This family is keeping the legacy of serving Army alive since WWI

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, February 6

Lt Gen Jasbir Singh Dhillon (retd) was all smiles as he shared the legacy of soldiering in his family. “It takes great conviction, courage and selflessness to join this proud profession. But in my case, I think that military service is like a tradition dating back to World War I,” he said.

He says if one goes through the pages of the history of the Indian Army, he would have an interesting story to share from each chapter.

His great grandfather Harnam Singh Dhillon was the first one to join the defence service. He was a havildar in the Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army, who fought in the First World War. He passed on the legacy to his sons, Dharam Singh Dhillon, who fought in the First World War and Subedar Bishan Singh, who served in the British Indian Army as an artillery officer for over two decades and then in 1939, he joined the Army Service Corps.

General Dhillon said his grandfather Subedar Bishan Singh fought in both World War I and World War II before retiring in 1947. “He was awarded land as an Order of British for his long and faithful service, but he didn’t accept the offer. Besides, he was also awarded a War Jagir (an allowance) for passing on the legacy to his sons,” he added.

“Then it was Santrain Singh Dhillon, corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), his father, who fought in the Second World War, but was later dismissed from the Army due to his association with the INA of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,” said General Dhillon, a native of Manko village in Jalandhar. In the 1950s, his brother joined the Indian Air force and in 1968, he joined the Navy, he added.

Taking pride in his great-granddad and grandfather’s legacy from WW-I, General Dhillon said: “I can proudly say that valour runs in my veins, thicker than blood. Besides, I have decided to pass on this inheritance to serve the nation to my son as well who is at present posted near Jammu and Kashmir.”

Talking about his 39 years of journey in the Army, General Dhillon said: “It takes a strong heart to be a soldier, a lot of pain and patience, and inspiration that comes from within.” He served in various appointments from second lieutenant to lieutenant colonel to lieutenant general and participated in a number of operations and wars from the 1971 Indo-Pak War to Operation PAWAN (Sri Lanka) and the 1999 Kargil War.

He said all his batchmates were martyred in the 1971 war. At that time, they were all in the 21-23 age group. “But who remembers them now?” he questioned, while saying “the life of a soldier is tough, but the sad reality is no one, not even the government cares afterwards.” He further said he retired in 2009 as the Director-General of Quality Assurance (DGQA).

Life after retirement

Speaking on his journey after retirement, General Dhillon shared that he felt privileged to have received various lucrative offers from MNCs to join them, but he decided to return to his roots in rural Punjab to pay back to society.

He said at present he was working in Sant Baba Bhag Singh University as the Director-General, besides, he was also Director of the university’s Armed Forces Preparatory Academy and he is guiding youth to become officers in the defence forces under university entry schemes.

He said in the last 10 years, six of the boys of the university and one girl joined the Army and all are at present posted at Major rank. Moreover, he is also associated with various NGOs and social welfare organisations to encourage youngsters to make their future in defence services.

Why does the youth no longer show interest in joining the defence services?

General Dhillon replied that lack of counselling at the grassroots level is one of the reasons. “Youth in the villages is not aware of the procedure to enroll themselves in the Army. There’s no one to guide them. There are many armed forces preparatory academies in Punjab and across the nation, but hardly anybody knows about it. We need to conduct on ground seminars, counselling sessions, etc, to encourage youngsters to make a career in the Army instead of moving abroad,” he said.