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A homecoming: S. K. Sinha

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR JUNE 4. Lt. Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha today struck an emotional chord with Kashmir when he took over as the eleventh Governor of the State linking his association back to 1947, when he formed part of the operations team responsible for landing troops in Srinagar.

The 78-year-old Lt. Gen. Sinha, who recently relinquished office as Assam Governor, was administered oath of office and secrecy by Justice V.K. Jhanji, acting Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court at the Raj Bhavan here. He replaces G.C. Saxena whose term ended on May 2. He is the second retired General to be appointed Governor after Gen. K.V. Krishna Rao, who served for two terms.

Recalling his association with Kashmir, Lt. Gen. Sinha told presspersons: "Coming to Jammu and Kashmir is a homecoming." The former Army officer had served in various capacities in almost all parts of the State for about 12 years. But the most memorable part was in 1947 when on October 27 that year he guided 800 sorties of troops, which landed for the first time on the soil of Kashmir. "I was in-charge of a massive airlift from Delhi to Srinagar. It was the biggest airlift of troops in the world at that time. It was a very critical situation and I was wondering as to what was going to happen.

But we succeeded and that made me believe that we will overcome this phase of crisis as well and will save Kashmir under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed."

Lt. Gen. Sinha has also been Secretary of Indian delegation to United Nations in 1949 where the decision to delineate the ceasefire line was taken.

`Pro-active Governor'

Lt. Gen. Sinha made no bones about his intention to be a pro-active Governor. "I would like to be pro-active as in the past when I assisted two Chief Ministers in Assam in restoring normality."

He referred to the recent conference of Governors in Delhi saying it was felt that Governors should be pro-active in such situations. "I will do my best to assist the Government in achieving its objective of ensuring peace and prosperity in the State."

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