Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon

Did you know that there are 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees out of which 1 is from Indian Air Force.

Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, PVC was an officer of the Indian Air Force. He was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India’s highest military decoration during war time, in recognition of his lone defense of Srinagar Air Base against a Pakistan Air Force air raid during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Personal Details

Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon was born on 17 July 1945 in the village of Iswal. His father was Tarlock Singh Sekhon.

The Battle

On 14 December 1971 there was a Pakistani raid on No.  18 Squadron. The officers who took off to defend the unit were Flight Lt. Ghuman and Flying Officer Sekhon. At 0800 Hours both men were ready for take-off. Two pairs of bombs blasted on the runway behind Sekhon. Sekhon right away began tailing two Sabres and started to fire at them. Sabres were Pakistani Fighter Planes. At first the Sekhon could only see 4 Sabres but there were 6 Sabres the other two were circling overhead. When the Indian side had the upper hand, those two Sabres swooped down, and a dogfight took place.  But they shot Sekhon’s Gnat (Gnats were the Indian Fighter Planes). The brave Indian officer tried to parachute but the Gnat had already lost altitude and the parachute didn’t deploy and BAM! But his bravery had scared the Pakistanis so much, that they flew back home.

Sekhon body wasn’t found only the Gnat was found, or what was left of it. This is how the brave soldier defended the Srinagar Air post at the cost of his own life.

He sacrificed his life for millions

But his memories are in zillions

His offering didn’t go in vain,

As freedom came for Bangladesh