1971 war hero, IAF Gp Capt Parulkar, who led daring escape from Pakistani captivity, passes away
The Indian Air Force, in a post on X, announced the passing of Group Captain Parulkar (Retd), known for his extraordinary courage and leadership in orchestrating a daring escape from a Pakistani prisoner-of-war (POW) camp.
IAF in its post expressed profound condolences, hailing him as an embodiment of unmatched ingenuity and pride in the force.
'Gp Capt DK Parulkar (Retd) VM, VSM -- 1971 War hero, who led a daring escape from captivity in Pakistan, embodying unmatched courage, ingenuity & pride in the IAF -- has left for his heavenly abode. All Air Warriors of the IAF express their heartfelt condolences,' the IAF Media Coordination Centre stated in the post.
The IAF in its post outlined Parulkar's illustrious career, which began in March 1963 when he was commissioned into the IAF.
He held various key appointments, including as a Flying Instructor at the Air Force Academy and a two-year deputation to Singapore. He also served on the ground tenure as Battalion Commander at the National Defence Academy.
His valour was prominently displayed during the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict, where his aircraft was hit by enemy fire, injuring his right shoulder. Defying advice to eject, he skilfully flew the crippled plane back to base, earning him the Vayu Sena Medal for his bravery.
The pinnacle of Parulkar's heroism came during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Captured and held as a POW in Pakistan, he demonstrated exceptional initiative and national pride by leading an escape attempt with two colleagues.
This act, carried out amid hostile conditions, required relentless hard work, determination, and valour in the highest tradition of the IAF. It compelled the enemy to respect the calibre of the IAF not only in the air but on the ground as well. For this distinguished service, the President awarded him the Vishisht Sena Medal.
Parulkar's legacy as a symbol of resilience and patriotism has inspired generations of air warriors. His daring escape remains a celebrated chapter in India's military history, underscoring the indomitable spirit of the IAF during one of the nation's defining conflicts. (ANI)
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Malaysia Sun
3 days ago
- Malaysia Sun
1971 war hero, IAF Gp Capt Parulkar, who led daring escape from Pakistani captivity, passes away
New Delhi [India], August 10 (ANI): A revered hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak War, Group Captain Dilip Kamalkar Parulkar (Retd), passed away on Sunday, the Indian Air Force stated. The Indian Air Force, in a post on X, announced the passing of Group Captain Parulkar (Retd), known for his extraordinary courage and leadership in orchestrating a daring escape from a Pakistani prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. IAF in its post expressed profound condolences, hailing him as an embodiment of unmatched ingenuity and pride in the force. 'Gp Capt DK Parulkar (Retd) VM, VSM -- 1971 War hero, who led a daring escape from captivity in Pakistan, embodying unmatched courage, ingenuity & pride in the IAF -- has left for his heavenly abode. All Air Warriors of the IAF express their heartfelt condolences,' the IAF Media Coordination Centre stated in the post. The IAF in its post outlined Parulkar's illustrious career, which began in March 1963 when he was commissioned into the IAF. He held various key appointments, including as a Flying Instructor at the Air Force Academy and a two-year deputation to Singapore. He also served on the ground tenure as Battalion Commander at the National Defence Academy. His valour was prominently displayed during the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict, where his aircraft was hit by enemy fire, injuring his right shoulder. Defying advice to eject, he skilfully flew the crippled plane back to base, earning him the Vayu Sena Medal for his bravery. The pinnacle of Parulkar's heroism came during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Captured and held as a POW in Pakistan, he demonstrated exceptional initiative and national pride by leading an escape attempt with two colleagues. This act, carried out amid hostile conditions, required relentless hard work, determination, and valour in the highest tradition of the IAF. It compelled the enemy to respect the calibre of the IAF not only in the air but on the ground as well. For this distinguished service, the President awarded him the Vishisht Sena Medal. Parulkar's legacy as a symbol of resilience and patriotism has inspired generations of air warriors. His daring escape remains a celebrated chapter in India's military history, underscoring the indomitable spirit of the IAF during one of the nation's defining conflicts. (ANI)
Malay Mail
3 days ago
- Malay Mail
Khartoum families finally lay war dead to rest as volunteers exhume makeshift graves
