Operation Pawan

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Operation Pawan
Part of Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War
Date11–25 October 1987
Location
Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka
Result Political and strategic victory for India
Belligerents

 India

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Commanders and leaders
India Rajiv Gandhi
India R.I.S. Kahlon		 Velupillai Prabhakaran
Strength
100,000 1500-2000[1]
Casualties and losses
1,200 soldiers killed
6,000 wounded or missing[2]

Unknown

500~ (Estimation)

Operation Pawan (

Sanskrit: कार्यवाही पवन Kãryvãhi Pavan, lit. "Operation Wind") was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. In brutal fighting lasting about three weeks, the IPKF took control of the Jaffna Peninsula from the LTTE, something that the Sri Lankan Army had tried but failed to do. Supported by Indian Army tanks, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery, the IPKF routed the LTTE at the cost of 214 soldiers and officers. Many Indian soldiers died[3][failed verification] [4]

Background

Main articles: Sri Lankan Civil War, Eelam War I, and Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War

The

Sri Lankan Military. In the late 1980s India, feeling considerable pressure from its Tamil citizens, began to intervene on both a diplomatic and military basis. Negotiations led to the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, under which the Sri Lankan government agreed to give the nation's provinces more power and autonomy and withdraw its troops to their barracks. The Tamil separatists were to surrender their arms as well.[5]

Most Tamil groups, including the Tigers, had not participated in the talks. Only reluctantly did they agree to surrender their arms to the Indian Peace Keeping Force as provided by the Accord. Even so, many separatists did not surrender their weapons, and the situation quickly flared into active confrontation. The Tigers declared their intent to continue armed struggle for an independent Tamil Eelam and refused to disarm. The IPKF soon found itself engaged in a bloody police action against the Tigers, which culminated in the separatists being cornered on the Jaffna Peninsula, at the northern end of the island. The IPKF set out to complete its mission of disarming the LTTE by taking Jaffna by force.[5]

The Operation

By 7 October, the Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) had issued directives to the IPKF, laying down its operational parameters. It was to:

  • Seize/destroy LTTE radio and TV transmission equipment in the Jaffna Peninsula
  • Seize or jam the LTTE communications network
  • Carry out raids on LTTE camps, caches and strongpoints
  • Detain and interrogate personnel manning LTTE offices in the East to gain information. In case of resistance, force to be used.
  • Actions to further consolidate the hold of the IPKF in the region

The first IPKF operation was launched on 9 October 1987. Code-named Operation Pawan (Sanskrit for 'Wind'), it was expected to neutralize LTTE operational capability in and around Jaffna. This included the capture or neutralization of the LTTE's chain of command[6] which was expected to leave the separatist movement directionless in the face of the impending assault on the LTTE strongholds by the IPKF.

On the nights of 9 and 10 October, the IPKF raided and captured the LTTE radio station at Tavadi and the TV station at

Para Commando
jeep on patrol, killing all five occupants.

On 10 October the Indian 91st Brigade, consisting of three battalions and led by Brig. J. Ralli, also began its push into Jaffna.[3][8]

The Jaffna University Helidrop

Main article: Jaffna University Helidrop

The first battle signaling the real beginning of Operation Pawan was the

5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) of 72 Brigade and the Sikh Light Infantry troops advancing on the ground.[3]

The operation ended in disaster as the LTTE, having intercepted IPKF radio transmissions, set up an ambush. The heli-dropped troops came under intense fire from LTTE positions, forcing the

Palay Air Base. The sole survivor of the platoon, Sepoy Gora Singh, was taken prisoner by the LTTE under the command of Pawan Kashyap. It was not until his subsequent release during the conflict that the fate of the unit was known.[3]

