the Sikh Regimental Center, Brigadier S.C. Puri, and wounded some other officers. They then got hold of a number of trucks and started to proceed towards Punjab, but were stopped by army men in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A part of 9 Sikh which was in the Ganganagar area of Rajasthan also mutinied. This battalion was disbanded on April 1, 1985. Following Operation Blue Star, the then COAS, General Arun S. Vaidya, wanted to have more mixed battalions. So he passed an order that single-class battalions should begin recruiting other classes as well as their parent class. These mixed battalions came to be known as Vaidya’s Battalions. The 13 Sikh was raised as Vaidya’s battalion with class composition: a company each of Sikhs, Dogras, Garhwalis, and South Indians. However, these units were reverted to their original class composition later.
General Vaidya was later assassinated by Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha for the perception of his involvement in Operation Blue Star and failing to rehabilitate mutinied Sikh soldiers.
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