KHARTOUM, Aug 10 — In Sudan's war-scarred capital Khartoum, Red Crescent volunteers have begun the grisly task of exhuming the dead from makeshift plots where they were buried during the fighting so their families can give them a proper funeral. Teams of workers in dust-streaked white hazmat suits comb vacant lots, looking for the spots where survivors say they buried their loved ones. Mechanical diggers peel back layers of earth under the watchful eye of Hisham Zein al-Abdeen, head of the city's forensic medicine department. 'We're finding graves everywhere—in front of homes, inside schools and mosques,' he told AFP, surveying the scene. 'Every day we discover new ones.' Here, in the southern neighbourhood of Al-Azhari, families buried their loved ones wherever they could, as fighting raged between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). When war broke out in April 2023, the RSF quickly swept through Khartoum, occupying entire districts as residents fled air and artillery bombardments and street fighting. In March, the army and its allies recaptured the capital in a fierce offensive. It is only now, after the front lines of the conflict moved elsewhere, that bereaved families can give their loved ones a proper burial. 'Proper burial' 'My daughter was only 12,' said Jawaher Adam, standing by a shallow makeshift grave, tears streaming down her face. 'I had only sent her out to buy shoes when she died. We couldn't take her to the cemetery. We buried her in the neighbourhood,' she told AFP. Months on, Adam has come to witness her daughter's reburial—this time, she says, with dignity. Each body is disinfected, wrapped and labelled by Red Crescent volunteers before being transported to Al-Andalus cemetery, 10 kilometres (six miles) away. 'It's painful,' said Adam, 'but to honour the dead is to give them a proper burial.' Many of the war's deadliest battlegrounds have been densely populated residential districts, often without access to hospitals to care for the wounded or count the dead. That has made it nearly impossible to establish a firm death toll for the war. Former US envoy Tom Perriello has said that some estimates suggest up to 150,000 people were killed in the conflict's first year alone. In the capital, more than 61,000 people died during the first 14 months of war -- a 50 percent increase on the pre-war death rate—according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Of those deaths, 26,000 were attributed to violence. Members of the Sudanese Red Crescent carry in a bag the exhumed remains of a person from a makeshift grave for reburial in the local cemetery in Khartoum's southern suburb of al-Azhari on August 2, 2025 after the dead were buried in a rush when the area was under control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries. — AFP pic 'Tip of the iceberg' At first glance, the vacant lot in Al-Azhari where Red Crescent volunteers are digging seems to be full of litter—pieces of wood, bricks, an old signpost. Look more closely, however, and it becomes clear they have been placed in straight lines, each one marking a makeshift grave. Volunteers exhumed 317 graves in that one lot, Zein al-Abdeen said. Similar mass graves have been uncovered across the capital, he said, with 2,000 bodies reburied so far. But his team estimates there could be 10,000 bodies buried in makeshift graves across the city. At the exhumation site, grieving mothers watch on silently, their hands clasped tightly to their chest. They, like Adam, are among the lucky few who know where their loved ones are buried. Many do not. At least 8,000 people were reported missing in Sudan last year, in what the International Committee of the Red Cross says is only 'the tip of the iceberg'. For now, authorities label unclaimed bodies, and keep their details on file. With the bodies now exhumed, the community can have some degree of closure, and the vacant lot can be repurposed. 'Originally, this site was designated as a school,' said Youssef Mohamed al-Amin, executive director of Jebel Awliya district. 'We're moving the bodies so it can serve its original purpose.' The United Nations estimates that up to two million people may return to Khartoum state by the end of the year—but much depends on whether security and basic services can be restored. Before the war, greater Khartoum was home to nine million people, according to the UN Development Programme, but the conflict has displaced at least 3.5 million. For now, much of the capital remains without power or running water, as hospitals and schools lie in ruins — AFP
The Star
06-08-2025
- The Star
Series of mistakes caused Titan sub disaster, US Coast Guard says