Battle for Jaffna

As the battle for Jaffna progressed, the IPKF advance came under intense and vicious opposition from the Tigers. Fighting in built-up and an as-yet un-evacuated Jaffna, the Indian High Command insisted that the slow advance was, in addition to Tiger resistance, more a result of reluctance on the part of the IPKF to use heavy weaponry to clear LTTE defenses.[8] Furthermore, all the approach roads had been laced with Claymore mines and explosives by the Tigers in its years of fighting with the Sri Lanka Army.[3] The Tigers also made extensive use of improvised explosive devices (IED)[3] which could be remotely detonated from over a kilometer away. During this time Eastern Command of the Indian Navy, supported by the Indian Coast Guard, was key in establishing a 300 miles (480 km) long blockade around northern Sri Lanka from October 1987 to disrupt the Tigers' supply and communication routes.[10] It was at about this time that the MARCOS forces (Marine Commandos) of the Indian Navy first went into action. Detachments of the IMSF (Indian Marine Special Forces, as the MARCOS was then known), along with a battalion of the 340th Independent Brigade of the Indian Army, provided beach reconnaissance around Jaffna and Batticaloa. The 340th Brigade was one of the first IPKF units to be deployed, and served until operations in the Trincomalee area were complete. The IMSF, at this time, also provided security patrols along the coast road west of Jaffna until the 41st Brigade took charge in November.

On 15/16 October the IPKF stopped its advance to stabilize the front. Palay, the major operations headquarters for the

HAL Cheetah utility helicopters. By end of October the IAF had flown 2200 tactical transport and 800 helicopter sorties.[3]

Now reinforced, the IPKF resumed the battle for Jaffna. The tanks and armored fighting vehicles are said to have been effective protection against anti-personnel mines.[3] However, even with this defense the IPKF advance was torturous in the face of the Tigers' sniper fire. They would take up positions on rooftops, in trees and even in coconut palms. Equipped with powerful telescopic infrared sights, they were able to selectively take out officers and radiomen, inflicting a heavy toll and bringing the advance to a grinding halt. Helicopters flying below 2000 feet were also vulnerable, with at least five being shot at and damaged before the Mi-25s took up their offensive role. The IPKF adapted quickly, with its officers taking off the pips of their ranks, wearing slouch hats and carrying oversize back packs. However, as the advance got bogged down, the battalions, instead of maneuvering around the defenders, were forced to commit more troops under orders from New Delhi.[3] In addition, the LTTE increasingly began to deploy anti-tank mines, taking a further heavy toll on IPKF forces. A frustrated IPKF cut off the power to Jaffna in an attempt to counter this.[3] IPKF communication lines were extensively mined by the LTTE, which further compounded the sometimes perilous situations that the Indian troops faced. It has not before the commandos broke out of the besieged Jaffna port and cleared the heavily mined Navanthurai Coastal Road that a crucial link-up between 1 Maratha Light Infantry in Jaffna Fort and the advancing troops of 41st Brigade could be established that secured the Nallur area.[11] On 21 October the commandos conducted a successful amphibious raid against an LTTE base at Gurunagar.[12] It was also toward the end of the Jaffna campaign that the IPKF started the use of Mi-25s for close air support[13] when they flew against LTTE positions in Chavakachcheri town on 23 October 1987.

Culmination

Ultimately, however, after two weeks of bitter fighting the IPKF had wrested control of Jaffna and other major cities from the LTTE, but operations were to continue well into November, with major operations coming to an end with the fall of Jaffna Fort on 28 November.

child soldiers of the LTTE, something it had not expected.[3]

This was only the beginning of the IPKF's three-year campaign to neutralize the LTTE. By the time Jaffna fell, the LTTE had merely exfiltrated out of the town, moving south to the jungles of Vavuniya District. Its hardcore militants moved to the safety of the jungle by skirting the Jaffna coast from Point Pedro to Elephant Pass, sheltered by the criss-cross of waterways in the impenetrable Nittkaikulam jungle. In the Jaffna sector, although the LTTE had shifted out of the town itself, it nevertheless harassed the 54th Division's efforts to consolidate its positions using IEDs and anti-personnel mines. In turn, the IPKF was able to disrupt the LTTE's activities with regular raids that led to the capture of large caches of separatist weaponry.[15] Brig. Manjit Singh was later replaced by Brig. J.S. Dhillon, under whom the 54th underwent considerable modifications of its operations routine. Small, highly mobile units became the staple of the 54th's operations.[15]

