The nation on Monday bid farewell to Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh with full military honours and as per tradition.
His mortal remains, which were kept at his residence on Sunday for people to pay their last respects, were moved to Brar square in Delhi cantonment in the morning on Monday.
Marshal Singh, the only five star officer of the IAF, was admitted in the Army’s Research & Referral hospital after a cardiac arrest on Saturday morning where he breathed his last at 07:47 PM. He was 98.
His son Arvind Singh, who is based in the US, lit the funeral pyre.
He was given a 17 gun salute by 25 pound field artillery guns. Following this three Mi-17 helicopters flew in a ‘vic’ formation trooping the IAF colours. Then, three Su-30MKi fighter aircraft flew in a ‘missing man’ formation signifying the loss of a fallen comrade.
Flypast by IAF helicopter as a mark of respect to Marshal Arjan Singh
Marshal Singh as IAF Chief played a key role in achieving complete air superiority in the 1965 war with Pakistan. He was made Marshal of the IAF in 2002.
The Government had declared a state funeral on Monday and the national flag on all Government buildings in Delhi will fly at half-mast. However, it was surprising that no state mourning was declared given the iconic status of Marshal Singh and his contributions to the IAF and the nation.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the three service Chiefs were among those who attended the last rites.
While Marshal Singh was the first and only Marshal of the Air Force, he is also one of the only three five star officers in the history of Independent India.
The other two were Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. His death brings down the curtains on an era which spanned an eventful period from World War I in the early twentieth century to 2017 in the twenty first century.
