Piru Singh

Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat (20 May 1918 – 18 July 1948) was an Indian Army non-commissioned officer, awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) posthumously, India's highest military decoration for gallantry.

On 11 July, the Indian troops commenced their attack. These strikes continued for another four days. But reports regarding the situation suggested that the Pakistanis were still in command of a strategically important position and the Indian commanders decided that these had to be captured before the advance could continue. Apart from this position, another position was also to be captured by the Indians. The task of capturing these two positions was assigned to the 6th Rajputana Rifles. Two companies were assigned to the operation, with the battalion's 'C' Company securing the second position after the first was captured by 'D' Company.

Honours and decorations

Param Vir ChakraGeneral Service MedalIndia General Service Medal (1936)Indian Independence MedalIndia Service Medal 1939–1945War Medal 1939–1945

Legacy

Singh was married and had a son named Om Prakash Singh. In the 1980s, the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), a Government of India enterprise operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Shipping, named fifteen of her crude oil tankers in honour of the Param Vir Chakra recipients. The crude oil tanker named MT "Company Havildar Major Piru Singh, PVC" was delivered to SCI on 12 October 1984. Due to the MARPOL Convention on single hull tankers, SCI phased out all its fifteen PVC series crude tankers on completion of their economic age of 25 years. A road roundabout called "Shahid Piru Singh Shekhawat Circle" was named after him, in Jhunjhunu, by the Government of Rajasthan. An intersection called "Piru Singh Chowk" has been named after him in Yol, Himachal Pradesh. The war memorial Balidan Stambh in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir in 2009 paid tribute to him by inscribing his name on the pillars arranged in a semi-circle for the martyrs of the 1947-48 war. His name is displayed near the Amar Jawan Jyoti (Eternal Flame) and as a relief mural on the other semi-circular wall with the Param Vir Chakra awardees who attained martyrdom in J&K.

In popular culture The fifth episode of TV Series Param Vir Chakra, aired on DD National featured him in 1988 . A graphic novel titled Param Vir Chakra by Amar Chitra Katha dedicated their 5th story written by Sahil Rizwan and drawn by Rakesh C S in 2015 A graphic novel titled Param Vir Chakra Piru Singh by Roli Books written by Ian Cardozo and drawn by Rishi Kumar in 2019