The IPKF Foray, Another Look

Editor’s Note

An article on above subject  by Gp Gapt AG Bewoor was published a few years back . The same is being republished by MVI due to its  relevance even after 35 years . All concerned with national security and linked  national interests , especially those in the armed forces need to read and comprehend  Operation Pawan and the invaluable lessons  so painstakingly  extracted and documented by the author for posterity . Since the author himself was in a critical position and  appointment  during this operation what he has recalled so vividly and stated so candidly and elaborately  carries both weight and relevance. We hope that this long and well articulated  article will give the readers  a deep insight of the operation  and enhance their  awareness.  

All photos and maps are for symbolic representation only. 

Editor , MVI 

INTRODUCTION

1. Why Did India Go Into Sri Lanka? Yes, it is now 30 years since that ill fated moment when the IPKF withdrew on 24 March 1990. I was in command of 44 Sqn at Agra in Sep 1987, and within a month we were inducting enormous number of troops into Jaffna flying IL-76s. Foray is defined as, “an initial attempt, especially outside ones usual area of competence”.The IPKF was totally outside the Indian Army’s area of competence, worse, with no training for either commanders or staff officers, about what to do in such an ill defined operation.We had no business to get into it, besides it was not causing us any specific problems. Bureaucrats, political advisers, chamchaas, interlopers, intelligence gurus, Foreign Serviceillusionists, military brass and definitely foreigners too;misguided Rajiv Gandhi into believing that entering the Sri Lanka imbroglio would fetch him international glory and the Congress party would win Tamil Nadu elections. Rajiv was a pucca debutante with no political insight or experience, an ordinary airline pilot, unwittingly propelled onto the chair of the top executive of India. He did not know where to seek advice nor did he have a Check List or guide to refer to; Indira Gandhidid not bother with check lists, thus Rajiv was forced to seekcounselling from wherever he could. Not for a moment did anyone think that Mrs Gandhi would be killed, and Rajiv mayhave to adorn the mantle. He thus could not have in any seriousness prepared himself for leadership of Congress and of India too, but got saddled with both. Reliable advice and stabledirection unfortunately evaded him; everyone failed him and through him, failed India. Yet no questions by journalist, legislator, corporate moghuls, judicial pontiffs, intelligence gurus, administrative giants, academics, nor ordinary Indians? It was the silence of the majority. Do recall, Rajiv had won 414 seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections.  It was sympathy for Indira and not confidence in Rajiv that got the Congress victory. But the spin-doctors and fake news perpetrators, convinced India and the world; that there was no leader like Rajiv Gandhi, regrettably listening to this chant, Rajiv started believing it himself. A falsehood repeated long enough becomes truth, we see it even today do we not?

2. Look Who Sent Us In. By the time IPKF withdrew in 1990 after three years in battle, we had lost 1200 officers and men. Why? The aim, if indeed there was one, was never written or espoused by the Defence Secretary who is the single personresponsible for the defence of India. The three Chiefs are not responsible for this task according to the Rules of Business of Govt of India. Funnily in all these 70 years as a republic, no Prime Minister or Raksha Mantri has changed this dreadful crooked rule. Even the Supreme Commander of India’s Armed Forces, our Rashtrapatis, have not had the courage to seek review of this pathetic cockeyed situation. A civil servant with frighteningly limited knowledge and exposure to matters military,is exclusively and entirely responsible to defend India from external aggression? “Wah Re Hindustan, tohar jawab nahi”. Within 10 years of IPKF’s retreat, we had Kargil, and we continue to fight terrorism in J&K and other areas, all being tackled by the Armed Forces and Armed Police, but the singlehotshot mastermind magician who defends India, is the Defence Secretary. This military genius, our Defence Secretary, would be an IAS official who would have spent his previous 30 odd years in Fisheries, Steel & Mines, Processed Foods, Education, Roads, Commerce, Health & Child Development, and such ministries that are far removed and totally unconnected with Armed Forces, Para-Military Forces, External Threats and Internal Security. Worse, many Addl Secretaries, Joint Secy, Deputy Secy working under  him, will also be greenhorns in matters of defence and security. It is such bureaucrats and intelligence ‘jadugars’ who permitted the IPKF to come into being, indeed with acquiesce from certain military quarters. When will the super generalist babus, recognise, admit and accept that knowledge and expertise does not creep up the spine through the chair they currently burden. I have heard many civilian proponents of this misadventure saying that unless India intervenes into affairs of her neighbours, how can we call ourselves a great nation? What greatness did we display? In truth we demonstrated utter helplessness. America had a Vietnam and USSR had an Afghanistan, then India had a Sri Lanka. And what a pity that Indian political, military, bureaucratic, diplomatic, economic, intellectual, judicial, academic and corporate leadership learnt nothing from the Vietnam & Afghan tragedies, and collectively permitted the sacrifice of 1200 young boys with nothing to show, except their names on stone? How many readers know that Sri Lanka hasbuilt a memorial for the IPKF fallen, but no memorial has been made in India? That sums it up, does it not? Indian blood and guts was spilt on Sri Lankan soil for the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka. 

