Operation Lal Dora was conceived in 1983, with the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi's approval and called for the secret landing of Indian troops in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. These troops were to be launched from the 54th division and the purpose of doing this was to help the Mauritian Prime Minister

Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, PV, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton & Riviere Du Rempart. A central fi ...

fight off a challenge from his rival

Paul Berenger Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

which

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

feared might take the form of an attempted coup. In February 1983, Jugnauth travelled to New Delhi to meet with Mrs Indira Gandhi, where he asked for military assistance in the event of a coup by Berenger. Gandhi assured him of Indian support. The power struggle between Berenger and Jugnauth came to a head in March 1983. On Mauritian independence day, while Jugnauth was in New Delhi attending a Non Aligned Movement summit, Berenger arranged for the Mauritian National Anthem to be broadcast over Mauritian television in Creole, referring to Creole, instead of English, as the national language. On Jugnauth’s return to Mauritius, Berenger proposed constitutional changes that would strip power from the prime minister. The MMM- PSM government disintegrated with Berenger and most of the cabinet resigning from the government. Jugnauth was left with a small number of mostly Hindu followers. Gandhi ordered the Indian Army and Navy to prepare for a military intervention against a possible coup against the Jugnauth government. She chose to task the Research and Analysis Wing’s then chief, Nowsher F. Suntook, with supervising a largely intelligence-led operation to reunite the Indian community whose fracturing along ideological and communal lines had allowed Mr. Berenger to mount a political challenge.

References

{{reflist 1983 in India 1983 in Mauritius Indira Gandhi administration Lal Dora Lal Dora