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Abhinandan Varthaman

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Wing Commander

Abhinandan Varthaman
BornTamil Nadu, India
AllegianceIndia
Service / branchIndian Air Force
Years of service2004 to present
RankWing Commander
Service number27981[1]
Battles / wars2019 India–Pakistan standoff
An IAF MiG-21 Bison

Abhinandan Varthaman is a wing-commander in the Indian Air Force.[2][3] In the 2019 India-Pakistan standoff, he was held for three days under captivity in Pakistan after his aircraft was shot down in an aerial dogfight.[4]

Early life and career

Abhinandan's family hails from Thirupanamoor, a village near Kanchipuram.[5] His father, Simhakutty Varthaman, is a retired Air Marshal in the Indian Air Force while his mother is a doctor.[6][7] Abhinandan is married to a retired IAF Squadron leader and lives in Chennai.[8][9]

A graduate of the National Defence Academy, he joined the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot in 2004 and was trained at the IAF centres in Bathinda and Halwara. He was a Su-30 MKI fighter pilot before being assigned to the MiG-21 Bison squadron.[8]

Capture

On 27 February 2019, Varthaman was flying a MiG-21 as a part of a sortie that was scrambled to intercept an intrusion by Pakistan Air craft into Jammu and Kashmir. He crossed into Pakistan territory where he was struck by a missile. Varthaman was compelled to eject and descended safely at the village of Horran in Azad Kashmir around 7 km from Line of Control.[10][11]

It was claimed by local villagers that Varthaman could be identified as an Indian pilot by the Indian flag on his parachute.[10] Upon landing, Varthaman asked the villagers if he was in India, to which a young boy replied in the affirmative. [10] He reportedly followed up with pro-India slogans and asked for drinking water whilst informing them of a back injury. The locals responded with pro-Pakistan slogans, after which Varthaman began to run while firing warning shots. During this chase, Varthaman reportedly fell into a stream, where he was pinned down by locals to prevent him from using a weapon. At this point, Varthaman attemped to swallow some documents. Locals were able to pull away some of these documents. As some locals starting to physically beat Varthaman, Pakistani soldiers arrived to rescue him from further assault.[12][11]

The following day, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that an Indian pilot was missing in action after a MiG-21 Bison fighter plane was lost while engaging with Pakistani jets.[13][14][15]

Photos & Videos

Photos of the wreckage of Varthaman's MiG-21 was quickly shared on social media by local eyewitnesses.[16] These photos were substantiated as the wreckage of a MiG-21 by Veli-Pekka Kivimäki from Finnish National Defence University and published on Bellingcat.[17]

Videos and images released by Pakistani authorities showed Varthaman being interrogated while tied and blindfolded with a bloody face.[12] Another showed him being further interrogated over tea.[12] The media received mixed reception with some criticising them as a "vulgar display" whilst others praised the intervention of the Pakistani soldiers when Varthaman was in the hands of the mob.[citation needed] The release of these videos is suspected of being a violation of the Geneva Conventions and were deleted by Pakistani authorities after they went viral.[18]

Repatriation and subsequent developments

Wagha border

On 28 February 2019, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan announced while addressing a joint sitting of the Parliament of Pakistan that the government had decided to release Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman the next day as a "gesture of peace".[19] A petition that was filed before the Islamabad High Court seeking an injunction to stop his release was however dismissed by the court the same day.[20] Varthaman crossed the India-Pakistan border at Wagah on 1 March 2019.[21][22][23]

Talking to BBC Urdu, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan said that his government announced the release of the IAF Wing Commander out of a desire for peace and there was no compulsion or pressure on Pakistan; as was implied by the Indian media.[24]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the release of Abhinandan at a political rally in his home state, suggesting the nation was proud of him.[25]

Hours before his release, a fresh video was released to the Pakistani media which showed Varthaman praising the Pakistani army while criticizing the Indian media. This video appeared to be heavily edited. The IAF later claimed that the video was shot under duress through "mental harassment".[26][27][28][29]

A medical check-up upon his return found that he had multiple bruises and a fractured rib but no 'significant injuries'.[30]