Those 1200 who died and the hundreds injured, many crippled for life, did not do it for India. They did it for their paltan, their regiments, their izzat, but certainly not for India. We are deluding ourselves and rejoicing that IPKF was one hell of a campaign, absolutely fake. It was truly a dismal failure of higher and middle level military command and a complete politico-diplomatic-intelligence-bureaucratic disaster, and a magnificent cock-up, if there ever was one. Ending eventually in the assassination of Rajiv, the man who launched IPKF withoutknowing what will happen, and how to recall the Force. Rajiv was completely immobilised when IPKF started losing the battle, and there was no one competent and courageous enough to tell him that we had screwed up. Even the Army was unable to insist on its withdrawal, having promised in the first place to do,what could not be done. Like Ashwathama, Rajiv did not have the ability of recalling his Brahmasthra, the IPKF. The difference being that, Ashwathama was condemned not to die, Rajiv died.Each and every one of his cronies betrayed Rajiv. Many arealive and thriving, his blood is on their hands. As said uncharitably, while there is at least one Gandhi around, the Congress will find ways of sacrificing that Gandhi.

STUDY THE CAMPAIGN AND JOINTMANSHIP, WHY THE HESITATION?

3. Do We Study the Lessons for IPKF Failure? Many books have been written about IPKF with severe indictments but sadly few military training institutes within India actually study the IPKF campaign with all its warts, blemishes, dirt, blood, gore, incompetence, hesitations, foolhardiness, staff failures and abandonment? It is like the battles of 1947/48, 1962, 1965, 1971 and Kargil, no one studies them at Indian institutes. Foreign military schools may study them, but not Indian. We will study Desert Storm, Battle of Britain, Mesopotamian Campaign,Battle of the Atlantic, Arab-Israeli Wars, Vietnam War, but never our own battles. How then will we extract lessons for the Bharatiya Fauj with Desi COs, Desi JCOs, Desi Pilots, DesiSailors, and Desi admirals /generals / air marshals? And forget not the Desi netas, bureaucrats, intelligence jugglers, financial wizards, corporate nobles, defence analysts, irrepressible strategists, misguiding politicians, academia, intelligentsia, who will never accept that; it was their flawed judgments, and in many cases silence that convinced Rajiv to launch the IPKF.  Concrete examples of our flaws, frailties, blunders, hesitations,misunderstandings, confusions, irrational actions, are lost in the Grand Desi Silence. The IPKF operational tales are replete with deafening silence from New Delhi when needed, and unsolicited interference from 3500 kms. We cry ourselves hoarse about theHenderson Brooks report on 1962, and demand it be revealed to the Armed Forces to learn lessons. We have full ‘masala’ for every battle that IPKF fought; most participants, military and civil, are alive and capable of telling it as it was.  The Armed Forces and Para-Military Police (PMP) have competent officers to draw lessons and create true to life exercises; yet we hesitate to press ahead and make the critical changes in our training patterns and syllabi, to imbibe value from IPKF battles. Why do we do this? The Staff lessons from IPKF are the most important, but we neglect them, terrified that the skeletons which wouldtumble out will smear with failure, the reputations of those who negligently misguided Rajiv and sank the IPKF. Kya Kare? 

