PEOPLE seem to have all but forgotten an episode almost identical to the one in which Abhinandan and his downed aircraft fell in Pakistan’s territory after being shot down by PAF.

On April 10,1959, the aircraft piloted Indian Air Force Squadron Leader Sen Gupta and Flight Lieutenant S.N. Rampal, a Canberra bomber was shot down by Flight Lieutenants Muhammad Younus and navigator Naseer Butt of Pakistan Air Force. The Indian aircraft had entered Pakistan’s air space on a reconnaissance and espionage mission.

Sqn Ldr Gupta and his navigator said that they had chosen April 10 morning as they thought that all Pakistanis would be busy in their Eid prayers and were surprised that the PAF was on duty.

I think this incident should be combined with the celebrations held to mark Operation Swift Retort.

Azmat Ansari

Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2020