Corporal Gurusewak Singh

Corporal Gurusewak Singh was a commando in the Indian Air Force and belonged to the Garud commando force, a special force of the IAF. Corporal Singh hailed from Ambala, a cantonment town in Haryana. His father, Sucha Singh too served in the army and his elder brother, Hardeep Singh is also serving in the army. Inspired by Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Corporal Singh always wanted to serve his nation. He completed his BA at a well-known college in Bangalore and soon thereafter, attempted the IAF entrance exam. He cleared it in his very first attempt and joined the Indian Air Force in 2010.

Subsequently he volunteered to join the Garud commando force of the IAF , en elite force trained to tackle challenging situations. On 18^th November 2015, he got married to Jaspreet from Haryana.

Pathankot Attack: 01 Jan 2016

On 01 January 2016, the Pathankot Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force was attacked by a heavily armed group. They were disguised in Indian Army uniforms and made use of the tall elephant grass in the Air Force Base for concealing their movement. Upon infiltrating the base, they advanced towards the area where the high-value asset vehicles were kept with an intention to cause the maximum damage. But they were soon intercepted by the Indian security forces. In the ensuing 15-hour gun battle, 4 attackers and two security force personnel from the Defence Security Corps were killed along with one commando of the elite IAF’s special Guard unit.

On 03 Jan, Lt Col Niranjan, who was commanding the Bomb Disposal Unit of the National Security Guard (NSG), was martyred during combing operations to sanitize the area for safe movement of troops. The combing operation was conducted jointly by the Army , NSG, IAF, paramilitary forces, and Punjab Police. The operation went on until the 5th of January when the last attacker was reportedly neutralized. In the entire exchange, 7 security personnel, one civilian and 4-6 attackers were killed. The operation launched to eliminate this threat by the India Army was called ‘Operation Dhangu’.

During 2016, Corporal Gurusewak Singh was serving at Air Force Station Adampur in Punjab. Upon receiving news of the Pathankot attack, the Guard unit was rushed to the airbase to deal with the terrorists. On 3^rd January, the Indian Air Force dropped their commandos at various spots to sanitize the area and attack the terrorists from different points. While Corporal Gurusewak Singh was getting down from the helicopter using a rope, he was shot by a terrorist in the neck. Undeterred, he continued with the operation but succumbed to his injuries before medical help could arrive.

Corporal Singh displayed courage and gallantry of a very high order and fought with grit and resolve. He was a committed and valiant air warrior who laid down his life in the service of the nation.

• “My boy had gone to serve the nation. I am proud of him. He has done his duty. We are sad too. Our elder son is also in the Army serving the nation. My younger son gave his life for the country. He was always good in studies and always wanted to join the Air Force,” Sucha Singh had said.
• Corporal Singh had got a call from his wife the evening before the attack. He texted her saying that he would call her back, and that she should go to sleep if he didn’t. “Unhone kaha, phone karunga. Par agar phone nahi aaya, to so jaana. Aur phone nahi aaya,” said his wife Jaspreet.
• “He was intelligent. Not every youth from the village is able to qualify for the Air Force. It was a moment of pride for all of us. He would come home every weekend and was expected yesterday as well,” said retired Havildar Om Prakash, one of his uncles.
• “He will be remembered for his exemplary valour as he kept fighting even after being hit by a burst of gunfire at Pathankot air base,” said Malkit Singh, a local resident.
• Haryana’s health minister Anil Vij said “The whole nation will remember the sacrifice of the son of the soil.