4. Jointmanship, Is there Such a Thing? The Armed Forces Headquarters along with Veterans, well wishers from varied professions, even some ‘hated’ bureaucrats, have shown unprecedented solidarity with the serving Faujis and Veterans. Regrettably we have concentrated all our attention to pay, pension, disability, warrant of precedence, weapons, housing, with little attention of Joint Training, Joint Planning, Joint Financing, and Sharing of Resources. The extreme desire to have ‘our very own personal exclusive offensive and administrative assets’ reigns supreme. This has hurt all of us,and as can be expected, it gets exploited by administrative, financial, intelligence, technical, judicial & political forces who exploit this inter-Services rivalry, playing one against the other. This is acerbated by military officers seeking favours for their own advancement.  Worse, very senior retired military officers,launch vituperative attacks on the present military leadership for not doing what these retired officers could and should have done themselves, but did not. The IPKF debacle followed by the surprise in Kargil and continuing repeated terrorist attacks should alert the top military brass to close ranks and present a united impregnable front not for pay, allowances, pension, weapons, accommodation, and inter-se positioning with babus, but for Jointmanship. The under emphasised and indeed deliberately ignored need for Joint Operations, Joint Planning, Joint Ministry of Defence & Defence Production, Joint Ministry of Defence Finance, Joint Intelligence Organisation, Joint Military-Diplomatic Organisation, Joint Military – Para-Military Commandis what we must clamour and protest for. The subject is not attractive, no TV cameras will focus on you, no reporter will seek you out, it is unglamorous, so we ignore it, and get hurt for that neglect, and to hide that sloppiness, we chuck red herrings like Theatre Commands. The IPKF had an Overall Force Commander OFC, it had all the trappings of an integrated joint services operation, it failed, but we refuse to fearlessly analyse it and remedy the flaws to prepare for the next such operation, this is unforgivable. The future generation officers, now at NDA,will not  Forgive us. This is wilful negligence, it is punishable. If there is one concerted action that will rejuvenate the administrative lethargy in MOD and Defence HQs it is a conjunctive and united demand for deliberate change over to Jointmanship all the wayfrom NDA to CDS, MOD, MHA, MO Finance, MO External Affairs. How many more campaigns do we need to fight to get our act together? Even a Cat has only Nine Lives!

ABUSE OF POWER AND GOING INTO SRI LANKA

5. Abuse of Power. An overused derogatory term is ‘abuse of power’. Starting from the beginning of time, historians will tell us how religious, military, financial, political leaders abused power and harangued the populace. Indian historians and media commentators are extremely quick to lambast military leaders if in their opinion the fauji crosses the statutory Rubicon in commenting on national governance. They all conveniently forget that the military leadership in India is an integral part of governance; but Indian military leadership has been and remains intensely disinterested in interfering in political, administrative, judicial, legislative responsibilities of India. The overwhelming control that the politico-bureaucratic-judicial triumvirate have over India’s Military and Para-Military Forces is well documented and incontestable. The number of times that these two Forces have done the bidding of the triumvirate either singly or jointly is evidence of their unquestionable loyalty, andcomplete distaste for meddling in affairs that are not their charter. On the other hand, the readiness with which these Forces have prosecuted war, skirmishes, deep penetration strikes, anti-insurgency operations, civil disobedience management and disaster relief, at the behest of civilian authority, is legendary. They continue to do so even when repeatedly, the civilian authority has ditched and abandoned these Forces in their moments of victory and defeat. This isAbuse of Power in India. The civilian authority falsely creates fear of the Armed Forces of India, suggesting that they wish to launch a coup as happens in our neighbourhood. This canard skilfully spun by the intelligence & political community of the 50s and 60s, is gleefully nurtured by today’s civilian bureaucracy.Regrettably the omnipresent TRP hungry media also picked this thread about coups, and their respected authoritative leaders have misused that thread, without shame or remorse. The media knowing in their beating hearts that; the Indian Fauji establishment abhors military intervention into civilian affairs,still makes this dastardly accusations, is unacceptable by any standards. The politician swallows this story happily because she inherently believes that the ‘throne’ is in perpetual danger, the addition of a military pretender to that throne, adds to herinsecurity. This is blatant abuse of power by the politico-bureaucrat jodi. Today an impartial intellectual uncompromised enquiry into the political / bureaucratic/ intelligence/ military failures that created, launched, remotely controlled the IPKF, is a frightening prospect. Too many fanciful and imagined heroes,both military and civilian; and there are many living in grand retirement, would fall, their legacies, awards, glories would betarnished. The truth that would pour out of that inquiry would establish, who all abused power then, and continue to misuse iteven now; the end result of this abuse is that lessons cannot be learnt, because the causes and effects of IPKF are suppressedand denied to the next generation. In very powerful humans, male or female, anywhere, the Joy of Immense Power lies inthe Ability to Abuse that Power. Is India different? Let us move on.

