After 2000, Hindus were allowed to join Pakistan Army as a commissioned officer and since then a lot of Hindus are serving in Pakistan Army.
1st Hindu Major in Pakistan Army
Below is the picture of the first-ever Pakistani Hindu MAJOR in the Ministry Of Defence, Dr. Kelash Garvada from Tharparkar belongs to the Meghwar cast.
Early Life and Education
Kelash completed his MBBS from LUHMS Jamshoro, Hyderabad, and later commissioned in Pak army as a doctor. He commissioned as a captain in the Army Medical Corps (AMC) and is now promoted to the rank of major in the Ministry of Defense.
Medical Servings.
He is the 1st ever Hindu Officer who was selected for the Emergency medicine course in University Hospital Birmingham of the UK. He had the honor to serve the civilian population as well during free medical camps in remote areas of Pakistan including his own home district Tharparkar and Azad-Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Hunza Nagar.
Military Engagements
He served in Operation Almeezan, carried out in Waziristan, and recently participated during operation Rah-e-Nijat in Swat.
Also Read: Rahul Dev – First Hindu to join the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)
Medals and Honors
Major Kelash received Tamga-e-Dafa, a Siachen Medal for staying 36 days at world highest military camp, in the Baltoro sector having one of the longest glaciers of the non-polar region, Baltoro Glacier, located in the Karakoram Mountain Ranges of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan.
Other medals he received include Tamga-e-Baqa and Tamga-e-Azam for fighting against terrorism.
UN Attachment
He also served in the UN peace mission in Sudan as medical staff and received a UN medal. During a foreign program, He went to Uganda, Egypt, Dubai, Spain, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland.
Local Servings
He is currently servings as Major in 86 Medical battalion Quetta and officer-in-charge (OIC) of health services delivery. During his stay in Quetta, Baluchistan, on the instructions of Corps Commander of Southern Command & XII Corps (Quetta Corps) and former DG ISPR, Lt Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, he assisted the Ministry of Health to enroll grade 18 specialists for hospitals in Baluchistan.
1st Sikh Major in Pakistan Army
Another Sikh Officer, Major Hercharn Singh is the first-ever Sikh that has been recruited by the Pakistan Army as a commissioned officer and promoted up to the rank of Major.
Hercharn Singh was selected as a cadet in 116th PMA long course and after 2 years of military training from 2005-07 at Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul, got his commission as 2nd Lt.
Pak Army as a symbol of national integration
Hercharn got married in 2017 at Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hasanabdal. Back then, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa extended his felicitations to the couple in a press release issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Pakistan Army also promoted a considerable amount of Christians to higher ranks.
