After beginning work as a teacher, Kirori Singh Bainsla enlisted in the army as a sepoy, following in the footsteps of his father who served in the British Indian Army. His birthday falls on 12 of September, he was married at the age of 14. His wife died in 1996. He fought in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and was taken a prisoner of war in the latter. His seniors in the army named him the Rock of Gibraltar. He was later elevated to officer rank and commissioned into the Guards regiment. He rose to be a lieutenant colonel. It has been speculated that his military background might have enabled him to organise the Gurjar protest with such precision and on the large scale which characterised it.