6. How Did We Go In? What were the comments made by diplomats in South Block, Colombo, Beijing, Moscow, Washington, London, Islamabad on the plan to create the Indo-Sri Lanka accord? Or was it unknown to illustrious diplomatssitting far away? What opinions were written by the IB, RAW, Defence Intelligence Directorates? What were the assessments by various Commanders-in-Chief of Army / Navy / Air Force? It is well known that at least one Army Commander put in writingagainst entering the fray, he is still around. What did the minutes of meetings throw up that eventually fathered the Indo-Sri LankaAccord? What inputs and overbearing pressures emanated from Rajiv Gandhi’s PMO that dissenting but sane advice was sent into the dustbin? Quite a few of those officers, both military and civilian are still around. Do recall that Congress got nearly 80% seats in the general elections of 1984 and because of that huge majority, everyone in govt was gung-ho to make India a strong regional power with Rajiv Gandhi as PM. As if that power could be pumped into India, like in a balloon. There was a euphoric ambience among bureaucrats who had notched up zero significant success on the diplomatic front for decades. The Bofors scam had surfaced in April 87, the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed in July 87 which was not endorsed by the LTTE with serious implications that were dismissed by everyone, thus misleading Indians to believe that we were doing it right. This was ‘majoritarianism’ at its best, a word unknown in 1987, coined more than 25 years later;   but we saw it being practiced and imposed way back in the late 80s. The media too was enamoured by the stunning electoral victory of the Congress and were carried away by the false aura of Rajiv and hischamchaas who must be irrevocably blamed for his murder. Rajiv was a simple throttle jockey who enjoyed flying the Avro 748 with Indian Airlines. A family man who loved the simple things of life. The wily Congresswallas brainwashed Rajiv into politics and the tragic after effects are still being felt. How often have we heard Congress spokespersons stressing that the Gandhi family has sacrificed so much for India, including their lives, true, very true. But why is it so, because the Congressleadership never puts itself in the firing line. All Congresswalashide behind the Gandhis, nominating them as permanent supreme leaders, so when shots are fired and bombs explodewho dies, only someone from the Gandhi family. The others never get a chance to make such supreme sacrifices, what a pity.