The IPKF at this point still consisted mostly of an overstretched 54th Division. Following the Jaffna operation, the 36th Infantry Division, along with two additional brigades, took over the Vavuniya sector and the Trincomalee-Batticaloa axis. This relieved the 54th Division which, led by Brig. Singh, could now focus on consolidating the Jaffna sector.[15] The 4th Mountain Division and the 57th Infantry Division were deployed still later in February 1988 to take charge of Vanni and Batticaloa from the 36th.

Criticism

India's foreign intelligence agency

paratroopers became easy targets for the LTTE, and a number of Indian soldiers were killed.[16][17][18]

Aftermath

The failed University of Jaffna drop and the subsequent killing of IPKF during this operation infuriated the IPKF Sikh Battalion who were stationed in Jaffna. On 21 Oct 1987, Hindus here were observing Diwali, IPKF stormed the largest hospital in the peninsula and massacred 70 people. Which included patients, staff and doctors.[19][20]

Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated as a fallout of Operation Pawan by LTTE.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Armed Conflict Database".
  2. ^ "1200 Soldiers Dead, 3000 Wounded, Operation Pawan in Lanka Was No Walk in the Woods". 29 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Operation Pawan". Bharat Rakshak: Indian Army & Land Forces. October 2006. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Operation Pawan: India in the Sri Lankan Civil War". 15 October 2021. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-8131710258
    .
  6. ^ "Nobody sounded even a Last Post for our dead in Colombo" Archived 2012-02-08 at the Wayback Machine Gen. Harikat Singh to Josy Joseph. rediff.com
  7. ^ Pillarisetti, Jagan (November 2009). "Chapter 2: Accord, Airlift and Discord". IAF History: The Sri Lankan Interlude 1987-90. Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "The Tamil Militants-Before the Accord and After" Hellmann-Rajanayagam D. Pacific Affairs, Vol. 61, No. 4. (Winter, 1988–1989), pp. 603–619
  9. ^ Pillarisetti, Jagan (November 2009). "Chapter 3: Descent into Danger – The Jaffna University Helidrop". IAF History: The Sri Lankan Interlude 1987-90. Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Operation Pawan". Archived from the original on 1 October 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
  11. ^ ""Operation Pawan- The Battle for Jaffna"". 15 October 2021.
  12. ^ India. Marine Commando Force Archived 2012-07-05 at the Wayback Machine Special Operations.Com
  13. ^ Pillarisetti, Jagan (October 2009). "Chapter 5: Crocodiles into the Attack – Mi-25s of 125 Heli Squadron". IAF History: The Sri Lankan Interlude 1987-90. Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  14. ^ "J N Dixit (ex-Indian Ambassador to Colombo) speaking to Rediff.com". In.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b c "Operation Pawan". Bharat Rakshak – Indian Army & Land Forces. October 2006. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  16. ^ Sachi Sri Kantha. The RAW Factor last visited on 9.4.07
  17. ^ nesohr.org Archived 2012-07-23 at archive.today
  18. ^ R&AW created a terrorist organisation to stop Sri Lanka from developing quickly economically and forging ties with other nations in the West or China. RAW funded and armed the terrorists to wreak havoc in the country. Breaking with the Past By Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli, p54.
  19. ^ "Return to Sri Lanka: Indian soldier revisits a brutal battlefield". BBC News. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Diwali Day Massacre of Tamils by Indian Army at Jaffna Hospital - 1987". Tamil Nation & Beyond - தமிழ் தேசியம். 21 October 1987. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  21. ISBN 9788120793088
    .

Sources

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