PARA Jump At Agra Marks 50 Years Of Tangail Airdrop, Also Dedicated To CDS Bipin Rawat And 12 Other Braves
The Tangail airdrop mounted by the Indian Armed Forces in December 1971 has been the biggest airborne operation ever mounted after the Second World War. Though the tactical aim of the Tangail drop was to just capture the Poongli Bridge on Jamalpur-Tangail-Dhaka road and the ferry site on Louhajang River to intercept Pakistan army’s 93 Brigade that was retreating from the north to defend Dhaka.
However this proved to be a strategic level operation by the Indian paratroopers, as it created panic and confusion in the minds of the Pakistani military leadership. This hastened the Surrender of the panicky Pakistani Forces in East Bengal and thus shortened the War itself. It not only prevented any intended USA intervention but also expedited the creation of Bangladesh as a new Country.
The Commander in Chief of the Central Army, a paratrooper from Corps of Engineers, on Saturday led a mass parachute jump at Malpura para Drop Zone in Agra to mark 50 years of the historic battalion-sized Tangail airdrop north of Dhaka during the 1971 war with Pakistan.
Both the army and the air force dedicated this parachute jump at Agra to India’s first chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, the four paratroopers and eight other braves killed in the horrific Mi-17V5 crash near Coonoor on December 8.
“General Rawat envisioned jointmanship amongst the services to touch the highest standards of integration and execution. The parachute jump was marked by precise coordination between the army and air force in the best spirit of jointmanship,” the Indian Army said in a statement.
Central Army commander Lieutenant General Yogendra Dimri led the mass jump involving 120 elite paratroopers from 50 Independent Parachute Brigade. Then there also four veterans who had taken part in the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
Around 750 men of the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment were involved in the successful mission. The paratroopers defeated a force that was three times numerically superior to them. Then there had been a hangup case too during the drop. Wherein, a paratrooper, L/Naik Mahadeo Gurav after jumping out, kept hanging, attached to the aircraft and could be released only after 13 odd agonizing minutes. He landed safely, joined with the Muktibahani and finally linked with 2 PARA.
Another stick of one JCO and 18Other Ranks were dropped by mistake around 20 km North of the Tangail Drop Zone. They too fought their way out and linked up with the battalion a day later.
Several veterans who took part in the Tangail airdrop and the subsequent operations in Bangladesh witnessed the commemoration of the landmark event at Agra. Lieutenant General Nirbhay Sharma, who was the adjutant of 2 Para during the 1971 war, was among those present. The veterans who took part in the mass jump were Lieutenant General RR Goswami, Major General Shiv Jaswal, Colonel Thomas Kochappan and Colonel Pramod Tembe.
These paratroopers of Shatrujeet Brigade have already demonstrate the it prowess in the high altitudes of Ladhak and just waiting for the PLA to make a wrong move.
