Wing Commander Abhinandan’s MiG 21 Bison was shot at and was speedily hurling towards the ground, the pilot did the appropriate thing, to eject out in safety. However, it was in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the locals wearing the same attire as our side of the border, the flier could not make out the location.
The first question he asked the rushing villagers towards him was that if he is in India or Pakistan. Someone crafty replied that he is in India, after which an overjoyed Abhinandan stood up with a tearing roar “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.’ The menacing convergence of more villagers soon revealed that he was on the enemy territory, as he was assaulted by the villagers.
Promptly the brave son of India whipped his pistol and fired on the air to keep the restive men, baying for his blood, at a distance. He carefully in a calculated move of self-defence stepped back and entered a nearby pond and took out important and sensitive defence documents and shoved them into his mouth.
The Pakistan army, watching the downing of his aircraft were soon at the site, arresting and driving him away to a military centre 58 Kms away. IAF’s Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was a prisoner at the hands of a euphoric Pakistan army. Urgent calls were made and the country, licking its wounds from the earlier Indian air attacks on Balakote and a few other locations, produced the pilot, bleeding and blindfolded on the TV channels, as India and the world watched. He was calm and refused to reveal any detail with the Pak captors, save his name and service number.
Pakistan could not hide the fact of the imprisonment of the Indian pilot, even as the Indian government started its diplomatic offensive, seeking the help of the world leaders to get his immediate release. Pakistan could have demanded an exchange of Pakistan prisoners for the pilot, which India bluntly refused. No, there was going to be no repetition from a steely Modi and his government. Pakistan came under enormous pressure, even from tested friends like Saudi and the UAE, also as the citizens pitched for a ‘no war and peace.’
PM Imran dramatically announced the release of the pilot in a joint parliamentary session, a move though laudable, was done under no other options and stress, to a relieved member of parliamentarians present and thumping their desks in appreciation.
Abhinandan’s release, announced yesterday was to be affected today and could be by the time this post is published. There was a gap of twenty-four hours, by which the frayed tempers on both sides seems to have subsided a lot. Imran suddenly seemed to be different from the earliest perceived PM of a terrorist and war-mongering nation. They had learnt their international standing, as not a single country made any statement in their support. Pakistan was a pariah nation!
Abhinandan’s release if not had been done would have forced India to act decisively and even declare war, a war between two nuclear nations, as I shudder to think of the consequences. I guess, both India and Pakistan would thank Abhinandan for saving both countries from destruction and despair, which are inevitable aftermath of any war.
I am awaiting his return to India to salute him and every soldier of our armed forces.
Jai Hind!
Sampath Kumar
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