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Sikh Light Infantry

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Sikh Light Infantry
Sikh Light Infantry Insignia
Active1941 - Present
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Army
TypeLight infantry
RoleInfantry
Size19 battalions
Regimental CentreFatehgarh,Uttar Pradesh
Motto(s)Deg Teg Fateh(Prosperity in Peace and Victory in War)
Decorations
Commanders
Colonel of
the Regiment		Lt GenRashim Bali
Notable
commanders		Gen.V.P. Malik
Gen.Bikram Singh
Gen.Manoj Mukund Naravane
Insignia
War CryBole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akaal!

TheSikh Light Infantryis alight infantryregiment of theIndian Army.[1]The regiment is the successor unit to the23rd,32ndand34th Royal Sikh Pioneersof theBritish Indian Army.The regiment recruits from theSikhcommunity ofHimachal Pradesh,PunjabandHaryanastates of India.

The versatility of the Sikh Light Infantry has seen the regiment conduct operations from conventional warfare on theSiachen Glacier,the highest battlefield in the world, tocounter-terrorism.[1][dead link]Units of the regiment have also been deployed as part of theUnited Nations Emergency Force.The regimental motto is "Deg Tegh Fateh",meaning" prosperity in peace and victory in war ".

The motto has great significance from the tenthSikh Guru,Guru Gobind Singh,with whom the sikh community is attached beliefs, Guru Gobind Singh named them Khalsa as in faithful for their dedication to do good. The regiment's cap badge is achakramor quoit, with a mountedkirpan.The insignia was designed to honour the Khalsa community'sAkali Nihangancestry.

History[edit]

Sikh Light Infantry soldiers march past during aRepublic Day ParadeinNew Delhi,India

The Sikh Light Infantry's predecessors, the23rd,32ndand34th Royal Sikh Pioneersof theBritish Indian Army,could all trace their origins to 1857. The 23rd Sikh Pioneers were raised as 15th (Pioneer) Regiment of Punjab Infantry and although they werepioneersby name, they functioned as a regular infantry regiment specially trained asassault pioneers.They served during theSecond Opium War,theexpedition to Abyssinia,theSecond Anglo-Afghan War,theexpedition to Tibet,and the First World War. The 32nd Sikh Pioneers and the 34th Royal Sikh Pioneers were raised as Punjab Sappers in 1857. They fought in theIndian Rebellion of 1857,the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the First World War. In 1922, the army was reformed from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments, and the 23rd, 32nd and 34th Sikh Pioneers were amalgamated into the3rd Sikh Pioneers.They were renamed in 1929 to the Corps of Sikh Pioneers, which was disbanded in 1933.[2]It was then re-raised during the Second World War as the Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikh Light Infantry, with the first battalion being raised on 1 October 1941. Recruitment was then opened up toRamdasiaSikhs. The regiment inherited the battle honours, colours and traditions of the Corps of Sikh Pioneers.[3]The regiment's name was changed again in 1944 to the Sikh Light Infantry.

Post-independence[edit]

After Indian independence, the Sikh Light Infantry was allotted to the newly formedIndian Army.

Independence of Goa from Portuguese occupation[edit]

During the 1961annexation of Goa,the 2nd & 4th battalions, Sikh Light Infantry augmented the strength of the50th Parachute Brigade.The battalion supported the main thrust of the attack as part of its western column. They moved rapidly across minefields, roadblocks and four riverine obstacles to be the first to reachPanaji.[4]

Operation Pawan[edit]

The 13th battalion, Sikh Light Infantry was deployed duringOperation PawaninSri Lankaas part of theIndian Peace Keeping Forcein 1987. Troops from 13 Sikh LI were involved in theJaffna University Helidrop,an operation that aimed to capture theLTTEleadership at their tactical headquarters inJaffna University.The operation ended disastrously due to intelligence and planning failures. Delta Company, 13 Sikh LI, led by Maj. Birendra Singh, was the first company to be heli-dropped in. However, LTTE militants had intercepted Indian radio communications prior to the operation and had laid an ambush, hitting the helicopters with RPGs and.50 calibre machine gun rounds. Heavy damage to the helicopters meant that further drops were impossible and as a result, only 30 of the intended 360 Sikh LI troops made it to the university, including Maj. Birendra Singh and one of the platoon commanders, Sub. Samparan Singh. Completely surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned and with no support, the 30 troops from D Coy were progressively annihilated throughout the night. Maj Birendra Singh and Sub. Samparan Singh were killed sometime in the morning, and by 11:30 am there were only 3 troops left. When they ran out of ammunition, they fixed bayonets and charged. 2 of them were killed by LTTE fire and the third, Sep. Gora Singh, was taken prisoner. In total, 29 out of the 30 troops from D Coy who landed were killed.

40 Sikh soldiers were left and fought for 4 days without food and water and they had run out of ammunition. They said the Ardas and charged at the LTTE soldiers with their batons and died.

When reinforcements reached the university after a week of heavy fighting, they found the battlefield littered with pieces of Sikh LI uniforms and equipment, along with thousands of.50 BMG shells. According to Sep. Gora Singh, the dead Sikhs were stripped of their weapons, uniforms and equipment and their bare bodies were laid out in a row at the nearby Buddhist Nagaraja Vihar temple. The corpses were then burnt with a barrel of oil. The LTTE claimed to have tried to get in touch with the IPKF HQ atPalali,but apparently their efforts to get them collect the dead bodies were in vain. The bodies had started to decompose, and they had no option but to cremate them.

