E-Paper
IMA PASSING OUT PARADE: Kapurthala Sainik School alumnus bags coveted Sword of Honour
The ‘Sword of Honour’ is an honorary sword awarded to that “gentleman cadet” or “lady cadet” who achieves an overall best performance during his or her entire training period at the IMA at Dehradun
Gentlemen cadet Akashdeep Singh Dhillon of Kairon village in Tarn Taran district in Punjab was awarded the coveted Sword of Honour at the Passing out Parade for the Spring Term-2020 of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, held on Saturday.
The ‘Sword of Honour’ is an honorary sword awarded to that “gentleman cadet” or “lady cadet” who achieves an overall best performance during his or her entire training period at the IMA at Dehradun.
Akashdeep passed-out from the Sainik School, Kapurthala, in 2016. His father Gurpreet Singh is a farmer, mother Birinder Kaur a government teacher and his elder brother Preet Dhillon is model-actor in the Punjabi music industry.
Sainik School, Kapurthala, principal Lt Col Vikas Mohan said it was a matter of pride for the school.
Akashdeep was an all-round sportsman in the school as he played volleyball at the national level and was also good at boxing, said JKP Singh, public relations officer of Sainik School, Kapurthala, adding that Akash was also sports captain in the school.
His mother Birinder Kaur said: “It is a proud and emotional moment for us as Akash did lot of hard work to achieve it. The only regret is that we couldn’t attend the passing-out parade due to coronavirus pandemic, but we saw the live telecast of the event on television.”
IMA STAFFERS, WIVES PLAY ROLE OF PARENTS
A batch of 333 young officers graduated from the IMA in Dehradun on Saturday, but parents were not allowed for their passing-out parade for the first time in the institute’s history due to restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Wearing a face mask, Army chief General MM Naravane reviewed the passing out parade of 423 officers, including 90 gentleman cadets from nine friendly foreign countries.
Instead, the academy’s officers and their wives placed stars on the uniform of the gentlemen cadets after their oath ceremony as a mark of them being commissioned in the army, an honour generally reserved for friends and family.
The newly commissioned officers did not get leaves to visit their homes before joining their units due to the pandemic situation. They will join their units straight out of the academy.
“Obviously, it felt bad that my parents couldn’t see me wearing the officer’s uniform despite living in the same city. But then, it is for the safety of all. We are thankful to our instructors at the academy who played the role of our parents and made us realise once again that we all are one big family,” said Abhishek Negi, 22, a newly commissioned officer from Dehradun.
Samrat Thapa, 22, a Bhopal resident, said his father, a Colonel in the Indian Army, wanted to see him passing out of the academy. “Unfortunately, due to obvious reasons, he couldn’t come… he cried over the phone when I called him after the ceremony,” Thapa said.
Sumati Gakhar, the wife of an Indian Army officer who put stars on the uniform of Gentlemen Cadets, said: “I felt extremely proud while putting the stars on the shoulders of these young officers along with my husband.”
Lt Col Amit Dagar, the public relations officer of the IMA said earlier there was the ‘antim pag’, or the last step after the parade, which symbolised the conclusion of the training. He added that this season authorities introduced the ‘pahla adam’, or the first step, after the antim pag to symbolise the beginning of the new journey of the officers.
