Lt Col Abjit Singh Sekhon VrC

Lieutenant Colonel Abjit Singh Sekhon was born on 28th Jan 1949 in Karnal in Punjab. Son of Sardar Sahib Gurdial Singh Sekhon, an IAS officer and Smt Kamaljit Sekhon, Lt Col Abjit Singh came from an illustrious family in Faridkot state. His grandfather had served in the Army and many of his relatives also served in the Armed Forces. Fondly called ‘Dickey Sekhon’, he had his early education at the Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, and after that, he joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) on 31st December 1965 at the age of 16 years. Subsequently, he went to IMA Dehradun for further training and passed out on 21 December 1969 as a Second Lieutenant. He was commissioned into the 7 Madras Battalion of the Madras Regiment, an infantry Regiment well known for its brave soldiers with a rich history of various battle honours. 

Within a short period of joining the unit, he established himself in the Battalion and developed an excellent rapport with all ranks. He soon evolved into a committed soldier and a fine officer with superior field-craft skills. Besides being a tough soldier he was very affable and caring which endeared him to his peers and subordinates as well. He underwent various training courses and did exceedingly well in all of them. In the year 1982, he also got selected to attend the prestigious course at Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, a tri-service Institute for Officers’ training. Later, he got selected for the 'Senior Commanders' Course' and passed out with 'Instructional' grading. As he got promoted and assumed responsible positions, he developed into a good trainer and a hard taskmaster as well. In 1985, 7 Madras battalion moved to Nagaland under the command of Col DP Mago with Lt Col Abjit Singh as 'Second-in-Command'. Lt Col Abjit Singh undertook numerous counter-insurgency operations in Nagaland and proved his mettle as a soldier. 

Op Pawan: April 1988

Lt Col Abjit Singh Sekhon's unit 7 Madras was inducted into Sri Lanka in January 1988 as part of "Operation Pawan".  After the induction of Indian forces in Aug 1987, as part of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord signed on 29 July 1987, the militants were supposed to surrender but the dreaded LTTE backed out and unleashed war on Indian forces. Initially, only 54 division of the Army were inducted but the escalation of the operations brought three more divisions 3, 4 and 57 into the conflict. By April 1988, Indian forces had undertaken numerous operations against LTTE but the war was far from over. During April 1988 Lt Col Abjit Singh Sekhon was the Commanding Officer of 7 Madras and was deployed in Sri Lanka as a part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. On 13 April 1988, intelligence information was received about the presence of some hard-core militants at a place called Vannerikulam falling under the area of responsibility of 7 Madras. The unit led by its CO, Lt Col Abjit Singh launched the operation against the militants following a sparsely used tract to maintain the element of surprise.

The assault team reached the target area undetected and completely surprised the militants. During this action, Lt Col Abjit Singh who was guiding the column killed two hard-core militants, one of whom was later found to be the Area Commander. Again on 21 April 1988, when information was received about the presence of 10 to 14 militants in village Urithirapuram, Lt Col Abjit Singh along with his two platoons, personally led the operation against the militants. During the operation, his troops came under intense fire from the heavily armed militants but Lt Col Abjit Singh deployed his troops tactically and repulsed the attack. He personally shot dead one militant and wounded another. However, during the exchange of fire, Lt Col Abjit Singh got hit by a bullet in the chest and was martyred. Lt Col Abjit Singh displayed grit, determination, and resoluteness of a very high order and led from the front like a true military leader.

Lt Col Abjit Singh Sekhon was awarded the gallantry award, “Vir Chakra” for his outstanding courage, unwavering leadership and supreme sacrifice.

The citation of "Vir Chakra" awarded to him reads :

• A “Chowk” in his native town Faridkot in Punjab has been named as “Shaheed Lt Col Abjit Singh Sekhon Chowk” in his honour.

(Condolence Letter) Tribute by Lt Col AS Gill (Retd) :-

“I was shocked to learn of the untimely tragic death of Lt Col AS Sekhon on 21 April 1988 on the battle field in Sri Lanka. I came to know about it on 24th April from a local news paper. I wish I had been informed telegraphically so that I could have attended his last rites and seen the face of this beloved martyr. I attended his Bhog Ceremony on 01st May at Faridkot and paid my homage to this brave soldier. Lt Col AS Sekhon was undoubtedly a valiant Commander who always set a personal example and never flinched when taking tremendous risks. He was extremely dedicated to soldiering and always endeavored to bring glory to our great Regiment and to the Army. It is a pity that he died when the Battalion’s name was at the top and he had yet to secure more heights. I am proud that Abjit lived up to the Regimental motto “Swadharme Nidhanam Sheraya”.

Due to his dedicated hard work, Sekhon made the grade for the Defense Services Staff College and attended the staff course in 1982 and came out with flying colours. From DSSC he went as Brigade Major of 48 Infantry Brigade.

It is pertinent to mention that Sekhon’s results in all courses of Instructions which he attended were outstanding with ‘Instructional’ gradings. It is sufficient to state that he was the best student of Senior Command Course i 1987. Lt Gen Sher Amir Singh, from the Dogra Regiment amply illustrates the high flier that, Sekhon was; “Sekhon has indeed laid down his life in a very heroic manner. I am sure such sacrifices will not go waste and will inspire others to do greater deeds of valour and bravery. He was my student at the Senior Command Course, where he acquitted himself with credit and had topped the course. Such are the ways of destiny”.