Former army chief
general (retired) J J Singh Delhi was conferred with the highest French
civilian distinction, Officer of the Legion of Honour, on April 11 last.
Singh was chosen for the honour in recognition of his "stellar role"
in modernising the Indian Army and initiating robust exchanges between the
Indian and French armies leading to "unprecedented" levels of
cooperation and inter-operability and creation of enduring ties and promotion
of mutual understanding between the two countries, the French Embassy said
here.
'Officier de l'Ordre national de la Legion d'Honneur' is the highest civilian
award given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France,
regardless of the nationality of the recipients. Singh was conferred the
honour by French Ambassador to India, Francois Richier.
An
alumnus of the National Defence Academy and holder of a master's degree in
Defence Science, Singh was commissioned into the 9th Maratha Light Infantry on
02.08.64.
In January, 2003, he was appointed as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC), took over as Western Command Army
Commander in January 2004 but assumed the office of Chief of Army Staff on
31.01.05 and appointed Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee of the three
forces.
Working tirelessly for the enhancement of military cooperation between the
Indian and French armies, he led an inter-services delegation to France that
year.
It was during his
tenure that he mooted the idea of holding joint army exercises at the level
already existing between the two countries' air forces (Garuda) and navies
(Varuna).
"It was thus
that the 'Shakti' inter-army exercise later came into being in 2011," the
statement said.
In 2009, he was
invited as the guest of honour for the French National Day military parade in
Paris in which an Indian Army contingent took part for the first time.
He earned the honour 'A soldier's
General' before his retirement in September 2007. He was appointed
Arunachal Pradesh Governor on 27.01.08, wrote his autobiography 'A
soldier's General', but received the highest honours 'People's Governor' given
by the people, as claimed by him. He demitted office on 28.05.13.
With China oft repeatedly
claiming over the territory of Arunachal Pradesh, the appointment of retired
Army chief was a message that New Delhi meant business.
Four days after resuming duty,
workaholic Gen JJ air-dashed to insurgency-infested Tirpap district HQs Khosna
to announce his doctrine to adopt 'Iron fist' denotes a ruthless and ‘no
nonsense’ approach while tackling insurgents or terrorists and the 'velvet
glove' shows humane approach when dealing with innocent ones. The only way to
address terrorism is to deal with issues that create terrorism, to resolve them
where possible and where that is not possible, to ensure that there is an
alternative to violence. In fact, he has been invited to different parts of the
world to advise ways to tackle insurgency and terrorism
With development as buzzword, Gen JJ
went on frequent tours, attempted to remove the hurdles to accelerate the
process of development to win the hearts of the masses to be called 'People's
governor'. His chemistry with the ruling chief minister was unique and
unparalleled without any misgiving. Sobbing officer officers and those who
loved him pulled the flower decorated jeep carrying Gen JJ and his wife Anupama
Singh from Raj Bhawan to the helipad where he boarded a chopper on way to
Delhi.
The turnaround he had brought to the
development process is lit large all over the state and list is very lengthy.
The most important of all, according to me, was his sincere efforts to open
border trade with China by reopening the historic Stillwell road. Anyone could
drive at 100 km speed from Jairmapur to Pangsau Pass, the personal initiative
of Gen JJ.
He was well aware that 50% of world's rich in
South East Asian nations and once the 1,726-km Stillwell road, from Ledo in Assam
to Kunming in Yunan province of China, developed by US Army Gen Joseph
Stillwell in 1945, once opens would herald a new era of economic development
for this under developed state.
Though the Indian Army had been
refusing permission despite repeated efforts of the GoAP to open border trade
by reopening the Stillwell road, the governor's recommendation as former Army
chief could not be undermined. The state would reap its fruit very soon as he
had described it to me in plain words.
As I am on a move in various parts of Odisha, Gen
JJ's office cold contact me after trying for three days to give me the
details and confirm that the former governor had received my salutation.
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