Army officially honours sacrifices of SL peacekeeping forces after 35 years

Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday ended more than 35 years of ambiguity, leading the armed forces in the first-ever official commemoration for soldiers who laid down their lives in ‘Operation Pawan’ in Sri Lanka.

The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed to Sri Lanka in the late 1980s, but the mission had never received formal recognition from the government.

In a solemn ceremony at the National War Memorial, Gen Dwivedi laid a wreath, paying homage to the bravehearts who made the supreme sacrifice during Operation Pawan. The ceremony marks long-awaited closure for the families of the 1,171 soldiers who died and the 3,500 who were injured in the line of duty.

Today also marks the death anniversary of Maj R Parameshwaran, the sole Param Vir Chakra awardee of the operation. His spouse, Uma Parameswaran, attended the event and laid a wreath in his memory.

Lt Gen Pushpendra Singh, Vice Chief of the Army, who had taken part in Operation Pawan as a young officer, accompanied the Army Chief. IPKF veterans, including Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (Retd) and Lt Col Atul Kochar, Mahavir Chakra, also joined the ceremony.

For decades, veterans have held quiet, dignified remembrances of the operation — silent ceremonies without traditional Army bugles — at the memorial. With no official commemoration until now, today’s event addresses a long-standing grievance of former IPKF personnel.

The Ministry of Defence had been considering formal recognition for the IPKF for several years before today’s landmark observance.