Operation Pawan

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Operation Pawan was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord.

Indian support

In brutal fighting lasting about three weeks, the IPKF took control of the Jaffna Peninsula from the LTTE, something that the Sri Lankan Army had tried but failed to do. Supported by Indian Army tanks, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery, the IPKF routed the LTTE at the cost of 214 soldiers and officers.

Criticism

India's foreign intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing trained the LTTE to keep a check on Sri Lanka, which had helped Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War by allowing Pakistani ships to refuel at Sri Lankan ports. When Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in 1987 to restore normalcy in the region, the disastrous efforts of the IPKF was blamed on the lack of co-ordination between the IPKF and RAW. Its most obvious manifestation was the Heliborne assault on LTTE HQ in the Jaffna University campus in the opening stages of Operation Pawan. The site was chosen without any consultation with the RAW and the dropping paratroopers became easy targets for the LTTE, and a number of Indian soldiers were killed.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated

Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated as a fallout of Operation Pawan by LTTE. The decision to send the IPKF in Sri Lanka was taken by then Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, who held office until 1989. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at a rally at Sriperumbudur on 21 May 1991, while he was campaigning for re-election during the 1991 Indian General Election, by a LTTE suicide bomber named Dhanu.

Indian Peace Keeping Force

Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan Civil War between Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan military.

Casualties: In December 1999, Defence Minister George Fernandes disclosed the IPKF had suffered 1,165 personnel killed in action with 3,009 others wounded. The LTTE casualties are not known.

War Memorial

The Sri Lankan government had mooted the idea of a war memorial to those soldiers of the IPKF who lost their lives during the peacekeeping mission, in the early Nineties during President Premadasa's rule. The memorial was finally constructed in Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte on the outskirts of Colombo in 2008. The names of the 1200 soldiers who died are inscribed on black marble. The first official memorial service was held on 15 August 2010 when the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Ashok Kantha, laid a wreath to honour the dead. Later in 2014, India constructed a war memorial at Bhopal to honour the IPKF.

A renovated memorial for IPKF soldiers in Palaly, Jaffna, has been declared open in June 2015. The names of 33 who died in the operations in the Northern Province during 1987–1990 have been inscribed on a wall at the memorial site.

Indian soldiers martyred during Operation Pawan

Here is partial list of Indian soldiers killed during Operation Pawan:

• Babu Singh Jat (Naik) became martyr on 12.04.1989 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from village Borawar in Pali district of Rajasthan.

Unit - 12 Jat Regiment

• Balwan Singh Rana (Subedar) (02.01.1940 - 26.01.1988) became martyr on 26.01.1988 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Pakasma village, tehsil Sampla district Rohtak, Haryana.

Unit - 14 Jat Regiment

• Birju Ram Dhankar became martyr on 25.01.1988 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Kithana village, tehsil Chirawa district Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.

Unit - 10 Parachute

• Birendra Singh (Major) (15.01.1953 - 11.10.1987), (Vira Chakra), Became martyr on 11.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Jagheena village in Sewar tahsil of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan.

Unit: 13 Sikh Light Infantry.

• Dalbir Singh Bura (Naik) (24.12.1961 - 08.08.1989) became martyr on 08.08.1989 at Mulayhiu in Srilanka during Operation Pawan fighting with LITTE militants. He was from Budha Khera, tahsil Safidon in Jind district of Haryana.

Unit: 11 Rajputana Rifles.

• Phool Singh Jat (LNK) became martyr on 12.04.1989 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Koleera village in Sikar tahsil of Sikar district in Rajasthan.

Unit - 12 Jat Regiment

• Ganga Ram Nuwad (Naik) (05.02.1963-12.10.1987), Vira Chakra (posthumous), became martyr on 12.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. He was from Peenglod village in Kishangarh tehsil in District Ajmer, Rajasthan.

Unit: 10 Parachute Regiment (Desert Scorpion).

• Inderbal Singh Bawa (Col) (25.05.1947 - 13.10.1987), (Mahavir Chakra), became martyr on 13.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

Unit: Unit: 4/5 Gorkha Rifles.

