 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
| Sikh Light Infantry | |
|---|---|
.svg) Sikh Light Infantry Insignia | |
| Active | 1941 - Present |
| Country |  India |
| Branch |  Indian Army |
| Type | Light infantry |
| Role | Infantry |
| Size | 19 battalions |
| Regimental Centre | Fatehgarh,Uttar Pradesh |
| Mottos | Deg Tegh Fateh (Victory of Charity and Arms) |
| Decorations |
|
| Commanders | |
| Colonel of the Regiment | Lt Gen Rashim Bali |
| Notable commanders | Gen.V.P. Malik Gen.Bikram Singh Gen.Manoj Mukund Naravane |
| Insignia | |
| War Cry | Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akaal! |
TheSikh Light Infantry is alight infantry regiment of theIndian Army.[1] The regiment is the successor unit to the23rd,32nd and34th Royal Sikh Pioneers of theBritish Indian Army. The regiment recruits from theSikh community ofHimachal Pradesh,Punjab andHaryana states of India.
The versatility of the Sikh Light Infantry has seen the regiment conduct operations from conventional warfare on theSiachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, tocounter-terrorism.[1][dead link] Units of the regiment have also been deployed as part of theUnited Nations Emergency Force. The regimental motto is "Deg Tegh Fateh", meaning "prosperity in peace and victory in war".
The motto has great significance from the tenthSikh Guru,Guru Gobind Singh, with whom the sikh community is attached beliefs, Guru Gobind Singh named them Khalsa as in faithful for their dedication to do good. The regiment's cap badge is achakram or quoit, with a mountedkirpan. The insignia was designed to honour the Khalsa community'sAkali Nihang ancestry.
The Sikh Light Infantry's predecessors, the23rd,32nd and34th Royal Sikh Pioneers of theBritish Indian Army, could all trace their origins to 1857. The 23rd Sikh Pioneers were raised as 15th (Pioneer) Regiment of Punjab Infantry and although they werepioneers by name, they functioned as a regular infantry regiment specially trained asassault pioneers. They served during theSecond Opium War, theexpedition to Abyssinia, theSecond Anglo-Afghan War, theexpedition to Tibet, and the First World War. The 32nd Sikh Pioneers and the 34th Royal Sikh Pioneers were raised as Punjab Sappers in 1857. They fought in theIndian Rebellion of 1857, the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the First World War. In 1922, the army was reformed from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments, and the 23rd, 32nd and 34th Sikh Pioneers were amalgamated into the3rd Sikh Pioneers. They were renamed in 1929 to the Corps of Sikh Pioneers, which was disbanded in 1933.[2] It was then re-raised during the Second World War as the Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikh Light Infantry, with the first battalion being raised on 1 October 1941. Recruitment was then opened up toRamdasia Sikhs. The regiment inherited the battle honours, colours and traditions of the Corps of Sikh Pioneers.[3][page needed] The regiment's name was changed again in 1944 to the Sikh Light Infantry.
After Indian independence, the Sikh Light Infantry was allotted to the newly formedIndian Army.[citation needed]
During the 1961annexation of Goa, the 2nd & 4th battalions, Sikh Light Infantry augmented the strength of the50th Parachute Brigade. The battalion supported the main thrust of the attack as part of its western column. They moved rapidly across minefields, roadblocks and four riverine obstacles to be the first to reachPanaji.[4]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The 13th battalion, Sikh Light Infantry was deployed duringOperation Pawan inSri Lanka as part of theIndian Peace Keeping Force in 1987. Troops from 13 Sikh LI were involved in theJaffna University Helidrop, an operation that aimed to capture theLTTE leadership at their tactical headquarters inJaffna University. The operation ended disastrously due to intelligence and planning failures. Delta Company, 13 Sikh LI, led by Maj. Birendra Singh, was the first company to be heli-dropped in. However, LTTE militants had intercepted Indian radio communications prior to the operation and had laid an ambush, hitting the helicopters with RPGs and .50 calibre machine gun rounds. Heavy damage to the helicopters meant that further drops were impossible and as a result, only 30 of the intended 360 Sikh LI troops made it to the university, including Maj. Birendra Singh and one of the platoon commanders, Sub. Samparan Singh. Completely surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned and with no support, the 30 troops from D Coy were progressively annihilated throughout the night. Maj Birendra Singh and Sub. Samparan Singh were killed sometime in the morning, and by 11:30 am there were only 3 troops left. When they ran out of ammunition, they fixed bayonets and charged. 2 of them were killed by LTTE fire and the third, Sep. Gora Singh, was taken prisoner. In total, 29 out of the 30 troops from D Coy who landed were killed.