Units[edit]

Troops from the 9th battalion, Sikh Light Infantry arrive aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) to participate inMalabar 2006.Malabar 2006 is a multinational exercise between the U.S., Indian and Canadian armed forces to increase interoperability between the three nations and support international security cooperation missions
  • 1st Battalion
  • 2nd Battalion
  • 3rd Battalion
  • 4th Battalion
  • 5th Battalion
  • 6th Battalion
  • 7th Battalion
  • 8th Battalion
  • 9th Battalion
  • 10th Battalion
  • 11th Battalion
  • 12th Battalion
  • 13th Battalion
  • 14th Battalion
  • 15th Battalion
  • 16th Battalion
  • 17th Battalion
  • 18th Battalion
  • 19th Battalion

Territorial Army(TA)

  • 103rd Infantry BattalionTerritorial Army(Sikh LI): Ludhiana, Punjab
  • 158th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Sikh LI) (Home & Hearth): Janglot, Jammu & Kashmir
  • 163rd Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Sikh LI) (Home & Hearth): Hyderbeigh, Jammu & Kashmir

Rashtriya Rifles(RR)

  • 2 RR
  • 19 RR
  • 49 RR

The 9th battalion has a specialist role, as it conducts specialamphibious assaultssimilar in nature to theRoyal Marinesof theUnited Kingdom.

Culture[edit]

Akali Nihangs

Thechakramandkirpanare traditional and iconic weapons of theAkali Nihangorder, a religious warrior monk order started byGuru Gobind Singhin the 18th century. The Mazhabi Sikhs dominated this order throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.[5]Thechakramandkirpanwere thus combined to make the Sikh Light Infantry cap badge.

Due to the cultural origin of its recruits, the regiment maintains not only a strong Sikh culture but a strongPunjabi culture.Bhangra,a popular folk dance of the Punjab, is a regular pastime of the soldiers.Sikhismplays a strong role in the day-to-day life and functioning of the regiment and its soldiers some of which have Chakrams on their turbans. The regiment maintains its own regimentalgurdwarafor the daily worship for its soldiers.[citation needed]The religious life of the soldiers sees them conductshabad kirtanand all other aspects of Sikh worship. The teachings of Guru Gobind Singh and the notion ofsant-sipahi( "saint-soldier" ) play a large role in regimental life. Historically, the Mazhabi Sikhs have long served in the armies of Guru Gobind Singh and in the laterKhalsa Armyraised byRanjit Singh,which forged and established theSikh Empire.[6]Most times before entering battle Sikh soldiers said the Ardas and then went into battle. Before the Regiment was formed it was called the Rattray's Sikhs, who notably did not tie their beards and carried 3 foot long swords into battle.

The regimental motto,Deg Tegh Fateh( "prosperity in peace and victory in war" ) is also derived from Guru Gobind Singh. It incorporates his teachings of peace, tolerance and community spirit, but also the duty to unsheathe the sword when a tyrant or oppressor threatens that ethos and refuses peaceful co-existence. Thebattle cryof the regiment is"Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!"meaning "He who recites the name of the lord, shall forever be victorious!"

Recruitment[edit]

Members of the regiment onRed Squareduring the2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade.

The Sikh Light Infantry is a "single caste" regiment.[7]Its soldiers are recruited only fromMazhabiandRamdasiaSikhs.[8]Mazhabi Sikhs must provide identification certificates showing their status as Mazhabi Sikhs for eligibility to join the regiment as well as meeting the other minimum standards. Like all Indian Army regiments, officers can come from all regions and communities in India.[citation needed]

Awards and decorations[edit]

Maha Vir Chakra[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abAnniversary Celebrations of Sikh LIArchived3 February 2011 at theWayback Machine
  2. ^Home, DC; Shebbeare, RH."The Story of the Renowned and the Redoubtable Sikh Light Infantry".Archived fromthe originalon 15 April 2009.Retrieved18 February2016.
  3. ^Full text of "The Sikhs of the Punjab"
  4. ^BHARAT RAKSHAK MONITOR: Volume 4(3)Archived4 February 2013 at theWayback Machine
  5. ^McQueen. Sir. J.W and Baaghaa. A.S (1994) Unseen faces and untold cases, heroes and villains of Sikh rule, Volume 8 of Series in Sikh history and culture. Bahri Publications p106
  6. ^Sikh army regiments infantry valour war
  7. ^Wilkinson, Steven I. (2015).Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy Since Independence.Harvard University Press.p. 41.ISBN978-0-674-72880-6.Some regiments, such as the Sikh Regiment and Sikh Light Infantry, are "single class," and therefore recruit combat troops only from members of a specified class, such as Jat Sikhs and Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs.
  8. ^Kundu, Apurba (1994). "The Indian Armed Forces' Sikh and Non-Sikh Officers' Opinions of Operation Blue Star".Pacific Affairs.67(1): 48.doi:10.2307/2760119.JSTOR2760119.Moreover, with the exception of Gurkhas (recruited in Nepal), Sikhs remain the only community to have infantry regiments drawn exclusively from their own numbers: the Sikh Regiment (manned, though not officered, by high-caste Jat Sikhs) and the Sikh Light Infantry (manned entirely by Mazhabi, or Scheduled Caste, "untouchable" Sikhs.
  9. ^Aggarwal, Rashmi (January 0101)."Ashoka Chakra Recipients".

External links[edit]

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