The Tangail Airdrop was a successful

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

-size Para Commandos (India) operation mounted on 11 December 1971 by the 2nd Battalion (Special Operations) (2 PARA) of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

's Parachute Regiment and the 49 Squadron of the Indian Air Force during the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

for the

liberation of Bangladesh The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

. The main objective of the operation was the capture of Poongli Bridge on the

Jamuna River The Jamuna River ( bn, যমুনা ''Jomuna'') is one of the three main rivers of Bangladesh. It is the lower stream of the Brahmaputra River, which originates in Tibet as Yarlung Tsangpo, before flowing into India and then southwest into ...

which would cut off the Pakistani 93rd Brigade which was retreating from

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...

in the north to defend the capital of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, and its approaches. The paratroop unit was also tasked to link up with the advancing

Maratha Light Infantry The Maratha Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It traces its lineage to the Bombay Sepoys, raised in 1768, making it the most senior light infantry regiment in the Indian Army. The class composition of the regiment ...

on the ground to advance towards the East Pakistani capital.As a young captain in 1971 Bangladesh war, I gave Pakistan's Lt-Gen the letter to surrender, My battalion in the Air Force, 2 PARA, was the first troops to enter ‘Dacca’ after Pakistan's defeat.
LT GEN NIRBHAY SHARMA (RETD),

ThePrint The Print is an Indian online newspaper, owned by Printline Media Pvt Ltd. It was launched by journalist Shekhar Gupta in August 2017. History Printline Media Pvt. Ltd, founded by journalist Shekhar Gupta, was incorporated in New Delhi, Ind ...

, 11 December 2019.

Operation

Para drop

of Para Commandos (India) led by Lieutenant Colonel

Kulwant Singh Pannu Major General Kulwant Singh Pannu, MVC was an officer of the Indian Army and a recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra. He was initially commissioned as an officer in the 3 Gorkha Rifles in 1952, and joined the Parachute Regiment in 1957 after completi ...

was reinforced by an artillery battery of 17 Para Field Regiment, an engineering detachment, an ADS, a surgical team and other administrative troops from the 50th (Indep) Parachute Brigade. Tasked to cut off the retreat of the Pakistani troops from the north towards

, the unit touched ground at 1630 hours and was greeted by a jubilant crowd of local people, with some even helping the troops carry their packs and ammunition. The drop was dispersed over a wide area, but the Paras regrouped quickly and commenced their attack. By 1900 hours, they had captured their main objective, cutting off the Pakistani 93 Brigade retreating from the north. Link-up with 1st battalion, The

(1 MLI) was established after the Marathas broke through at Tangail Road and reached the

bridgehead In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...

that very evening. The Pakistanis, attempting to retake the bridge rushed the Indian positions that evening, however, were repulsed. The Tangail Airdrop operation involved

An-12 The Antonov An-12 ( Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants. For more than th ...

C-119 The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechan ...

s, 2

Caribous Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subsp ...

and Dakotas from 11 sqn and 48 Sqn. 49 Squadron 'the Paraspears', of the Indian Air Force was instrumental in raising and training the 'Kilo' flight of the Mukti Bahini. It was also the Paraspears who led the famed DELTA ORANGE formation of the Tangail drop which dropped troops of the 2 Para regiment which was a vital element in achieving the liberation of Bangladesh. The IAF also carried out

feint Feint is a French term that entered English via the discipline of swordsmanship and fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or e ...

drops using dummies dropped from Caribou aircraft to hide the true location and extent of the operation. The only hitch was a Hangup from the lead Dakota. One Paratrooper had a static line hangup, who, after carrying out emergency procedures, was dropped safely about 50 miles away.

Pakistani war crimes

Indian Army which took over the Poongli Bridge from the Pakistani Army was ''"shocked"'' at ''"the sight of mutilated bodies of women, whom the Pakistani troops had killed just before fleeing from Poongli Bridge."''

Aftermath

The Tangail Airdrop and the subsequent capture of the Poongli bridge gave the advancing

, assisted by

Kader Bahini Kader may refer to: * ''Kader'' (film), a 2006 Turkish drama film *Kader Group, a toy manufacturer of Hong Kong People with the given name * Kader Abdolah (born 1954), Iranian-Dutch writer, poet and columnist. *Kader Asmal (1934–2011), South Af ...

, the maneuverability to side-step the strongly held Tongi-Dacca Road to take the undefended

Manikganj Manikganj is a district situated in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Manikganj is one of the green and pollution free towns in Bangladesh. The recent urbanization and highway built joining Dhaka and Shingair Upazilla has given it an outstanding road ...

-Dacca Road right up to Mirpur Bridge at the gates of Dacca (Dhaka). Pakistan Army's 93,000 troops unconditionally surrendered to the

and India's local ally

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary ...

on 16 December 1971.

Battle awards

Indian commander Lt Col Kulwant Singh was awarded the

MVC MVC may refer to: Science and technology * Maximum-value composite procedure, an imaging procedure * Multivariable calculus, a concept in mathematics * Multivariable control, a concept in process engineering * Mechanical vapor compression, a desal ...

for his leadership in battle. The 2 Paras were subsequently the first Indian forces to enter Dacca. For this and their role in Capture of the strategic bridge, the Paras received battle honour for Poongli Bridge and theatre honours for Dacca.

References