Sikh Light Infantry

Sikh Light Infantry
Sikh Light Infantry Insignia
Active1941 - Present
Country India
Branch Indian Army
TypeLight infantry
RoleInfantry
Size19 battalions
Regimental CentreFatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh
Motto(s)Deg Teg Fateh (Prosperity in Peace and Victory in War)
Decorations
Commanders
Colonel of
the Regiment
Lt Gen Rashim Bali
Notable
commanders
Gen. V.P. Malik
Gen. Bikram Singh
Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane
Insignia
War CryBole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akaal!

The Sikh Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army.[1] The regiment is the successor unit to the 23rd, 32nd and 34th Royal Sikh Pioneers of the British Indian Army. The regiment recruits from the Sikh community of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana states of India.

The versatility of the Sikh Light Infantry has seen the regiment conduct operations from conventional warfare on the Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, to counter-terrorism.[1][dead link] Units of the regiment have also been deployed as part of the United Nations Emergency Force. The regimental motto is "Deg Tegh Fateh", meaning "prosperity in peace and victory in war".

The motto has great significance from the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, with whom the sikh community is attached beliefs, Guru Gobind Singh named them Khalsa as in faithful for their dedication to do good. The regiment's cap badge is a chakram or quoit, with a mounted kirpan. The insignia was designed to honour the Khalsa community's Akali Nihang ancestry.