Indian peacekeeper Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh, who lost his life serving under the UN flag last year, was honoured posthumously on Thursday with a prestigious Dag Hammarskjold medal at the United Nations for their service and supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.
Naik Singh died while serving in the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). He was among the over 60 military, police and civilian peacekeepers, who were facilitated by the UN for their service and supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador, Ruchira Kamboj, received the medal from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Today, the Secretary General awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal to honor Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh, who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. His professionalism and dedication will never be forgotten. We stand in solidarity with his family and honour his legacy of… pic.twitter.com/6W8ONyvR69— Ruchira Kamboj (@ruchirakamboj) May 30, 2024
About Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh
Naik Singh, who belonged to the Army Medical Corps, was a nursing assistant with MONUSCO and provided medical services to military personnel. He was made part of the Indian Battalion-1 on 7 July 2023.
Naik Singh’s responsibilities included vaccination of troops on the ground, their medical examination, and regular “medic” duties like combat medical care.
In Congo, he served at a Level-1 hospital ensuring round-the-clock operability of critical care and medical support, according to a report by The Print.
Singh died on November 1, 2023, due to ischemic heart disease while on duty. The disease is caused by poor blood flow to the heart, usually a result of coronary artery disease.
India’s Mission At UN
India is the second largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping.
It currently deploys more than 6,000 military and police personnel to the UN operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, the Middle East, Somalia, South Sudan, and Western Sahara.
Nearly 180 Indian peacekeepers have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty, the highest number from any troop-contributing country.
During formal ceremonies at the United Nations Headquarters on May 30, Secretary-General Guterres laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial Site on the North Lawn to honour all UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.
He presided over a ceremony during which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medals were awarded posthumously to 64 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers who lost their lives serving under the UN flag, including 61 who died last year.
In his message to mark Peacekeepers’ Day, Guterres said the world organisation pays tribute to the more than 76,000 United Nations peacekeepers who embody humanity’s highest ideal: peace.
“Day in and day out, at great personal risk, these women and men bravely work in some of the most dangerous and unstable places on earth to protect civilians, uphold human rights, support elections and strengthen institutions,” he said, noting that more than 4,300 peacekeepers have paid the ultimate price while serving under the UN flag.
“We will never forget them.”
In 1948, the historic decision was made to deploy military observers to the Middle East to supervise the implementation of Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements in what became the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation.
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