Air Chief Marhal Arjan Singh, who was made the first ever Marshal of the Indian Air Force was a hero of the 1965 Indo-Pak war and won huge accolades for his dexterous handling of IAF giving India crucial air supremacy.

Eighty-two year old Arjan Singh, who follows Field Marshals S H F J Manekshaw and B C Cariappa in getting the highest rank in their service, was the rare Indian pilot to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) during the Second World War.

The IAF under then Air Marshal Singh had acquitted itself so well during the 1965 war that he got a Padma Vibhushan Bar One, the nation’s highest honour. In 1966, he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal, thus becoming the first Indian to get the rank. He was the IAF’s chief for six years.

During the pre-World War II era, when India still did not have facility for Air Force training. Young Arjan Singh went to England and trained at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, near London. Singh and his classmate Prithipal Singh were the last two Indians to be trained at Cramwell.

He was commissioned into the Royal Indian Air Force after he was rushed back to India from England when the Second World War broke out. He fought on the Japanese front and was promoted thrice; by 1944 he had become a Squadron Leader. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry during war.

He also had a distinguished diplomatic career when he was appointed India’s ambassador to Switzerland in 1971, two days after retirement.

Canada, Ottawa: Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne, Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, has conferred the honour of Member of the Order of Canada on Sr. T. Sher Singh. The "Order of Canada" recognizes people who have made a difference to the country.

The citation noted that T. Sher Singh, of Guelph, Ontario, "has demonstrated through his vast record of public service how a vibrant multicultural landscape serves to enrich our nation. A prominent member of the Sikh-Canadian community, he is an advocate for the importance of positive race relations and interactive dialogue among members of different religions."

"He is an articulate spokesperson who has appeared frequently as a panel member on Vision TV. He has become a symbol of the importance of meditation, listening and understanding as tools to bridge different segments of our society, continued the citation.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967 to recognize outstanding achievement and service in various fields of human endeavour. Appointments are made on the recommendation of an advisory Council, chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada. The Governor General is the Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order.

The Sikh Review rejoices on the conferment of this distinction on Sardar T. Sher Singh.

With his recent election victory, Amarjit Singh Buttar will continue with his service to the public schools, a dedication begun almost seven years ago when he became a member of the Vernon Board of Education.

In November, the 63-year old Buttar was elected to another four-year term. He first began his tenure on the board in 1995, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. In 1997 he campaigned to keep his seat and won. He has since served a term as chairman of the board. The town of Vernon has about 29,580 people.

He said that to his knowledge he is the only turbaned Sikh-American in the U.S. who currently holds elected public office. According to Buttar, he as always had an interest in politics and public service, but that education issues hold a special place in his heart. "I am always working for the young minds, he said.

Buttar said he is dedicated to public service because he feels a responsibility to give back to a community and country that has been good to him and his family.

He moved to U.S. from Punjab in 1965 to attend the law school at the University of Michigan. He moved to Vernon in 1977 and has worked for the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission for the past 16 years.

Both of Buttar’s sons, Gursimrit and Angad, attended school in Vernon and then at the University of Connecticut.

Buttar said, before joining the board of education he satisfied his political interests as a member of Vernon’s Democratic Town Committee and through contributing to election campaigns.

As a Sikh, Buttar said, he feels his role as a public servant also endorses the values of his religion. Buttar is currently the chairman of the World Sikh Council, America region. He has been involved with the group since 1995. He has also previously served as the president of the Milford (Mass.) Gurdwara.

Nonetheless, Buttar said, in his public life he has never really made an issue of his being Sikh-American. "I would like every American regardless of ethnicity to become involved in the political process," he said.

He added that Vernon only has a couple of Sikh families and he doesn’t believe his succes in being reelected has anything to do with representing a specific community.

"I was elected based on my own credentials and strengths; ethnicity has nothing to do with it," he said.

He added that his relection in the wake of the events of Sept. 11 emphasizes that his ethnicity does not play a role in his political life.

According to Buttar, his family and friends were concerned about the backlash against turban-wearing Sikhs because of the resemblance to Muslims and asked him not to campaign for relection. He said he backed off a little and was nervous that he might lose the election, but he campaigned anyway and was overwhelmed with support from the entire town.

"The people in town have been great," he said. "The police chief called me and said, "Tell me if anyone bothers you."

A profound comment on history from an unknown source says, "When you hear two eye-witness accounts of the same traffic accident, you grow suspicious about history". History of several countries, since long, had been subjected to the Bed of Procrustes of ideologies and fancies; a fact bigger than the bed is cut to size and one shorter is stretched to fill it up. Yet something survives the operation. Despite omissions and exaggerations by the chroniclers, the time-spirit has culled out ideas from events or characters that have contributed to our understanding of the profundities and complexities of life, to the growth of our consciousness, both at the individual and collective planes.

When the English aristocrat par excellence, Sir Phillip Sidney, lying exhausted in the battlefield, is offered a cup of water which could have saved him, but which he sacrifices for a wistfully looking ordinary soldier with those immortal last words: "Thy need is greater than mine," he is not uplifting Christian virtue as much as exhibiting a Divine quality which is potentially present in all of us. When the Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur sacrifices his life, instead of compromising with an arrogant, tyrannical demand, he is setting an example in courage and not championing a creed - an example that can inspire millions belonging to any of the defined faiths or to the faith in human destiny alone. Herein lies the importance of teacher - how conscientiously he can lay stress on the human excellence transcending creeds and instituionalised faiths.

It is superflous to inform school-children of an ‘official version’ which, in any case, is the version of those (of the Mughal court chroniclers) who executed the Guru, suggesting that he had also been ‘guilty of plunder’. It’s important for a child to know history, but it is equally important to determine how much of it she must know at the tender age. Let the school system arouse in her interest and quest if it can, let it not choke her memory.

Octogenarian scholar savant, who edited and sustained Britain-based quarterly: The Sikh Courier for four decades and more, has departed - to be re-united to Soul Divine. The many splendoured Sardar Amar Singh passed away peacefully at Chandigarh in January, 2002, during his customary winter sojourn in his favourite town. The Journal he founded had been passed on to younger scholars in London, and he divided his time between Canada and India where he set up a library in memory of his beloved wife, Sita Kaur. To his family and friends, world wide, we offer our condolences, with prayers for the peace of his soul.