India bids farewell to one of its finest warriors

The mortal remains of Arjan Singh – Marshal of the Indian Air Force – was consigned to the flames at a solemn military ceremony here as the nation bids farewell to one of its most valiant warriors.
 
The last rites of Singh, who led the IAF during the 1965 war against Pakistan, was marked by a fly-past of three Su-30 MKI aircraft in the “missing man” formation and group flying by three Mi-17V5 aircraft carrying the national flag as well as the IAF flag under-slung.
 
The missing man formation is an aerial salute performed as part of a flypast at a funeral or memorial event, typically in memory of a fallen pilot, a well-known military service member or a veteran. This is a rare honour, reserved only for the bravest in the armed forces.
 
The funeral was preceded by a 17 gun salute as the funeral was held in state honours. The national flags atop government buildings in Delhi will fly half-mast on Monday as a mark of respect for the departing soul.
 
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP veteran L K Advani were among the political leaders who attended the ceremony at the Brar Square in Delhi cantonment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his respect to Singh at his home on Sunday night.
 
The ceremony was in stark contrast to the treatment accorded to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw – the General who led the country to a glorious victory in the 1971 war - in his last journey in 2008.  
 
Neither then defence minister A K Antony, nor the three Service Chiefs were present at the cremation ceremony of Sam Bahadur in Wellington near Ooty in Tamil Nadu.
 
While all three Service Chiefs and a Union Cabinet Minister attended Field Marshal K M Cariappa's cremation in 1993, the senior most political representative at Manekshaw's funeral was Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju and the armed forces were led by Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen M L Naidu.
 
This triggered a volley of protests and resentments among the armed forces community.
 
The NDA government, on the contrary, decided to bestow state honours to the Marshal of the Air Force – the only five-star officer in the IAF, equivalent to a Field Marshal. His body was driven in a gun carriage from his residence in central Delhi (7 Kautilya Marg) to the creation ground in the western part of the city.
 
His son Arvind Singh, who flew in from the USA, lit the pyres as a Sikh priest chanted the religious hymns (Ardas)