Sqn Ldr Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Ajay Ahuja ( – ) was a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

who was killed during the

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1999. His

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...

was hit by a

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

fired by the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

near the town of

Kargil Kargil ( lbj, ) is a city and a joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is also the headquarters of the Kargil district. It is the second-largest city in Ladakh after Leh. Kargil is located to the east of Srinagar in Jam ...

in the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Ajay Ahuja ejected from the aircraft and parachuted to the ground. According to Indian claims, Ahuja was alive upon his landing before he was captured and subsequently killed by Pakistan troops; these claims have been rejected by Pakistan. A post-mortem report conducted on Ahuja's body after it was recovered and returned to India showed that he had a fractured knee alongside two fatal bullet wounds to his head and chest. Reports by the

Indian media The Indian media consists of several different types of communications of mass media: television, radio, Cinema of India, cinema, Newspaper, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Websites/portals. Indian media was active since the late 18th ...

of Ahuja's capture and killing by Pakistani troops during the conflict sparked a major uproar within India.

Early life and military career

Ajay Ahuja was born on 22 May 1963 in Kota,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

. He did his schooling from Saint Paul's Senior Secondary School, Mala Road Kota, a renowned missionary school for boys. He graduated from the Indian National Defence Academy and was commissioned as a

in the

on 14 June 1985. Ahuja was promoted to the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

on 14 June 1996. As a fighter pilot, he toured on the

and the

MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generatio ...

fighter aircraft, and gained instructional flying experience of over 1,000 hours that was spent teaching ''ab-initio'' pilots. In 1997, Ahuja was posted to the

Killi Bhisiana Airbase Killi ( ar, كللي) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northwest of Idlib. It is situated just west of the A'la Mountains. Nearby localities include Kaftin to the southeast, Maarrat al-Ik ...

Bhatinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. Shortly after his assignment to the role of flight commander with the No. 17 Squadron, the

had broken out between India and

in 1999.

Kargil War and shoot-down by Pakistani forces

On 27 May 1999, as part of ''Operation Safed Sagar'' during

, Sqn Ldr Ahuja was undertaking a photo reconnaissance mission. Another member of the mission,

Flt Lt Nachiketa Group Captain Kambampati Nachiketa Rao, VM is a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. While carrying out an Airstrike on Pakistani positions in Batalik sector during the Kargil War, he was shot down and captured on 27 May 1999 by a Paki ...

ejected from his

MiG-27 The Mikoyan MiG-27 (russian: Микоян МиГ-27; NATO reporting name: Flogger-D/J) is a variable-sweep ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union and later licence-produced in India ...

L after an engine

flame out In aviation, a flameout (or flame-out) is the run-down of a jet engine or other turbine engine due to the extinction of the flame in its combustor. The loss of flame can have a variety of causes, such as fuel starvation, excessive altitude, comp ...

. Sqn Ldr Ahuja stayed over enemy positions to help the rescue attempts knowing full well the existence of enemy

s in the area. However, his

MF fighter, C-1539, was hit by a shoulder-fired

FIM-92 Stinger The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters as the Air-to- ...

. Ahuja gave a radio call – ''"Hercules, something has hit my plane, possibility of missile hit cannot be ruled out, I am ejecting over...(location)."''. IAF authorities lost track of his aircraft and all communication shortly afterward.

Circumstances of death

According to the data released by the Indian Air Force, Ahuja's aircraft had crossed the ''Line of Control'', a ceasefire line and pseudo-border agreed upon by

and

in the early 1970s to maintain status quo in Kashmir. It is claimed by Indian Air force that he was killed by Pakistani Soldiers after landed safely as his post-mortem report says that he had two fatal bullet injuries and fractured knee which was caused when he landed after ejection (shows that he was alive when landed), but these claims were strictly rejected by Pakistan. Sqn Ldr Ahuja's body would be recovered by the men of the 10th Battalion of the

Garhwal Rifles The Garhwal Rifles, formerly known as the Royal Garhwal Rifles, are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. It then became part of the British Indian Army, and a ...

Reaction and aftermath

On 15 June 1999, Deputy High Commissioner of the Pakistani Embassy in New Delhi was summoned and a notice for the breach of Geneva conventions was submitted for the torture and killing of the prisoners of War during the Kargil War. The Government of India also lodged a protest with Pakistan's High Commissioner, accusing the Pakistani paramilitary forces of having fired at Ajay while still descending in his parachute. Pakistani authorities denied the accusations and suggested Ahuja was killed due to accidental injuries during the ejection or landing. No further investigations were carried out by either government nor impartial, outside entities and the case remains unresolved.

Return and cremation

On 29 May 1999, Ahuja's body was flown to a local Air Force station by the Indian Air Force. Angry public demonstrations broke out there, at his cremation, and near the Pakistani embassy in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Commemoration

Ahuja remains a great hero for Indians, and his widow and family are often honoured guests at patriotic public events and official ceremonies. The family received much support from Government authorities and Indian political leaders, as well as emotional and financial support from people across India. A statue of Ahuja was constructed by the Bhatinda-Muktsar road. On 15 August 1999, India's 52nd anniversary of Independence, Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja was posthumously awarded the

Vir Chakra Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy on the battlefield and is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards a ...

, one of India's highest gallantry honours for military personnel.

References

;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahuja, Ajay Indian Air Force officers Indian aviators People of the Kargil War Recipients of the Vir Chakra 1963 births 1999 deaths People from Kota, Rajasthan Sindhi people Indian military personnel killed in action Aviators killed by being shot down