OVERCONFIDENCE AND RELUCTANCE TO LEARN

7. Pure Overconfidence In a Bad Accord?  It was well reported then, that Indian experts who scrutinise every word and punctuation of international accords had too little time to check the draft of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, and inject corrections for protecting India’s interests. A clear enough indication of the arrogance and over confidence prevailing in the diplomatic, political and  bureaucratic hierarchy of the day, thus ‘ahankaar’ manifested itself all because of the overwhelming majority in parliament. The Accord was pushed through demonstrating‘majoritarianism’ at its finest. Observe the abuse of power and bulldozing of an International Accord with military implications that were disadvantageous to Indian Armed Forces. And finally it was the Armed Forces which provided the last nail as it were,in pushing through the Accord by undesirable swagger and overconfident attitude towards the confused military objectives in the Accord. Certitude bordering on cocksureness was promoted of a capability that did not exist within the Armed Forces. This false military bravado further augmented the disregard for caution within the non-military and intelligence community, and the Accord was signed in haste without the main protagonist, LTTE. They were unwilling, dissenting and absent. That is how we went into Sri Lanka in 1987, eventually totalling 100,000 men, and came back in 1990 minus 1200, with a bad reputation that wiped away the honour of all earlier military victories of the Indian Armed Forces. It would take nineyears to resurrect that izzat on the Himalayan slopes of Kargil. If only all those notes, minutes, comments, dissents, cautionary warnings were available for educating ourselves, there would be invaluable lessons for military and civilian personnel. The high degree and speed of disinformation that was transmitted about the Accord, is exactly similar to the military intervention into Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussain. The media of the day failed in disrobing the emperor and his henchmen, both in and out of uniform. Not one PIL was placed in the Supreme Court to halt the Accord because in truth, IPKF was against the supreme interests of India and Indians. Everyone was flowing with the‘majoritarianism’ river of that vintage which said, “anything is possible with 414 seats in Lok Sabha”.  Observe today with just 282 seats the BJP is tarnished as practicing ‘majoritarianism’,but when the Congress had 414 seats and practicedmajoritarianism by inducting the IPKF via a very poor Accord, the media was silent, and remains silent today? They are culpable too. Is this the freedom our media seeks? The author is no lover of the BJP, but telling it as it happens is in the interest of India. In 1987 the IPKF went in with its Right hand tied to its left thigh, impairing swift, unimpeded battle tactics, and yet, as is well documented, at the junior levels the ‘fauji’ proved hisvitality with honour. All honour and courage of the IPKF resides at the junior levels. The seniors have written books, the juniors made it possible for them to write them.

8. What About Lessons for Civilians from this SNAFU?   Do they discuss the political, administrative, intelligence, military goof ups that made the IPKF and the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord a debacle, at the IAS Academy in Mussoorie? Unlikely. Do intelligence boffins, career diplomats, administrators, financial experts, historians, analysts from govt, hold frank and free seminars to ensure we do not get sucked into such a mess again? No. But why not, we want a permanent seat at the UN Security Council; we want to be treated as a regional power thatcan deliberate intellectually and fairly on matters that impact this region. We want to have special commercial equations with nations and union of nations like ASEAN, EU, GCC. We want militaries of friendly nations to train with us on the ground, at sea and in the air. Then we have to show them that India is capable of self introspection and is not afraid to talk about her failures, blemishes, warts, frailties and infirmities.  When we cando that, and demonstrate that we do it without fear, everyone will accept India at the High Table in the UN? Regrettably we are reluctant and frightened to do it. In all the grandiose Think Tanks that abound in New Delhi, with patronage from government, there are never seminars to study failures and blunders in our military cum diplomatic cum administrative cum intelligence cum political decision making. Foreign leaders know this infirmity and feebleness of Indian governance and look upon us as pygmies who do not wish to grow into giants. No one likes to sit with men and women, who cannot excogitate and ponder their failures to seek remedy? Changing one’s mind and admitting you were wrong is not the problem. It is admitting that the others were right that is unacceptable to the leadership of that era, and therein this reluctance to peel the skin and reveal the grand defects of IPKF. India is not willing to do that, then why will anyone look at us differently, than as they have for the last 70 years? We are stuck exactly where we were, much like the parade ground order of “jaise the”. The lessons must be learnt together, every organisation that was involved in launching IPKF has to throw up lessons collectively without fear. Only then will the truth emerge and hopefully none of us will do it again, hopefully.

