IAF commemorates three military actions of 1971 India-Pakistan war

The Indian Air Force today commemorated three vital ‘military actions’ in which it was involved during the 1971 war with Pakistan.

All three actions happened in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Today, the IAF hosted an event at Mohanbari in Assam to commemorate the Tangail Airdrop of paratroopers; the crossing of the Meghna river using helicopters; the attack by fighter jets on Government House at Dhaka.

A flying display recreated key missions of the 1971 war. The Sukhoi-30 MKI mimicked the ‘angle of attack’ of the MiG-21 and the Hawker Hunter planes of that era. The C-130J special operations plane and the AN-32 plane displayed how the Army’s 2 Parachute Regiment was air-dropped at Tangail. The crossing of the Meghna river that transported troops of the Army’s 4 Corps using helicopters was displayed by the IAF using the Chinook, Mi-17 and the ALH copters.

The IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, attended the event. These three events, coupled with the arrival of Indian tanks in Dhaka, are known in military circles as the ‘race to Dhaka’ that led to an encirclement of the city and the subsequent surrender by Pakistan forces led by Lt Gen AAK Niazi on December 16, 1971.

Between December 3 and 16, Army troops under 2 Corps, 33 Corps and 4 Corps approached Dhaka from multiple directions and some pitched battles were fought all along. The final push towards Dhaka started from December 9. The city is wedged between two mighty rivers — the Padma/ Brahmaputra to its west and Meghna to its east. The IAF created a heli-lift of a brigade of troops and ferried them across the Meghna. In the intervening period, the IAF fighter jets famously bombed the Governor’s House called the Government House.

By December 15, 1971, the 2 Parachute Regiment air-dropped at Tangail had positioned itself. The 8 Mountain Division came down from Sylhet and closed in on Dhaka. The first tanks of 5 Independent Squadron of 63 Cavalry rolled into the city.

On December 16, 1971, Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) JFR Jacob had given ‘30 minutes’ to Lt Gen Niazi to surrender and by 4 pm that day 93,000 Pak army troops had laid down arms.