Unmindful of the scores of issues which keep our country divided, men and women of the IAF toil relentlessly to assure the nation of their readiness to help and support. This is the sum and substance of its contribution towards building a strong, vibrant and prosperous India.

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Winston Churchill’s observation at the height of the Battle of Britain in September 1940 has become a part of folklore. World War II had been raging for a year. The British Expeditionary Force sent to Europe to foil German advance had been beaten back. France lay prostrate and Great Britain was staring into the abyss. Blocking the advance of the relentless German juggernaut stood the fighter pilots of the British Royal Air Force (RAF). Finally, Britain survived because the RAF stood its ground against all odds with grim determination. Britain has not forgotten. Nearly 70 years after the event, they still observe September 15 every year as the Battle of Britain Day to pay homage to ‘the few’. Most members of the royal family wear the RAF uniform as a badge of honour.

RAF’s sacrifices to save Britain are inscribed in golden letters in British history. It would be an exaggeration to claim that independent India has ever been threatened with a similar catastrophe as would have befallen the British had Hitler succeeded in storming the British shores in 1940. However, that is not to say that independent India hasn’t found itself on the crossroads more than once when decisive action by the Indian Air Force (IAF) saved the day. Not too long after partition, we were faced with the tribal invasion of Kashmir. With the marauding tribesmen looting and burning town after town in the Valley, it was a race against time to save Srinagar. The ground forces had barely mobilised before the raiders were knocking at Srinagar’s doors.

Had it not been for a heroic airlift effort by the only Dakota Squadron of the IAF under the most challenging circumstances, perhaps history would have taken a different turn. Similarly, in 1965 had the air force not intervened decisively to halt Pakistan armour in its tracks in Chhamb, the story of the war and its consequences could have taken a different twist. In 1971, the brilliant strategy of the Indian Army succeeded because swift mobility in riverine terrain of Bangladesh provided by the air force enabled the Indian troops to storm Dhaka in a matter of two weeks—a feat unparalleled in the annals of military history. These are but few instances from Indian history as an independent nation to illustrate the decisive role that IAF has played in conflict situations.

But it is not as if the IAF comes into its own only when the nation is at war or on the verge of it. By training hard and maintaining a credible, forceful posture during peace time, the air force deters mischievous intent of hostile adversaries. In the calm and peaceful environment citizens can go about their normal activities without external hindrance.

Peace Time Relief

In peace time, the air force also continues to play on a day-today basis specialised roles for which only it is equipped and trained. Given the sub-continental extent of the country, the state of its infrastructure, the myriad pockets of lawlessness and proneness to sudden crisis of one kind or another (both natural as well as man-made), demands for immediate relief are a regular feature of our national life. Since the air force has the necessary resources, training and, above all, the readiness to respond instantaneously, some of its elements are always on short call. It could be a sudden requirement to airlift paramilitary forces to control a critical situation in the Srinagar valley or rampaging mobs in some other volatile corner of the country. Rescuing marooned villagers from vast stretches of flood prone plains is of course an annual feature and hardly attracts any attention. One could argue that that is the very purpose for which an air force exists. But among these seemingly routine peace time activities, some still stand out in bold relief.

Think back to the Bhuj earthquake in January 2001. Within a few minutes, a shocker measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale had devastated a vast swathe of territory in Gujarat. Bhuj resembled ground zero. IAF Station Bhuj also bore the full brunt of the catastrophe. Air Traffic Control building and the officer’s Mess collapsed like a house of cards as did residential accommodation. Overall, the air force station, the city as well as the surrounding villages were a scene of utter devastation. The quake had also severed all road links with the outside world. Therefore, if there was to be any relief, Bhuj airbase could not go off the air. With excavation of buried personnel and their families from under the rubble still in progress, Air Force Station Bhuj lifted itself by the bootstraps, put together some basic infrastructure and made itself fit to start receiving relief aircraft round-the-clock from all over the world. No greater inspiring tales of courage, fortitude and what it means to do one’s duty under all circumstances can be found so effortlessly anywhere. IAF history books are replete with similar stories. In a general environment choked with tales of dishonesty, greed, self-promotion and skulduggery of every other description, such selfless acts of heroism shine as beacons of hope to youth starved of inspiration or example to shape their lives.

India they say is an ancient land but a relatively young nation. It was our shared experience of being exploited as colonised people which brought us on a common platform for the freedom struggle. However, sadly, even 62 years after Independence, we have yet to find that elusive sense of ‘Indianness’ that transcends our narrow linguistic, cast or regional identities. Perhaps this was to be expected considering the bewildering variety of ingredients that had been thrown into the melting pot to forge our nation and the nature of politics that has followed during the ensuing years. However, notwithstanding some monumental failures, it would be fair to say that the unique Indian experiment has been remarkably successful. We have not only survived with our brand of democracy intact, but are even flourishing by many standards. But, we do have miles to go before our citizens can consider themselves fulfilled aspirationally and thus feel proud of their Indianness.

What is it that saps our nation’s energies and holds us back from flourishing to our full potential? The answers are not far to seek. Undoubtedly, there are some resource constraints. There are huge demands on the country’s scarce resources which leaves several plans unfulfilled. But if we really dredge the bottom, it is the abysmal value that we derive from our vast treasure of human resources that really lies at the heart of our poverty. Indian youth that constitutes our real national wealth and which ought to dream big is today frustrated by an overbearing system. This debilitating goliath obscures all avenues of hope and progress. Instead, it constantly weighs all aspirations down with a variety of burdens. In their most productive years youth see themselves as faceless entities in a mob, with no purpose other than making a brief splash before disappearing once again in the anonymity of the crowd.

Consolidating Nationhood

At the societal level we remain a house divided against itself. Caste, religion, language and a host of other identities are deeply entrenched in our psyche and our petty politicians exploit it to the hilt. Incitement of narrow sectarian loyalties at the expense of an all encompassing national identity is the bane of our politics. There is no gainsaying that strong psychological glue is needed to forge a people into a nation. It is for this reason that in their march towards consolidating their nationhood, people search their history to create symbols, myths, institutions and such other paraphernalia which they can share and identify themselves with at a deeply emotional level. So evolves a symbiotic relationship between the nation and its constituents and amongst the constituents themselves. Thus the glow of outstanding achievement of one rubs off on all extending the horizon of possibilities as all grow in confidence in step with each other. This is the essential brick and mortar of nation building.

In this general setting, what role does the IAF play towards nation building? The answers are obvious. Firstly, by presenting a live model in which narrow sectarian, regional, religious and a host of other conflicting identities are successfully subsumed in a larger national identity with a noble purpose, they represent the ideal that our constitution aspires to. The organisational nuts and bolts that make this outcome a reality are worthy of emulation. Secondly, by setting high professional standards recognised by its peers all over the world, the air force brings credit to itself and in turn to the nation which induces a surge of pride in being an Indian. Thus, when two intrepid air force aviators (Wing Commander S.K. Sharma and Flight Lieutenant A.B. Dhanake) rescue three injured mountaineers from a world record height of 23,260 ft and get inducted in the ‘Aviation Hall of Fame’ by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum of the US as “the most outstanding achievers in aviation operations for 2004”, it add a few dollops of joy and pride in every Indian’s heart to be called an Indian.