Moustache

Varthaman's moustache has become trendy in India. It is a combination of a classic gunslinger moustache and mutton chop beard. It is now widely called the "Abhinandan" in India.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ "#Abhinandan विंग कमांडर अभिनंदन के बारे में अब तक ये पता है". BBC.
  2. ^ Dawn.com (28 February 2019). "2 Indian aircraft violating Pakistani airspace shot down; 2 pilots arrested". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Saved From Pakistani Mob, Downed Indian Pilot Becomes Face of Kashmir Crisis". The New York Times. 27 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Pakistan hands back captured Indian pilot". 1 March 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  5. ^ "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman trained at IAF, Tambaram". Deccan Chronicle. 28 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Pilot Abhinandan Profile, Family, All you need to know about IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman". www.timesnownews.com.
  7. ^ "Cheers, Claps For Pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's Parents On Flight To Delhi". NDTV. 1 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Profile of a true HERO – All you need to know about Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman". Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Abhinandan Varthaman carries a legacy of courage, grace, valour". India Today. 1 March 2019.
  10. ^ a b c Khan, M. Ilyas (1 March 2019). "Fighter pilot 'opened fire' before capture" – via www.bbc.com.
  11. ^ a b "Abhinandan raised slogans, tried to destroy documents just before being captured in Pak (BBC Hindi)". 28 February 2019 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ a b c Gettleman, Jeffrey; Raj, Suhasini (1 March 2019). "Pakistan Frees Indian Pilot Who Was Beaten by a Mob and Then Served Tea" – via NYTimes.com.
  13. ^ "India-Pak Tensions LIVE: IAF Wing Commander Missing After MiG-21 Crash, Pakistan Claims He is in Their Custody, Says Govt". News18. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  14. ^ Khan, M. Ilyas (1 March 2019). "Fighter pilot 'opened fire' before capture" – via www.bbc.com.
  15. ^ Feb 27, Thomson Reuters · Posted:; February 27, 2019 6:39 PM ET. "Saved from a Pakistani mob, a downed Indian pilot becomes the face of the Kashmir crisis". CBC. {{cite news}}: |first1= has generic name (help); Text "CBC News" ignored (help); Text "Last Updated:" ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ https://twitter.com/ayazgul64/status/1100671056904376327
  17. ^ Kivimäki, y Veli-Pekka (2 March 2019). "Falcon vs Bison: Verifying a MiG-21 Wreck". Bellingcat.
  18. ^ Casiano, Louis (27 February 2019). "Pakistan may have violated Geneva Conventions after posting video of captured pilot". Fox News.
  19. ^ "PM announces release of Indian pilot Abhinandan as 'peace gesture'". Ary News. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  20. ^ "IHC dismisses petition challenging release of Indian pilot". The Express Tribune. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  21. ^ Dawn.com (1 March 2019). "Captured IAF pilot handed over to officials in Delhi". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  22. ^ "Abhinandan: Captured Indian pilot handed back by Pakistan". BBC News.
  23. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey; Raj, Suhasini (1 March 2019). "Pakistan Frees Indian Pilot Who Was Beaten by a Mob and Then Served Tea". The New York Times.
  24. ^ Dawn.com (2 March 2019). "No compulsion or pressure to release Abhinandan, did it for peace: Qureshi". DAWN. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  25. ^ "PM Modi welcomes IAF pilot Abhinandan, says 'nation proud of your exemplary courage'". The Times of India. 1 March 2019.
  26. ^ "Subjected to mental harassment by ISI, says IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan - News - Times of India Videos". The Times of India.
  27. ^ "Abhinandan's video was recorded in captivity under duress: IAF - Times of India". The Times of India.
  28. ^ "Pakistan's propaganda video of Indian pilot Abhinandan had at least 16 cuts".
  29. ^ "Abhinandan Varthaman Says He Was Mentally Harassed In Pakistan: Report". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  30. ^ Gurung, Shaurya Karanbir (2 March 2019). "Abhinandan is back but with a rib fracture and some bruises". The Economic Times.
  31. ^ CNN, Manveena Suri. "Indian pilot returns home a hero and sparks mustache trend". CNN. Retrieved 4 March 2019. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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