INTERFERENCE AND ABSENCE OF SERIOUSNESS

9. Misleading Inputs and Interference.  And so the first elements of IPKF went in from 30 July 87. About two months earlier, AN-32s with Mirage escorts dropped 25 tons of civil supplies in Jaffna unconcerned that they were violating the air space of an independent nation. Witness the arrogance of Indian leadership,the majoritarianism’, all done for Congress to win Tamil Nadu elections, which as everyone knew, would never happen.Witness the misleading inputs to Rajiv by charlatans who live in happy retirement today, they collectively lost Rajiv to assassins,did they not? The charter for IPKF was to disarm all Tamil groups including the LTTE, sadly the IPKF could not do it till the very end. This was a major failure not because the Indian Army was incapable; it was because the fighting elements of IPKFwere not permitted to get to that objective due to persistent interference from higher formations, including Defence HQs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Embassy in Colombo and the PMO with countermanding and confusing orders, instructions and “suggestions”. Many have written about this irritating meddling by those who knew nothing about the true ground situation. The IPKF went in without any genuine intelligence inputs. The intention to intervene in Sri Lanka usingArmed Forces was being bandied about among govt mandarinsand military leaders for months and was a foregone reality sinceno other force could have done it. The Armed Forces were given warning orders to prepare themselves for the task, and all strategic intelligence was to be supplied by the IB / RAW / MEAand their agents, but little came forth. Our High Commission in Colombo gave no concrete authoritative intelligence about Tamil Groups, and at times it appeared that this information was deliberately kept away from the Indian Army. Amazing. The Intelligence Directorate of Army HQ did not have reliable maps / charts for the task. We had months of planning time, we have defence attaches in Colombo along with RAW officers, how did we allow this to happen to an army that had performed so professionally just 16 years earlier in East Pakistan? What and where was the decline? Did no one see it coming? Were warning signals and alarm bells not rung? Both SherlockHolmes and Dr Watson would have castigated India for this deliberate wilful negligence, bungling unpreparedness and uncalled for interference in tactical matters by immature strategists. So many authoritative narratives have been published wherein the tactical hindrance generated by interference from New Delhi and Madras caused failures in achieving the aims and goals. And sadly it continued till IPKF withdrew. This is not the real Indian Army.

10. We were Not Serious. So the IPKF entered the arena in 1987 with tourist brochures and shrugged shoulders. What a come down from the meticulous grooming, planning, training and readiness demonstrated in 1971. Many senior and middle level commanders of that ’71 war were dismayed at the visibleunprofessionalism. Was anyone serious about this? I was asked this by a young major at dinner in Chennai. The Maratha battalion that went in early were given contrary convoluted instructions, one day the then CO, now Lt Gen and lives in Kerala may divulge his story. How was it that the strict training that faujis have ingrained was unable to extract worthwhile tactical intelligence before committing troops to battle? Who is responsible for this derelict and callous attitude towards his ownfighting men? One fact is very obvious, the powers of that era, both military and civilian, were guilty of disregard for the lives they were placing in the firing line, eventually 1200 such lives would be wasted, because too many leaders were perfunctory in their assessments about the adversary. The enemy was not even identified clearly, nor was his ability to cause devastating damage to Indian forces ever considered in the formal Appreciations. How many appreciations were done? At what levels were they made? Were any appreciations done at all? Hold it. Was the IPKF ever war gamed? How do you war game a plan when the enemy is not defined? The supreme overconfidence of the few, completely subsumed caution and the need for reappraisal, as the time for induction crept closer. Absence of earnestness was obvious and palpable, yet reappraisal was never done? Today the Armed Forces of India are unable to explain to themselves how and why this happened. Journalists, commentators, analysts, historians,military experts, research students are unable to get a closure of the failed IPKF misadventure. Why? The absence of sinceritybefore, during and after the operation is followed by amnesia, there is no genuine desire to force both civilian and military leaders of today to intellectually analyse where we goofed up,how often we erred, what induced the callousness and whythose who could bring sanity into the whole game remained silent, or were made to shut up? To paraphrase Churchill with apologies, Never in the History of Human Conflict, Have So Few, Screwed So Many, So Well. One example about the lack of seriousness would be in order, there are many more.

