HYDERABAD: It was a chilly morning in Patna when then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi received a call informing him about the coup in Maldives. On Sunday, 30 years ago, India shot into global limelight when it intervened into a coup by the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) who tried to overthrow Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
Group Captain Ashok K Chordia, Lieutenant General K Ramachandra Rao and Wing Commander Unni Kartha, who were all part of this mission, recalled their experiences in a meeting in the city. The PLOTE, backed by Maldivian businessman Abdulla Luthufi, mounted a coup in the country. “The PM was at Patna at that time.
As soon as he returned to New Delhi at around 11.30 am, his first question was: Should we do this? This can happen in our country someday and it is in our interest to protect them,” said Chordia
The paratroopers belonging to the 44 Squadron of the Indian Air Force left from Agra Air Force Station at 6 pm. They were later asked to head for an airport in Hulhule, an island near Male.
However, there was no way to know whether the airport was in the control of rebels. “A code word was decided. If we say “hudiya”, and get back “hudiya”, it meant that the coast was clear.” It was 11:30 PM when the paratroopers landed in Hulhule. The first wave contained around 200 paratroopers. “When we landed, the rebels could make out only our silhouette in the dark.
They thought we were around 1,600 and we realised that their strength was just around 80. They killed 19 people and took hostages.”The Indian troops went from Hulhule to Male on a boat and secured the President inside the National Security Services building in the capital. Meanwhile, the rebels took off in a civilian boat. The INS Betwa set sail from Cochin, INS Godavari and INS TIR were diverted from elsewhere, in a bid to stop them from escaping. The Indian ships, fired on the rebel ship forcing the rebels to surrender.”
India’s intervention uncalled for: Retd Wing Commander
“The fallout from India’s intervention into the Maldives has been disastrous,” retired Wing Commander (retd) Unni Kartha said on Sunday, while recounting how Indian paratroopers rescued then Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom from an attempted coup in 1988. “It is shameful. We have scared away our neighbours.
What good did we get by becoming a superpower?” Kartha questioned. He indicated that India should not have got in the middle of the issue to “project itself in the global limelight”. His contention was that India should prioritise the matters within the country before getting concerned with the developments outside. Kartha was commissioned as a pilot in IAF prior to 1971 war.