Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Srinivas Kumar Sinha,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

ADC ADC may refer to: Science and medicine * ADC (gene), a human gene * AIDS dementia complex, neurological disorder associated with HIV and AIDS * Allyl diglycol carbonate or CR-39, a polymer * Antibody-drug conjugate, a type of anticancer treatm ...

(January 7, 1926 – November 17, 2016) was an

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

General who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. After his retirement, he served as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the states of Jammu and Kashmir, and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Early life

Srinivas Kumar Sinha was born on 7 January 1926 in Patna,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. He was the son of Mithilesh Kumar Sinha, IP,

Inspector-general of police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

of the state of

and the grandson of the first Indian Inspector General of India in the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, Alakh Kumar Sinha. He graduated with Honours from

Patna University Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern e ...

in 1943 at the age of 17 and joined the

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 The Jat Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, of which it is one of the longest-serving regiments. He was involved in combat during the Second World War in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and, after India became independent, in Kashmir. He served two tenures in

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

and

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

, where he participated in counter-insurgency operations. His son

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha; born 4 October 1958 is an Indian diplomat who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service. He is the former High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. He was sworn in as Central Information Commissioner on January 1, 2 ...

,a former diplomat, is serving as present Chief Information Commissioner.

Military career

Gen Sinha was promoted to captain on 10 September 1951. In 1953, Sinha secured the top position at the

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , pres ...

in India and in 1962 again, at the Joint Services Staff College in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. 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 commanded a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...

, a brigade in

, a mountain division in

, an infantry division in

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

, a corps in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, and the Western Army. He served as Director, Military Intelligence,

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

, and Vice Chief of Army Staff at Army Headquarters. He also served as an instructor at

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

and Staff College, Wellington. During his army career, he was associated with Jammu and Kashmir from 27 October 1947. He was involved as a junior staff officer in organizing the massive airlift from Delhi to Srinagar in October 1947. In 1949, he was appointed Secretary of the Indian delegation on the delineation of the Cease Fire Line in Kashmir at a meeting convened by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. He led the Indian delegation to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1972 for a conference on the application of human rights to warfare. He was awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

in 1973 and was promoted to major-general on 28 December. He was made Honorary

to the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

. He also served as the President of the Gorkha Brigade. On 1 August 1978, Sinha was promoted to lieutenant-general. 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 Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the building ...

(the June 1984 storming of the Golden Temple) took place. Sinha 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 Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

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".

Governor of Assam

In 1997, Gen. Sinha was appointed

Governor of Assam This is a list of governors of Assam, and other offices of similar scope, from the start of British occupation of the area in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Governor of Assam is a nominal head and representative of the President ...

at a time insurgency was at its peak. He crafted a three-prong strategy of unified command, economic development, and psychological initiatives. Heavy attrition was inflicted on the militants through coordinated and intensified military operations. He was invested in installing 100,000 shallow

tube well A tube well is a type of water well in which a long, -wide, stainless steel tube or pipe is bored underground. The lower end is fitted with a strainer, and a pump lifts water for irrigation. The required depth of the well depends on the dep ...

s in

Brahmaputra valley The Brahmaputra Valley is a region situated between hill ranges of the eastern and northeastern Himalayan range in Eastern India. The valley consists of the Western Brahmaputra Valley covering the regions of Goalpara and Kamrup; the Central ...

turning Assam from a rice deficit state to a rice surplus state. 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 Micro hydro is a type of hydroelectric power that typically produces from 5 kW to 100 kW of electricity using the natural flow of water. Installations below 5 kW are called pico hydro. These installations can provide power to an i ...

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'') and his autobiography, ''A Soldier Recalls''. 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

(former diplomat and presently CIC of India) and three daughters, Meenakshi, Mrinalini, and Manisha.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha, Srinivas Kumar 1926 births 2016 deaths Indian generals Governors of Jammu and Kashmir Governors of Arunachal Pradesh Governors of Assam People from Gaya, India Ambassadors of India to Nepal People from Patna British Indian Army officers Vice Chiefs of Army Staff (India) Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal