Arjan Singh’s last rites: 21- gun salute and Fly Past honours Marshal of Indian Airforce

New Delhi, September 18: The funeral of Arjan Singh, Marshal of the Indian Air Force and legendary fighter pilot, is taking place with full state honours in the capital. The 98-year-old war hero died of a cardiac arrest on Saturday. The national flag will fly at half-mast at all government buildings in Delhi in tribute to the only five-star rank Air Force officer, equivalent to a Field Marshal in the army.

 

A gun salute will be given, and if weather permits, a fly past will also take place, the defence minister said. Singh's family has also planned a ritual for the funeral. An icon of India's military history, 98-year-old Singh breathed his last at an army hospital.

 

 

On Sunday, President Ram Nath Kovind led the nation in paying final tributes to Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh. Arjan Singh's body, wrapped in the flag, was taken from his home to the Delhi Cantonment in a gun carriage decorated with marigold flowers - a journey of 8 km with an Air Force band and a tri-services contingent at the funeral site. A fly-past of Sukhoi-30 fighters will be held.

 

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lay a wreath on behalf of herself and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Gujarat for the inauguration of Sardar Sarovar Dam. The three service chiefs — Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, Naval chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, army chief General Bipin Rawat -- as well as Minister of State Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Puri were also present. Among other dignitaries who were seen streaming in were Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, MoS for External Affairs and former Army chief V K Singh, former defence minister AK Antony and Congress MP Karan Singh.

 

Army chief General Bipin Rawat described the five-star ranking officer as "a legend, an icon, a pilot-chief who led from the front and a philanthropist to the core". He recalled Singh's immense contribution as the air chief during the 1965 India-Pakistan War, the first major air battle of the IAF after independence. "It was to his credit that despite initial setbacks, we were able to 'overcome and overwhelm' the enemy and spoil their design to annex Jammu and Kashmir," Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa told reporters.

 

Born on April 15 Apr, 1919, in what is now Pakistan's Faisalabad, Singh the Indian Air Force in 1938. In August 1964, Arjan Singh took charge as the IAF's third Indian Chief of Air Staff at the relatively young age of 45. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1965 for his contributions in the 1965 Indo-Pak War. Singh retired from service in 1970 and in 2002, was promoted to Marshal of the Air Force, becoming the IAF officer to occupy that rank.