No memorial for errant pilots

JORHAT: The people of Tekelagaon, in the outskirts of Jorhat, have been denied permission to build a memorial to honour the five Indian Air Force pilots who died in November 1977 when the aircraft carrying the then Prime Minister, Moraji Desai, crash-landed on a paddy field at the village.
Since a ‘human error’ had led to the incident, as per the rules of the IF, the pilots could not be accorded the status of martyrs.
Former Arunachal chief minister, PK Thungon, former intelligence bureau chief John Lobo and Moraji Desai’s son were also on board of the plane, TU-124 jet V-643 Pushpak (a gift from Russia to Jawaharlal Nehru).
Villagers led by Indeswar Baruah had rescued Desai and others. After the incident the village was renamed Desai Nagar and villagers had requested the IAF authorities to build a community hall along with a memorial to honour the pilots.However, the request did not materialise till date.
Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Ravi Kota told TNN on Monday that he had taken up the matter with the top IAF authorities who ex-plained that their hands were tied as inquiry had revealed that human error had caused the accident.
Kota said the villagers used to perform a shradh ceremony(death anniversary) for the pilots every year on November 4, and did not even celebrate last year’s Diwali, which was on the same date.
The five pilots belonging to the elite communications squadron of the IAF were: Wing Commander Clarence D’Lima, Wing Commander Joginder Singh, Squadron Leader Mathew Cyriac, Squadron Leader VVS Sankar and Flight Lieutenant O P Arora.
Kota said he had written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) about the plight of septuagenarian Indeswar Baruah, who was in his seventies and suffering from multiple ailments. The PMO last week had sent Rs 1.5 lakh to the Jorhat deputy commissioner to be handed over to Baruah for his medical expenses.
Kota said the cheque would be given to Baruah soon.