40 Sikh soldiers were left and fought for 4 days without food and water and they had run out of ammunition. They said the Ardas and charged at the LTTE soldiers with their batons and died.
When reinforcements reached the university after a week of heavy fighting, they found the battlefield littered with pieces of Sikh LI uniforms and equipment, along with thousands of .50 BMG shells. According to Sep. Gora Singh, the dead Sikhs were stripped of their weapons, uniforms and equipment and their bare bodies were laid out in a row at the nearby Buddhist Nagaraja Vihar temple. The corpses were then burnt with a barrel of oil. The LTTE claimed to have tried to get in touch with the IPKF HQ atPalali, but apparently their efforts to get them collect the dead bodies were in vain. The bodies had started to decompose, and they had no option but to cremate them.
_to_participate_in_Malabar_2006.jpg)
Territorial Army (TA)
Rashtriya Rifles (RR)
The 9th battalion has a specialist role, as it conducts specialamphibious assaults similar in nature to theRoyal Marines of theUnited Kingdom.
Thechakram andkirpan are traditional and iconic weapons of theAkali Nihang order, a religious warrior monk order started byGuru Gobind Singh in the 18th century. The Mazhabi Sikhs dominated this order throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.[5] Thechakram andkirpan were thus combined to make the Sikh Light Infantry cap badge.
Due to the cultural origin of its recruits, the regiment maintains not only a strong Sikh culture but a strongPunjabi culture.Bhangra, a popular folk dance of the Punjab, is a regular pastime of the soldiers.Sikhism plays a strong role in the day-to-day life and functioning of the regiment and its soldiers some of which have Chakrams on their turbans. The regiment maintains its own regimentalgurdwara for the daily worship for its soldiers.[citation needed] The religious life of the soldiers sees them conductshabad kirtan and all other aspects of Sikh worship. The teachings of Guru Gobind Singh and the notion ofsant-sipahi ("saint-soldier") play a large role in regimental life. Historically, the Mazhabi Sikhs have long served in the armies of Guru Gobind Singh and in the laterKhalsa Army raised byRanjit Singh, which forged and established theSikh Empire.[6] Most times before entering battle Sikh soldiers said the Ardas and then went into battle. Before the Regiment was formed it was called the Rattray's Sikhs, who notably did not tie their beards and carried 3 foot long swords into battle.
The regimental motto,Deg Tegh Fateh ("prosperity in peace and victory in war") is also derived from Guru Gobind Singh. It incorporates his teachings of peace, tolerance and community spirit, but also the duty to unsheathe the sword when a tyrant or oppressor threatens that ethos and refuses peaceful co-existence. Thebattle cry of the regiment is"Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!" meaning "He who recites the name of the lord, shall forever be victorious!"
The Sikh Light Infantry is a "single caste" regiment.[7] Its soldiers are recruited only fromMazhabi andRamdasia Sikhs.[8] Mazhabi Sikhs must provide identification certificates showing their status as Mazhabi Sikhs for eligibility to join the regiment as well as meeting the other minimum standards. Like all Indian Army regiments, officers can come from all regions and communities in India.[citation needed]
Some regiments, such as the Sikh Regiment and Sikh Light Infantry, are "single class," and therefore recruit combat troops only from members of a specified class, such as Jat Sikhs and Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs.
Moreover, with the exception of Gurkhas (recruited in Nepal), Sikhs remain the only community to have infantry regiments drawn exclusively from their own numbers: the Sikh Regiment (manned, though not officered, by high-caste Jat Sikhs) and the Sikh Light Infantry (manned entirely by Mazhabi, or Scheduled Caste, "untouchable" Sikhs.
