CHANDIGARH: The ninth battalion of the Sikh regiment (9 Sikh) is being disbanded with immediate effect on account of the mutiny in June last year in the wake of the Army action in the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar.
The unit fondly known as the Morlin’s Sikh was the first to be affected by the army action when on the night of June 7 and 8, a majority of its troops deserted their unit lines at Lal Garh Jatan near Sri Gangangar in Rajasthan. The disbandment orders for which have reportedly been conveyed to the battalion, is proposed to be completed by August, it is learned.
The move to disband the battalion has come after tremendous deliberations at the highest level for about one year. In recent years, the only other battalion to have been disbanded was the two Assam following a mutiny on the unit in the late 1950s.
While 9 Sikh is being disbanded a major reorganization is on the cards for all those battalions in which serious incidents of “collective armed insubordination” resulting in mutiny had taken place in June last year. The units include three Sikh in which there was such an incident while it was at Bagbasa camp in the eastern sector on June 11 pending a move to another place. Following a court of inquiry, 35 personnel of the unit were listed as “black” (main culprits) and 199 as “grey” (those who joined in the action). 3 Sikh is one of the seven battalions of the Sikh regiment and is popularly known as “Rattaay’s Sikh.”
Another unit which may face a major reorganization is 18 Sikh.
Of the Sikh officers, 26 JCOs and 535 jawans of the 9 Sikh present in the unit before the mutiny of June 7, there were only about 150 jawans besides officers and JCOs after the mutiny on the afternoon of June 8, the rest having deserted after firing on the houses of the officers. It has been decided to try 60 jawans and three JCOs by general court martial (which is in progress) and the rest by summary trials.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 10, 1990