THE MISSING MISSILE AND RELUCTANCE TO TAKE ON THE LTTE

11. Fly Low We Are Missing a Missile. One morning in Oct 87 I was at Madras international airport loading a T-72 tank into an IL-76 for Jaffna. Yes members of CASS, the IPKF had tanks in support.  During the loading, I was called to a telephone to speak with IPKF HQs, readers note that there was an IPKF HQs in Madras. The officer at the other end wanted me to change my profile of Approach and Landing at Jaffna when I went in with this T-72. Readers please concentrate. The HQ did not want me to make a normal approach starting at 600 meters above ground at a distance of about six kms from the runway. He wanted me to descend to 100 meters above Ground at 6 kms from the RW. Jaffna has a short runway, with gravely surface resulting in inefficient braking, one had to touch-down at the beginning of the runway to stop easily within its length, and we had been doing it ever since IPKF induction commenced. But to touch down at the beginning, the pilot of an IL-76 must see the runway at a distance of at least 3 kms so that at a speed of 250 km/hr, he gets about a minute to align and stabilize the approach and make a correct touchdown. The IL-76 with the T-72 inside would weigh 150 tons, 10 tons higher than the maximum permitted weight. I explained all this to the HQs and added that, the IL-76 has a wing span of 50 meters, pilot cannot see the wingtips from the flight deck, the aircraft is 47 meters long, its16 wheels are 20 feet below the pilot. At 100 meters above ground, I would be avoiding birds with violent turns at that low height, worse, I would see Jaffna runway from just about half a kilometre before touchdown, with no time to re-align with the runway, which would be inevitable with my violent turns to avoid birds. I added for special effect that, the IL-76 was not a Big Dakota, but a different class of aircraft to be flown differently. I finally asked him why I should do such a crazy approach.  His answer was that the LTTE had got three Shoulder Fired Anti Aircraft missiles. Apparently they had fired one at a Sri Lanka air force aircraft and missed, the IPKF had found the Third, but were unsure where the Second one was, and were worried that LTTE may use this second missile to shoot at an IL-76 or AN-32. This information naturally unnerved me and I asked a direct question, “Sir, should I then fly into Jaffna or not?” Readers, would you believe what his wasanswer, “I am not telling you not to fly to Jaffna?” This was how serious the higher echelons were about IPKF operations. This was 1987, I served till Dec 1993, today it is 2020, I have never heard about this missile threat from any other pilot in these last 30 years. One does not intervene in another country, even on invitation, sans earnestness to do it right, we were far from serious. Why? In 1987, 40 years after independence and four wars, the Indian Army was a thoroughly seasoned military machine with much insurgency expertise. Why and how did this Force and its leadership fail in Sri Lanka? Why did the faujis, most of whom had tasted both defeat and victory in these 40 years, permit strategic and tactical bullying by non-military civilians? How was the inherent passion of the Indian Army for military preparedness; get smothered and overwhelmed, by the false belief that the supreme majority in parliament would overcome any problem? Could it be as so succinctly and precisely put, ‘that the people who Work For a Living, were Hugely Outnumbered by those Who Vote for a Living’  In such a scenario, sincerity falls by the wayside, gong-ho attitudes prevail, caution is thrown to the winds, unprofessional solutions start popping up, overconfidence reigns supreme. The words, ‘fake news’ did not exist in 1987, but sadly, fake news was rampant throughout the life of IPKF.

