Veterans, Veer Naris (war widows) and relatives pay tribute to the National War Memorial to those who lost their lives in Operation, March 24, 2025. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
At the beginning of this week, more than a hundred veterans of the Indian armed forces (war widows) and relatives gathered at the National War Memorials (War Widows) and relatives who gathered in the Pawan operation. The Pawan operation was the first Indian overseas military operation in Sri Lanka, which ended with a bloody and bitter note and is not officially mentioned.
The veterans demanded the recognition and designation of the day when they remembered the Pawan operation on the lines of the memories of the 1971 liberation wars and the Kargil conflict of 1999. However, the three-service committee dated 17 October 2024 after a detailed meeting in the official communication.
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The fifth iteration of the annual ceremony of the layering of wreaths in NWM took place on March 24.
“This year’s monument is of particular importance because it combined decorated officers, the recipient of the bravery and the family of fallen heroes who served during the Indian peace maintenance force (IPKF) deployment in Sri Lanka in 1987,” said Colonel Bro Nair, veteran IPKF.
“Like the previous four years, the Army headquarters also allowed only the private veteran ceremony concerning the Tichý ceremony, the Sans Buglers-Remust role in any ceremony when the Buglers plays the last contribution followed by Rouse,” he said.
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As part of the Indo-Prague Mandate signed in 1987, IPKF was deployed in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990 to perform peaceful operations. During these operations, 1,166 workers – 51 officers, 78 junior authorized officers (JCO) and 1,037 other positions of staff – IPKF set their lives, especially in contradiction with the exemption tigers of Tamil (LTTE), which was informed with Parliament in written response by the Ministry of External Conflicts. In August 2012 on average in 2012.
The couple, children and relatives killed in action more than three decades ago laid a total of 11 wreaths, said Colonel Nair.
According to Colonel Naira, the headquarters of the Army continuously rejected the veterans with a dignified memorial ceremony – quoted vague references to government policy.
The assembly emphasized collective pride and permanent emotional bond between the armed forces and the families of those who made the highest victim, said Colonel Nair. He added: “This also draws attention to Pawan’s operation in the glaring absence in the official stories and its omission from the displays and descriptions in NWM.”
But officials pointed out that the names of all soldiers who lost their lives from independence, including those from the Pawan operation, are registered in NWM.
The Indian League of former Services (Ills), a veteran organization recognized by the Ministry of Defense with the Minister of Defense as his chief Patron, wrote last year to the Chief of Defense Staff and three bosses of honor in 1962 and IPKF operations.
Brigadier Inder Mohan Singh (RETD), President Isles, said in a letter of 30 October 2024 that all good armies, especially armies of democratic countries, remember and honor the courage of previous generations – whether in victory or defeat – quote the United States as an example.
“The politicization of victims in India is a serious problem for veteran fraternity,” he said, noting that the 1971 victory was the largest of all wars after World War II, while India suffered a humiliation in 1962. forgotten.
Similarly, the victim of the soldiers in the IPKF operation remains a forgotten story, said Brigadier Singh.
He noted that the actions of the bravery of Indian troops are known only to the generation that was in operation during these operations, and that many units that participated feel ignored – sentiment have now strengthened social media, where it became a boar infantry and 10 Para -special forces.
“All of you as chiefs are perhaps the last generation that joined the service when they started operations of IPKF,” he added.
Brigadier Singh noted that politically does not have to correspond to the Indian government and the government of Tamil Nadu to remember these events for the involvement of Tamil aspirations and emphasized that the army should remain above such problems. He also noted that IPKF operations resulted in a loss of more than 1,100 lives – more than twice the number of Kargil – and claimed that if the war in Kargil was caused by intelligence organizations, the operation in Sri Lanka was powered by political hives. He called for suitable monuments for soldiers whose victims remain unclear, including those from the 1962 war and other skirmishes with China.
Several veterans argued that the Pawan operation, which witnessed the Intensive War in the Jungle, the city combat and complex peace operations, remains a significant but undervalued chapter in India’s military history and that its lessons are becoming more relevant today because India moves towards integrated theater orders and more common forces.
Published – 27 March 2025 02:19 IS
