Arjan Singh's funeral in sharp contrast to lonely send-off given to Army legend Sam Manekshaw
Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh's funeral ceremony in Delhi was in sharp contrast to the manner in which Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was laid to rest in 2008.
In a farewell befitting to a war hero, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh was on Monday cremated at Brar Square in the Delhi Cantonment area with full state honours in the presence of the top political and military leadership of the NDA government.
So impressed was his son Arvind Singh with the arrangements that he told IAF officials that his father would have been very happy to see the kind of farewell given to him, with who's who of the country - right from the President, Prime Minister and the services chiefs - present with him during his last moments to the funeral.
However, in contrast, the funeral of the legendary and the greatest military leader Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was marked by neglect by the then UPA government, which probably held the General's encounters with Indira Gandhi, during his stint as Army chief when he led the country to its greatest war victory over Pakistan in 1971, against him.
After his death in Ooty on June 27, 2008, condolences were offered by the government functionaries, but right from the then President Pratibha Patil to the supreme commander of the armed forces, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his defence minister A K Antony and the three Service chiefs, none attended the "state funeral".
After the neglect by the UPA government turned into a controversy, the Defence Ministry had tried to hide behind protocols to avoid the embarrassment. But the military community was annoyed in a big way.
However, the arrangements made by the government in Arjan Singh's funeral are being seen as befitting for the stature of the IAF officer who commanded the Air Force in the 1965 war and ensured that his men won the battle of skies.