- NET Web Desk
‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaal’ – the flame that symbolizes India’s victory over Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak War, arrived at Tripura with military honors on November 5, 2021.
The cavalcade escorting the “victory flame” was welcomed in by hundreds of students and Gymnast Dipa Karmakar with great enthusiasm on its way to Agartala.
According to the Indian Army statement, Agartala was the launchpad for Operation Cactus Lilly and the epicentre of military and political strategic planning for the Bangladesh liberation war.
It will be received with full military honour at 57 Mountain Artillery Brigade tomorrow, i.e., on November 6, and will be brought to Rabindra Bhawan following a Vijay Prarikrama in the city.
Artillery Brigade is scheduled to organize a commemorative event in the city including a cultural show, combined forces brand display, and military equipment display along with felicitation of Veer Naris – who laid down their lives for the nation, and veterans of Bangladesh liberation war.
The victory flame will bid adieu to Agartala on Nov 9 next after it is honoured by 21 Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police.
The arrival of the victory flame in Agartala was marked by the wreath-laying ceremony wherein a homage was paid to the martyrs of the 1971 war by civil-military dignitaries at Albert Ekka War Memorial here.
On December 15, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lit the ‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaal’ from the eternal flame of the National War Memorial in New Delhi, marking the beginning of the 50th anniversary year celebrations of India’s victory over Pakistan in 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 December 3, 1971 to the fall of Dhaka on 16 December 1971.
The war commenced when Pakistan launched air strikes on 11 Indian airbases, perhaps the first time in which India’s all three forces – Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force fought in unison.
India quickly responded to Pakistan Army’s movements in the west and captured around 15,010 kilometres of Pakistan territory.
The war ended after the chief of the Pakistani forces, General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with 93,000 troops, surrendered to the joint forces of Indian Army, and Bangladesh’s Mukti Bahini.