12. Taking On the LTTE? There have been comments by non military experts that the generals were not willing to take on the LTTE. These so called ‘experts’ swiftly, shamefully  and handily forgot that it is they who had tied the Right Hands of the IPKF generals  to Their Left Thighs,  by neglecting to ensure that the Accord strengthened the Indian Army, and not the Tamil Groups and  Sri Lanka Army. The Accord was not the making of the Indian Armed Forces. The huge electoral win of 1984 had permeated and percolated arrogant fluids into the thinking minds of our leadership. The huge Lok Sabha win of 1984 made the politician and his advisers; oh so powerful and cocksure with unsound overconfidence, that they just brushed aside sane advice and reappraisal. Sadly, those who should have put their feet down with firm hands acquiesced meekly. Why?  Besides it was all the more risky and fragile with a rookie prime minister who relied on advisers with very poor experience or knowledge in these matters. The seasoned civil servants from IAS / IFS / Intelligence Organisations should have intervened assertively, and questioned the overconfidence of the military brass. The happy acceptance by the military to execute the dubious articles of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, without even having studied it, was a major cause of the IPKF debacle.  Any caution by a few visionary and experienced bureaucrats was cast away because the military had assured success. Even caution emanating from senior army strategists who possibly recognised the dangers in this operation, was buried under the gung-ho desire to do something. Do recall, there had not been a shooting battle with anyone since 1971, and some stalwarts had never heard a shot fired in anger, and would retire without any campaign medals on their chests. This jingoism would again manifest itself in a non-executable plan to drop paratroopers in Northern POK on the other side of the Siachin glacier to capture Pakistani positions at 20,000 feet in the Himalayas. This attitude would also encourage a plan to para-drop troopers, on a moonless night, in the island archipelago of Maldives with no charts / maps / sketches in the middle of the Hind Mahasagar. This same posture would seriously want a paradrop onto Trincomaleeairport to retake it from the LTTE should they capture it. All threeplans completely in-executable, tactically suicidal and strategically fallacious.  We were certainly not sincere during IPKF, and demonstrated that callousness many times later too. How did this come about in an Army that has a grand legacy of more than 200 years? Why did an Army that has more battle honours and captured Flags, than many other military forces around the world, indulge in this kind of planning? We need to find answers, get a closure, and take remedial action, before this attitude consumes us. Is it still there in certain military quarters, among veterans, among the armchair strategists, netas, and the superior generalist ill informed bureaucrats who take on the mantle of defending India?   

CONCLUSION

13. Every person, even remotely associated with IPKF, has toaccept that there are lessons for all departments of Government. Even now it is not late to dissect IPKF, and extract lessons. India has the largest military force in the region and we need to behave in consonance with this reality. We have an enormous civil service which makes India function and run, without them, this nation will come to a grinding halt. The face-offs with China will remain. Pakistani mischief will continue indefinitely. Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Seychelles, Indonesia will keep us on our diplomatic and military toes, even if it is to tell us not to take them for granted. Our ‘ahankaar’, which surfaces with irritating regularity against our small neighbours, has been the proverbial ditch into which our diplomatic-military-economic efforts fall flat. Our neighbours know that we have this propensity to ignore failures and cover up blunders, such a nation cannot be looked up to. Witness Maldives ignoring India in the February 2018 crisis. Notice the paralysis that MOD and MHA has shown in making our ‘soft’ targets secure from terror attacks. Recall the hijack to Kandahar. When the combined uncoordinated and lifeless efforts of our intelligence wizards –  polished militarybrass- diplomatic conjurers- bureaucratic illusionists – political misfits and corporate India, cannot be remedied by successive generation of Indian leaders, who will have faith in India’sformidability, reliability, dependability? If we collectively plan untidy military operations relying on the overconfidence ofuntested political leaders and persons who blame failures on others, we will repeatedly make the same monumental blunders.  The author has been very severe in his indictments of the civil servant as compared to what has been said about a compliant military.  This is in the fitness of things as they exist. It is the civilian bureaucrat, who is the confidant of the political leader, and finally it is her advice that the political masters will have to take, they are critically positioned to render this final advice on which executive decisions are taken.  The political determination with which IPKF was unleashed was the handiwork of the bureaucrats that placed the pros and cons for the cabinet and PMO to study and issue orders. A highly sensitive military adventure like IPKF should not have started without war gaming using hard vetted intelligence and dedicated planning, and yes, we did have time to do that. And finally, the disdain shown by our military brass for the lungi clad LTTE fighters resulted in engraving 1200 names on marble tablets. Our posture must change at least to honour those Indians who fell for Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.  

“Every Man is Guilty of All the Good He Did Not Do”- Voltaire