A missed mission ... Vinit Vartak ©

 A missed mission ... Vinit Vartak © 

Some things are so lost in the pages of history that even if they are remembered, a thorn in the flesh remains. The stream of blood that flowed in that blackened darkness dried up. We forgot the memories of those who carried it. Those who survived never mentioned about it. Because everything they did was for the country. This is the story of one such missed mission in which 30 Indian soldiers shed their blood. In which 29 people sacrificed their lives. We realized exactly what happened in that pitch black darkness when one of the surviving Indian soldiers told the story of that night. The soldier's name was 'Shipai Gora Singh'.

It was the evening of October 11, 1987. When Indian troops set foot in Sri Lanka to crush the LTTE militants in Sri Lanka. In the darkness of that day, the Indian Army was carrying out a mission to trap the LTTE militants and their leader Prabhakaran. But unfortunately, the LTTE was aware of whole mission and the Indian soldiers got caught up in the strategy of trapping the LTTE. A secret meeting of LTTE officials was to be held on the premises of Jaffna University in Sri Lanka. The secret news of this meeting reached the Indian soldiers and they planned 'Operation Pawan'. 

The Indian intelligence failed to recognize the LTTE's capabilities and the LTTE had overheard a secret conversation between Indian soldiers. He had deployed his militants in the right places to reach the Indian Army. The mission for that day was assigned to 120 soldiers of 10 Paracommandos and 360 soldiers of 13 Sikh Light Infantry. Some of the soldiers were dropped off at the University of Jaffna football field by helicopter and the rest of the soldiers came to meet them on the road. The LTTE militants were already hiding in the ground with machine guns as they had idea where the Indian troops would land. As the first two helicopters landed on Indian troops, hidden LTTE terrorists started firing from all sides.Due to this sudden firing, only 30 Indian troops landed where 360 ​​Indian troops were supposed to land.

The attack was so fierce that it was a disgrace to abort the entire mission. Since no help could be given to the 30 soldiers who landed there or any kind of help to save them, under Major Birendra Singh's leadership, instead of 360, 1/12, that is, only 30 soldiers started to resist the enemy when they were surrounded on all sides.Twenty-seven soldiers were killed overnight, until the last shot was fired at 11.30 am on October 12, 1987. The remaining 3 soldiers had run out of ammunition. But they did not give up and attacked the enemy with bayonet charges. (A bayonet charge is a knife attached to the front of a gun. Using it to attack an enemy)

It was difficult for the three of them to survive in the face of the decimators. Two of them died in it. A third soldier was seriously injured. The seriously wounded soldier was captured and held captive by the LTTE. The name of this soldier was 'Shipai Gora Singh'. India's mission failed. But the Indian Army could not get any information about what happened to those 30 soldiers. When the Indian troops were able to reach the area after 7 days, they found torn clothes of the Indian soldiers, their belongings and thousands of machine gun bullets. From that, they guessed what had happened here that night. But they did not know exactly what it was.

When the LTTE released Gora Singh, he told the Indian Army about the massacre. The clothes of the martyred Indian soldiers were torn by LTTE militants. Their naked bodies were lined up and set on fire by throwing petrol on their bodies in the nearby Nagaraja temple. The rest of the bodies were later buried there. These inhumane acts of the LTTE were narrated by Gora Singh after his release. In this operation, 29 soldiers of 13 Sikh Light Infantry were martyred for the country. After enduring the inhumane treatment meted out by the LTTE, Gora Singh shared the story of the sacrifice of his comrades with the Indian Army. He kept his promise to fight for India till his last breath.

Even today, on October 11, in the 13th Sikh Light Infantry, read path for the martyrdom of those 29 people. Many of these soldiers were honored with Veer Chakra while Shipai Gora Singh was promoted to the rank of Nayak. Today, those 29 people are lost in the pages of history. So Gora Singh, the protagonist who came back from that night, is quietly living his life in a corner of India.

Today, the real hero of India needs to be brought before the Indians. To this day, these true heroes who have sacrificed their lives have been hidden and often deliberately hidden for political gain. The hero in the film who was shot in the body is a role model for the new generation today, whether he took drugs in real life or secretly contributed to anti-national activities.Or even if they say it is unsafe to live in the country, they become patriots. The country's media unites day and night to catch their word. But in real life, Indians do not know who the real heroes were who were martyred for the country with real bullets on their bodies. The only witness to all this and the hero who came back from the brink of death is Gora Singh who lives his life quietly in a brick house.

Due to a missed mission today, the hero Gora Singh's deeds and the sacrifices of those 29 anonymous soldiers were brought to the notice of all. My heartfelt salute to all those sacrifices.

Jai Hind !!!

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