17 December, 2025 – Chandigarh : Over half a century later, the legacy of Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, Air Force’s sole recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, continues to inspire.
Sekhon received the country’s highest gallantry award for single-handedly taking on six enemy fighters during the 1971 India-Pakistan War.
“Concepts of warfare have changed a lot since then. While many tactics of air combat of that era may no longer be applicable, his legacy in terms of facing danger and rendering selfless service continues,” Air Marshal Dhiraj Kukreja (retd), former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, told The Tribune.
Born in 1945, Sekhon hailed from Isewal village near Ludhiana city, where a statue stands in his honour at a prominent intersection.
Besides, a marine tanker has been named after him and the Department of Posts issued a commemorative postal stamp featuring his portrait. His father had served as an IAF Master Warrant Officer.
A landmark building overlooking the parade ground and the runway at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal near Hyderabad, with his statue in front, has also been named after Sekhon.
“It’s a source of inspiration for all new officers. All cadets joining the academy are motivated about Sekhon’s wartime actions and he is often talked about at the Srinagar airbase from where he had fought,” said Group Captain MR Pandeya (retd), a fighter pilot belonging to Ludhiana.
Commissioned into the IAF in June 1967, he was serving with No. 18 Squadron, the Flying Bullets, when he took to the air in his Gnat fighter on December 14 in Srinagar, which was under attack from the Pakistani Sabre aircraft during the 1971 War.
Despite his two-man formation being outnumbered by six enemy planes, he engaged them in a dogfight scoring two hits. However, his own aircraft sustained damage from enemy bullets and went down.
Official records state that in spite of the mortal danger of attempting to take off, Sekhon immediately engaged a pair of the attacking Sabres.
In the ensuing fight, he secured hits on one aircraft and damaged another. By this time the other Sabre aircraft came to the aid of their hard-pressed companions, Sekhon’s Gnat was again outnumbered, this time by four to one.
“Even though alone, Flying Officer Sekhon engaged the enemy in an unequal combat. In the fight that followed, at treetop height, he almost held his own, but was eventually overcome by the sheer weight of numbers,” states the citation for his award.
“His aircraft was shot down by gunfire of one of the Sabres and he was killed. The sublime heroism, supreme gallantry, flying skill and determination above and beyond the call of duty displayed by Flying Officer Sekhon in the face of certain death have set new heights in Air Force traditions,” it added.
The Tribune