New Delhi: Former Chief of Army Staff General (Retd) Vishwa Nath Sharma was laid to rest with full military honours at a cremation ground in Delhi Cantonment area Saturday, day after he died at the age of 97.
The first President’s commissioned officer to become the Army chief, General Sharma had an illustrious military career. He was commissioned into the Armoured Corps’ 16th Light Cavalry, and led the Indian Army through a period of turbulence marked by insurgency in Punjab and deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. He served as the 14th Chief of Army Staff from 1 May 1988 to 30 June 1990.
The three service chiefs—General Dhiraj Seth, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh paid tribute to General Sharma at the cremation.
Also in attendance were former Army chiefs—General (Retd) J.J. Singh, General (Retd) Deepak Kapoor, General (Retd) Dalbir Singh Suhag, General (Retd) M.M. Naravane, General (Retd) Upendra Dwivedi, and General (Retd) V.K. Singh—and former Chief of Defence Staff General (Retd) Anil Chauhan. Former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Nirmal Suri and Lieutenant General Ajay Ramdev, Director General Integrated Training, were also present.
Hailing from an illustrious military family, General Sharma was the son of late Major General Amar Nath Sharma. His eldest brother, late Major Som Nath Sharma, is the first recipient of the posthumous Param Vir Chakra. His sister was Major Dr Kamla Tewari, who served in the Army Medical Corps. His other brother, Lt Gen Surinder Nath Sharma, who retired as the Engineer-in-Chief of the Army, was also present at the funeral. He is now 103 years old.
General Sharma’s daughters performed his last rites, accompanied by the 17-gun military salute. Many of his friends were also present to pay their respects.
Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Nirmal Suri, who was a friend of General Sharma’s at the Royal Indian Military College—now the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC)—in Dehradun, called him a “natural charmer”.
“His contributions to the Indian armed forces are immense. The country should learn from him and I think future generations will emulate him,” he remarked.
R.S. Bhatti, a former squadron leader of the Indian Air Force and alumnus of Sherwood College that General Sharma had also attended, said, “I followed in his footsteps. I am much, much junior to him. He is revered both at Sherwood and RIMC. RIMC is hard to get into… but it is a great path to follow… He was extremely sharp, mentally, just like his brother… very well informed. It was always a pleasure talking to him.”
Chiranjit Banerjee, trustee of the Rimcollian Old Boys Association, remembered General Sharma as an “extremely witty individual who would hold a gathering in absolute thrall” with his sense of humor. Banerjee said, “He wore his rank very lightly, and yet commanded massive respect due to his humane persona.”
During his 38 years of distinguished service, Gen Sharma held important commands, staff and instructional appointments. As a Major, he saw action during the 1965 India-Pakistan War in the Lahore sector. As a Lieutenant Colonel, he commanded the 66 Armoured Regiment and was later appointed an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He was Col. General Staff Operations of an Armoured Division on the Western Front during the 1971 India-Pakistan War. Gen Sharma took over as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command in June 1987. As the Eastern Army Commander, his tenure witnessed a standoff with China at Sumdorong Chu along the Line of Actual (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh.