Operation Vadhi Pahar
Operation Vadhi Pahar, also referred to as Bolowali Encouter was a military operation by the Indian army to kill Seetal Singh Mattewal on 11–12 September 1991. Even though Seetal Singh Mattewal was finally killed, the Indian army suffered heavy casualties and loss of vehicles. It took the Indian army between 30 and 48 hours to achieve success over 5 Sikhs.
| Operation Vadhi Pahar | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Insurgency in Punjab | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Dashmesh Regiment | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Seetal Singh Mattewal † Tarsem Singh † Gurdial Singh † Gurmukh Singh † Gurnam Singh † |
P. V. Narasimha Rao Jagjivan Ram | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
5 Kharkus
|
12,000 army Unknown amount of Bulletproof Tractors Unknown amount of Chemical Bombs Several mounted vehicles | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| All killed |
"Thousands" 4 Bulletproof Tractors destroyed | ||||||
Background
Seetal Singh Mattewal created a Sikh militant group named Dashmesh Regiment in 1990 and was its chief.[1] In 1991, the Indian army decided to kill him and started Operation Vadhi Pahar.[2] In late 1991 Seetal Singh had an encounter with Sukhwinder Singh Pappu in which it was rumoured that he was injured badly. A meeting was held at Delhi in which it was decided that it is best to either arrest or kill Seetal Singh Mattewal.[3]
Operation
On September 11, 1991, it had been 14 hours since Seetal Singh and his four Sikhs had eaten. They were testing their weapons when they spotted the Indian security forces with several mounted vehicles.[4] One of the sisters of the Sikhs fed them and was told to seek safety. When she was escaping, an Indian member caught her and began to question and harass her. Feeling disgusted, the Sikhs fired at the army.[5] After getting confirmation of Seetal Singh's presence more soldiers were requested. At first, the battle was just an exchange of bullets, which led to heavy casualties for the Indian army. After this, the Indian army thought of using bombs. After this failed the army brought in bulletproof tractors but even they were repulsed. The last tactic used was the chemical bombs which also didn't work. After fighting for nearly 2 full days, the Indian army finally managed to kill Seetal Singh but suffered casualties in the thousands.[6][7][3]
Aftermath
After this bloody encounter, soldiers were sent to Seetal Singh's house. Here they beat up and arrested the Singh's 2 younger brothers and wife. After the arrest of these people, it is said that they were never seen again. This operation was a victory for the Indians but only with a big cost of life.[5][3]
References
- Bakke, Kristin M. (2015-06-04). Decentralization and Intrastate Struggles. Cambridge University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-107-09438-3.
- Nike, Aneela. "Special Operations by Indian Forces". Aneela Nike. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ਖਾੜਕੂ ਯੋਧੇ in Punjabi by Maninder Singh Baja
- "Fifth Battle- Bolowali 5 VS 12,000". thesikhdaily.com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- "Bolowali Encounter". 1984tribute.cim. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- Haksar, Parmeshwar Narain (2004). Haksar Memorial Volume: Challenges for nation building in a world in turmoil : papers presented at the Fourth Haksar Memorial Seminar-cum-Lecture Series on Nation Building, development Process, Communication, and Governance organized by CRRID from 9-15 November 2005. Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development. p. 99. ISBN 978-81-85835-51-8.
- Judge, Paramjit S. (2005). Religion, Identity, and Nationhood: The Sikh Militant Movement. Rawat Publications. p. 210. ISBN 978-81-7033-949-6.
