Diljit to play IAF officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon in Border 2 | Know about IAF's only Param Vir Chakra recipient
The shooting of Border 2 movie is in full swing featuring Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan and Diljit Dosanjh as its main lead. A war drama directed by Anurag Singh, the movie chronicles a chapter of the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
While the makers have remain tight-lipped about the actor's roles, Diljit Dosanjh in a podcast revealed that he will be playing the character of NirmaL Jit Singh Sekhon, the only Indian Air Force officer honoured with Param Vir Chakra.
Who was Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon ?
As, Indian Air Force marks the 80th birth anniversary of the Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, the only IAF officer ever awarded the Param Vir Chakra, country's highest military honour, the country salutes its Air warrior who conquered skies and became a torchbearer for India to secure a decisive victory against Pakistan on December 16, 1971.
It was the dreadful day of December 14, 1971 when Pakistan had launched air strikes targetting key air bases in Amritsar, Pathankot and Srinagar. A detachment of IAF’s 18 Squadron had been charged with the air defence of Srinagar and Sekhon was also part of this squadron.
The Squadron was famously known as Flying Bullets owing to its incredible maneuvering ability in the air. Sekhon was on stand by duty at the foggy Srinagar airbase with Flight Lieutenant Baldhir Singh Ghuman.
Earlier that morning, Pakistan Air Force's flagship fighter jets six F-86 Sabre jets took off from Peshawar with an aim to target the Srinagar airbase. The team was led by 1965 war veteran, Wing Commander Changazi, with Flight Lieutenants Dotani, Andrabi, Mir, Baig and Yusufzai as wing men. On the backdrop of winter fog, the Sabres crossed the border unnoticed.
Immediately ‘G-Man’ Ghumman and ‘Brother’ Sekhon scrambled towards their Gnats and rolled them out of their hanger while attempting to establish contact with Air Traffic Control and get permission to take off. However they failed to contact ATC due to mismatched radio frequencies, they decided to lift off.
Soon after taking to the skies, Ghumman lost sight of Sekhon's Gnat due to poor visibility.
Now it was Sekhon against six Sabres and what followed was one of the greatest dogfights in the history of air warfare. The war witnessed the most intense aerial combat.
In a desperate bid to defend Srinagar airbase, Sekhon singlehandedly took on six enemy aircraft F-86. He shot down first and damaged the second in a dogfight at tree-top fight and engaged two more before his Gnat took a fatal hit and crashed into a gorge near Badgam. He was only 26 when he was martyred.
Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon never returned but he left an indelible mark in the chapters of India's air warfare.
- PTC NEWS