The Coast Guard's final report on the submersible that imploded during a dive to the Titanic concluded that the fatal disaster resulted from a series of safety and design failures. 'This marine casualty and the loss of five lives was preventable,' said Jason Neubauer, who led the two-year inquiry for the Marine Board of Investigation, which issued a more than 300-page report on Aug 5. The submersible, known as the Titan and operated by a company called OceanGate, disappeared in June 2023 on a trip to view the wreck of the Titanic ocean liner. It lost contact an hour and a half into the dive, and prompted a sprawling search effort in the dark depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The craft's remains were discovered on the fourth day by a remotely operated vehicle. The submersible's operator and four passengers were killed. Numerous investigations, hearings and news reports have documented failures in the submersible's construction and operation, which were echoed by the Coast Guard report. 'The board determined the primary contributing factors were OceanGate's inadequate design, certification, maintenance and inspection process for the Titan,' the investigative board said in a news release. The five people killed in the implosion were the operator, Stockton Rush, as well as explorers Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet and two members of a wealthy Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood. Here are takeaways from the report. The Titan's final moments seemed normal. The Titan's final voyage on June 18, 2023, proceeded largely without incident until the submersible nearly reached the ocean floor, the report found. At 10.47am, as the submersible was approaching the seabed, the report said it 'followed standard procedure by releasing ballast weights to slow its descent'. Seconds later, at a depth of 10,978 feet, the Titan transmitted its location for the final time. Within moments, the submersible's carbon fiber hull gave way, catastrophically imploding under the immense pressure, the report found. The board's report said the passengers 'were exposed to approximately 4,930 pounds per square inch of water pressure' when the vessel imploded, 'resulting in the instantaneous death of all five occupants.' The implosion was heard at the surface. Seconds after the submersible imploded, OceanGate employees aboard the submersible's support ship, the Polar Prince, heard a 'bang' from the ocean's surface, the board found. After hearing the noise, the leader of the submersible's communications and tracking team turned to another OceanGate employee and asked, 'What was that bang?' according to the report. Subsequent messages to the Titan's crew went unreturned. 'With the benefit of hindsight, I now believe I felt the Polar Prince shudder at around the time communications were reportedly lost, but at the time we thought nothing of it,' the master of the Polar Prince later wrote to the board. He added that the disturbance 'was slight'. OceanGate pilots lacked adequate training. The report found that OceanGate lacked adequate protocols to ensure its submersible pilots, including Rush, were sufficiently trained to lead undersea expeditions. OceanGate's former director of operations told the board that there was 'no official documentation' required for OceanGate's submersible pilots, and that the company didn't have a dedicated manual for pilots operating the Titan submersible, the report said. Additionally, the board found no evidence showing that Rush had completed any training programme specific to the submersible that would have met the company's standards for its highest pilot training certification. OceanGate gave false information to the Coast Guard. At the time of the Titan's final dive, Rush possessed a credential issued by the US Coast Guard that permitted him to operate vessels of a certain volume on inland waters. That credential was based on falsified information, the report said: In 2020, OceanGate exaggerated the volume of the Titan in a letter to the National Maritime Center so that it would appear as if Rush had the requisite time at sea needed to earn the credential. The Titan was damaged in previous dives. On multiple occasions, OceanGate failed to adequately investigate damage suffered by the Titan during previous dives, the report found, including one that resulted in the vessel becoming entangled with the wreckage of the Titanic. During a dive in July 2022, the Titan entered the Titanic's wreckage and became briefly caught in debris near the ship's main stairwell, a mission specialist told the board. During the submersible's ascent, crew members reported hearing a loud noise they feared indicated damage to the hull. A contractor told the board that Rush later brushed aside those concerns. It wasn't the first time an OceanGate submersible became entangled in a shipwreck, according to the report. In an interview with the board, the OceanGate director of operations described a dive in which an earlier OceanGate submersible, the Cyclops 1, became stuck beneath the bow of the Andrea Doria shipwreck near Nantucket, Massachusetts, with Rush at the controls. In response, Rush had a 'meltdown,' the director of operations said, adding that when he asked Rush to relinquish the controls Rush threw the controller at him. – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
