Srinivas Kumar Sinha

Lieutenant General Srinivas Kumar Sinha, PVSM, ADC (7 January 1926 – 17 November 2016) was an Indian Army General who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. After his retirement, he served as Governor of the states of Jammu and Kashmir, and Assam.

Early life

Srinivas Kumar Sinha was born on 7 January 1926 in Patna, Bihar in a Kayastha family. He was the son of Mithilesh Kumar Sinha, IP, Inspector-general of police of the state of Bihar and the grandson of the first Indian Inspector General of India in the British Raj, Alakh Kumar Sinha. He graduated with Honours from Patna University in 1943 at the age of 17 and joined the Indian Army soon thereafter. He was recognised as the Best Cadet of the Officers' Training School, Belgium, the war-time equivalent of the Sword of Honour. He was commissioned into Jat Regiment and after India gained independence, moved to the 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force). He was involved in combat during the Second World War in Burma and Indonesia and, after India became independent, in Kashmir. He served two tenures in Nagaland and Manipur, where he participated in counter-insurgency operations.

His son Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, a former diplomat, served as the Chief Information Commissioner of India until 2023.

Military career

Gen Sinha was promoted to Captain soon after the World War II ended and served in the Military Operations Directorate in Delhi as GSO(3) in 1946-47, with the then Lt.Col. SHFJ Manekshaw as GSO(1) and the then Maj Yahya Khan as GSO(2) in the same Directorate in GHQ . In 1953, Sinha secured the top position at the Defence Services Staff College in India and in 1962 again, at the Joint Services Staff College in the United Kingdom. He held all levels of active command in the Army from a platoon to a field army. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 9 June 1965. He was made Honorary ADC to the President of India. He also served as the President of the Gorkha Brigade.

On 1 August 1978, Sinha was promoted to lieutenant-general and appointed Adjutant General at Army HQs. He will always be remembered in the annals of the Indian Army for the projects and reforms instituted during his tenure as AG. He later commanded the Kharga Corps, the strike corps of the Indian Army, from 1980 to 1981. He was promoted as the Western Army Commander in June 1981, before being brought to Delhi in December 1982 as Vice Chief of Army Staff, to basically understudy the Chief. He was expected to succeed Gen Krishna Rao. In July 1983, Eastern Army Commander A S Vaidya was appointed the Chief of Army Staff, despite Sinha's seniority. Following this, Sinha sought premature retirement from the Army in 1983.

Vaidya was in charge when Operation Blue Star (the June 1984 storming of the Golden Temple) took place. Sinha, who was fondly referred to as one of the best Chiefs the Indian Army never had, remained in national focus after quitting the Army through his lectures on academic subjects in universities and articles in national newspapers.

Later career

Ambassador to Nepal

In 1990, Sinha was appointed India's ambassador to Nepal when autocratic rule prevailed in that country and bilateral relations with India had hit their lowest in the wake of the trade and transit impasse of 1989. During his tenure in Nepal, India-Nepal relations improved. The Prime Minister of India stated that Sinha had played a major role in this development. The Prime Minister of Nepal wrote, "General Sinha was as much India's Ambassador to Nepal as Nepal's Ambassador to India". His psychological initiatives had a large emotional impact.

Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

On 4 June 2003, General Sinha became the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2003, when he took over as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, on average, ten people were killed every day and the annual arrival of tourists was a mere 28,000. Improved security brought down the daily rate of killing from ten to one. With an improved security situation, tourist arrivals increased from 28,000 a year to 600,000 by 2008, when he relinquished the appointment of Governor. The state also started installing 1000 micro hydro projects on the mountains.

He encouraged civic action with efforts to revive Kashmir's liberal Islamic traditions. He inaugurated seminars and conferences on Kashmiriyat at Srinagar, with scholars from Pakistan and several Central Asian states.

His term as governor to Kashmir ended on 25 June 2008.

Books Sinha has written for national newspapers, and is the author of nine books including one on the Jammu and Kashmir Operation of 1947–48 (Operation Rescue) His other books are of Matters Military, Pataliputra, Veer Kuer Singh, A Governor's Musings, Reminiscences and Reflections and Changing India, Guarding India's Integrity: A Pro-Active Governor Speaks. His last book Raj to Swaraj was finished just a few days before his death.

Death

He died on 17 November 2016 at the age of 90 years. He was survived by his wife Premini Sinha, his son Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha (former diplomat and presently CIC of India) and three daughters, Meenakshi, Mrinalini, and Manisha.