Because of the special significance of the occasion, following the loss of our Hon. Secretary, the speakers and messages were longer then usual. Following the Loyal Toast and that to the Regiment, our Chairman called for a special toast in memory of Hukm. He then called on Hector to speak, first as our Acting Hon. Secretary, and then as our Hon Treasurer. Hector said that from July onwards we had a lot of correspondence with our colleagues in India. Janet received letters of condolence, with copies to me, from the Hon. Col. of the Regt Ved Malik, Col. of the Regt. Ashok Kapur, Comdt. of the Regtl. Centre Brig. Prem Sisodia, and Sec of the Sikh L.l. Officers Assn. Lt. Col. Sharan. Replies were sent conveying our sincere thanks and giving an account of the Service of Thanks giving held on 13th July. Ved Malik wrote that "in the passing away of Hukm, the Regiment has lost a dedicated officer whose contribution in keeping active the Sikh Pioneer and Sikh Light Infantry Association and maintaining close contacts with the Regiment in India can never be forgotten. He was thus able to promote and strengthen the bond amongst serving and retired officers of the regiment". The letter from Lt. Gen. Ashok Kapur, Col. Col of the Regt., is reproduced later in this Newsletter. Brig. Prem Sisodia wrote, recalling how grateful the Centre was for Hukm having sent [some of our] surplus copies of our M & R Regtl. History to them. "It was a gesture keeping in tune with his large heartedness and his being a pucca regimental soldier". He closed his letter "with prayers fom the departed soul". Lt. Col. Sharan wrote saying, that he had heard the sad news from [Col] Bill Carvalho [1 Sikh Ll] in Australia and recalled that "Hukm and self were in constant correspondence for the last several years. He was a large-hearted person and selfless worker. Bridging the gap Hukm made a bond between the Sikh Pioneers and Sikh Ll in UK, and the Sikh Ll in India. He was a great man. Every officer, JCO, Jawan of the Regt. knows him and they are full of admiration for him and, the work done by him." The President of [their] Association, [Maj. Gen Niranjan Singh, AVSM, MC [Retd] and all the Members offered heartfelt condolences to all of our Members. At their next Committee meeting their Members observed one minute's silence in his memory. Hector commented that these deeply held feelings underline the strong family bond between those serving and those who have retired. He then resumed as our Hon. Treasurer and reported that the Association's finances are in a healthy state [see the Accounts Statement accompanying] mainly due to some very generous donations. We are particularly grateful to Janet, who paid for the wine at our lunch. She felt that this is what Hukm would have wanted. Hector continued as Acting Hon. Sec., and the only surviving committee member, and reported that after discussions with Members it was proposed that we have four posts instead of the previous two, thereby spreading the load. As to the future, Col. Patric Emerson, Hon. Sec of the Indian Army Association had told him that a number of Indian Army Regimental Associations were closing down, linked by a "UK Residual Group". This Group does arrange unofficial lunches and sends out a short news sheet. However, our Members consider that we remain strong enough to continue our Association as it is and, with offers of immediate help from Harry Bromley, John Dudley, and Hugh Mackay, we now have a Committee of Four. All this has been explained in Hector's letter of 19th November 2005 to our colleagues in India, and that of 21st November to all our members in UK, Australia, New Zealand, and USA. | 
