Profound scholar, statesman and strategist (1926-2016)
General S.K. Sinha was born in 1926 in an illustrious family in Patna. He had a brilliant academic career and graduated with Honours in English in 1943, at the age of 17. He joined the Army and was adjudged the best cadet at Officers Training School (OTS), Belgaum. He was commissioned into 7/9 JAT Regiment and later transferred to 6/9 JAT Regiment. He saw service in Burma and was appointed Adjutant of Japanese Prisoners Of War (POW) Camp when the war was over. The POWs employed on manual work got a higher scale of rations. He ensured manual work for all POWs so that they all got better rations. When he left for Indonesia to take up appointment of GSO3, 15 Indian Corps, a senior Japanese officer said to him: “One day we hope to pay our gratitude to you when you come to Japan. Till then Mount Fujihama and the Sea of Japan will be anxiously waiting for your arrival.”
At the time of Independence, he was the only Indian officer in the military operations branch and had close inter-action with Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. As GSO2 in the Delhi and East Punjab Command under General Russell, he organised air lift of troops and material to Kashmir in the 1947 War. He participated in the discussions on the alignments of Cease Fire Line when hostilities were over.
He got married to Premini in June 1948, and they were blessed with three daughters and a son. He was transferred to 3/5 Gorkha Rifles (GR). He completed Staff College in India and Joint Services Staff College, UK. He held various command, staff and instructional appointments with distinction. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, he was the Director, Military Intelligence. In the journey to the top, he commanded II Corps and Western Command before taking over as Vice- Chief. He was awarded PVSM, made Honorary ADC to the President and President of the Gorkha Brigade. He was expected to take over as the Chief but was denied this promotion for reasons not made public and he took retirement. He took it calmly and made no public comments. The sword had been sheathed. When he made a farewell call on R. Venkataraman, the Defence Minister, he was not offered even a cup of tea and the Minister kept on advising him not to enter politics. He retired to his home town, Patna, in 1983.
In 1990, Lt. Gen. Sinha was offered the post of Ambassador to Nepal. The relations with Nepal were then at a low ebb. Eleven months later, the Government at Delhi changed and he resigned. It speaks volumes for his success that the King and the Queen called on him before his departure – a complete departure from protocol. In 1997, Prime Minister I.K. Gujral invited him to take over as Governor of Assam, and he was sworn in on 1 September 1997. Assam was beset with challenges of insurgency and poor governance. He forged a unified command of all security forces and dealt with violence firmly. He promoted shallow bamboo tube wells, costing Rs. 22,000 each, to transform the agricultural economy. He gave due honour to Assam’s military hero, Borphuken, who had achieved a decisive victory against Aurangzeb and succeeded in getting the award of Bharat Ratna for Bardoli, former Chief Minister of Assam. The militant groups were isolated when he left in May 2003 to take over as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J & K).
He followed a similar approach in J & K. He took the initiative to install mini-hydel plants and gave the task to the Army. It brought the Army closer to the people. He was happy to see the Tricolour fluttering in every village as he drove to the 1000th mini- hydel plant, 20 kms from Baramula. Gulam Nabi Azad took over as Chief Minster on 27 October 2005, and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed started a vicious campaign against General Sinha on the issue of transit facilities for Amarnath pilgrims, and he was relieved on 25 June 2008. General Sinha settled down in New Delhi and became busy writing, lecturing and playing golf. He authored five books including his memoirs. He passed away on 17 November 2016.