Guwahati, Nov. 17: Former Assam governor Lt Gen. (retd) Srinivas Kumar Sinha passed away at Army Research and Referral (R and R) Hospital in Delhi at 10.45am today after a brief illness. He was 90.

Born in 1926, Lt Gen. Sinha, served as the governor of Assam from September 1, 1997, to June 4, 2003, and his report to then President K.R. Narayanan in November 1998 on the influx from Bangladesh threatening to reduce the people of Assam to a minority in their home state, had given a fresh impetus to the growing demand to bring an end to influx.
As a former vice-chief of army staff, he had also served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir and India’s ambassador to Nepal.

Ironically, his death has come on a day when the state is again witnessing a debate on the number of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Assam, 18 years after his report on influx had stirred up a hornet’s nest.

Gen. Sinha’s family said his cremation will take place tomorrow in the national capital. He was admitted to the base hospital in New Delhi on November 1 with a fracture in his femur bone and ribs and later shifted to R and R Hospital following deterioration in his condition.

He is survived by his wife, son and IFS officer Y.K. Sinha who is the current Indian ambassador to Sri Lanka and is moving for his new posting to the UK, and three daughters.

Prime minister Narendra Modi, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Assam governor Banwarilal Purohit, former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, among others, condoled his demise.

“With Lt Gen. Sinha’s death, Assam has lost a true friend. His role as the governor on illegal immigration will be remembered by the people forever,” Sonowal said. Gen. Sinha always stood by the people of Assam even after his departure from the state, he added.

Unlike several of his counterparts, Gen. Sinha was not content to live in the silent shadows of the stately Raj Bhavan as he issued statements and made public speeches, which generated intense debate on issues such as influx and denial of sanction to prosecute then chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in the letter of credit (LOC) scam.

He became the governor of Assam when the Ulfa and other militant groups were causing mayhem in the state. Not a man to follow conventions, Lt Gen. Sinha, being an army officer, guided the campaign against insurgency under the unified command structure and succeeded in brining it under control.

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who had worked closely with Lt Gen. Sinha when he was the chief minister, told The Telegraph today that of all the governors he had worked with, he remembers Sinha “as a knowledgeable man who had gone into the nitty-gritty of the problems faced by the state and tried to solve them.”

“I am saddened by his demise and offer my condolences to the bereaved family,” Mahanta said.

Upamanyu Hazarika, a senior Supreme Court advocate and an anti-influx activist, recalled his role in highlighting the threat posed to the nation by illegal influx from Bangladesh.

It was at the initiative of Lt Gen. Sinha, a statue of Ahom general Lachit Borphukan was installed at the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla near Pune and the Lachit Borphukan Gold Medal for the cadet adjudged the best for officer-like qualities was also instituted at the academy.