• Lila Ram Jat (Naik) became martyr on 10.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Kasot village, tehsil Deeg district Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

Unit - 10 Parachute

• Lumba Ram Gora - is a martyr of militancy in Srilanka. He became martyr on 10.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from village Solkiya Tala in Shergarh tahsil of Jodhpur district in Rajasthan.

Unit: 10 Parachute Regiment (Desert Scorpion).

• Mahipal Singh Jhajharia (08.06.1960 - 19.10.1987) is a martyr of militancy in Srilanka. He became martyr on 19.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was awarded Shaurya Chakra (posthumous) for his act of bravery. He was from village Gowla in Chirawa tahsil of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan.

Unit - 270 Engineer Regiment

• Moda Ram Birda (7.6.1947-26.8.1988) (Subedar), Shahid, From Sunari, Ladnu, Nagaur, Rajasthan. Martyred on 26.8.1988 in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka.

Unit: Special Force 10 Para Regiment.

• Naipal Singh Poswal (Havaldar) (06.01.1954 - 15.11.1987), Vira Chakra, became martyr during Operation Pawan on 15.11.1987 in Sri Lanka fighting against militants. He was from village Phulwari village in Palwal district of Haryana. Unit: 5 Rajput Regiment.

• Nunda Ram Burdak (Naik) (b: -d.19.10.1987) is a martyr of Operation Pawan on 19.10.1987 in Sri Lanka. He is from village Chitawa in Nawa tahsil of Nagaur district in Rajasthan. His wife is Kahani Devi. His son Dhanraj Burdak is a Doctor. His statue was installed in the village on 28 April 2013.

Unit - 5 Rajputana Rifles

• Om Prakash Dhull (b.-d.14.05.1989) became martyr on 14.05.1989 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Mundhal Khurd village in tahsil and District Bhiwani of Haryana.

Unit - 7 Rajputana Rifles

• Raj Kumar Punia (Garhwal Rifles) (Rfn) became martyr during Operation Pawan on 21.10.1987. He was from village Bairasar Gumana, Rajgarh tahsil of Churu district in Rajasthan.

Unit: 18 Garhwal Rifles.

• Rajiv Sandhu(Second Lt) (12.11.1966 - 19.07.1988) became martyr during Operation Pawan in Srilanka on 19.07.1988. He was from Chandigarh, [Punjab]]. He was in

Unit: 19 Madras batallion. He was awarded Mahavir Chakra for his act of bravery.

• Ramesh Chandra Singroha (13.10.1954-20.10.1987) is a martyr of militancy in Srilanka. He was from Hathwala village in Julana tehsil of Jind district in Haryana. He became martyr on 20.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka.

• Randhir Singh Janghu (Naik), SM, martyred on 14.10.1987 during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. He was from Daulatabad in Gurgaon district of Haryana.

Main road of village Daulatabad is named after Shaheed Randhir Singh Janghu.

• Satbir Singh Rawaldhi(Hawaldar) (b.-d.26.01.1988) became martyr on 26.01.1988 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from Rawaldi village in Charkhi Dadri tehsil and district in Haryana.

Unit - 14 Jat Regiment

• Shish Ram Bhagasra (Sepoy) (16.10.1961-03.07.1988) is a martyr of militancy in Srilanka. He became martyr on 03.07.1988 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from village Mankdo in Buhana tehsil of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan.

Unit: Army Service Corps (ASC).

• Shish Ram Kajla (Paratrooper) is a martyr of militancy in Srilanka. He became martyr on 05.05.1988 during Operation Pawan in Srilanka. He was from village Loyal in Khetri tahsil of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan.

Unit: 10 Parachute Regiment (Desert Scorpion).

Indian soldiers fought bravely during Operation Pawan

• Sheonan Singh Sandhu (Major General) fought bravely during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka fighting with militants. He was awarded with Vir Chakra for his act of bravery. He was born in the family of sardar Ranvir Singh, younger brother of Bhagat Singh.

Unit: 10 Parachute regiment.

See also

• Indian Army Martyrs