Vijay Kumar Karnik (English: Vijay Kumar Karnik, born November 6, 1939, Nagpur, Maharashtra) was a pilot in the Indian Air Force. He is known for his leadership during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. Bhuj airstrip was destroyed in air strikes during the 1971 India–Pakistan war, in which Pakistani bombers dropped napalm bombs. The attack on Bhuj airport is compared to the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 14 days the airfield was raided 35 times with 92 bombs and 22 rocket attacks. Vijay Karnik had rebuilt Bhuj airport within 3 days with the help of 300 women from local areas.
Vijay Karnik was born on 6 November 1939 in Nagpur, Maharashtra to father Srinivas Karnik (a senior government official) and mother Tarabai Karnik. Vijay Karnik is a Maharashtrian belonging to the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu community. Apart from him, he also has three brothers Vinod, Laxman and Ajay and a sister Vasanti in his family. He was married to Usha Karnik (owner of the Shahnaz Hussain franchise) on February 20, 1965. His son’s name is Paresh Karnik, who works in ‘The Times Group Company’. Their daughter’s name is Shalaka Karnik, who is a director in Weekanduite, a theater group.[1]
Vijay Karnik received his early education from a local school in Nagpur. After that, he took admission in Nagpur University located in Wardha city for further studies, from where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in science.
Vijay Karnik was inducted into the Indian Air Force on 12 May 1962. He played an important role as a squadron leader in Bhuj during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. Vijay Karnik took part in the India-China war of 1962 and the India-Pakistan war of 1965. Vijay Karnik is especially known for his significant contribution in the India-Pakistan war of 1971. In the year 1967, he was posted in 6 Squadron in Pune, after which he was promoted as Wing Commander on 1 October 1985. On 14 October 1986, Vijay Karnik retired from the Indian Air Force.
The war that broke out between India and Pakistan in the year 1971, which was also known as ‘Bangladesh Liberation War’. Pakistan named this operation ‘Operation Genghis Khan’. This war started on 3 December 1971 and ended on 16 December 1971. The most important role in this war was played by Indian Air Force Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik and 300 local women of Bhuj. When the war ended the reconstruction of the airstrip was named India’s Pearl Harbor moment.[1]
On 3 December 1971, during the winter season, Bhuj Air Force Station was attacked a total of 35 times in 14 days. This means that they were being attacked more than twice a day. In Bhuj alone, there were more than 92 fierce air strikes, bombings and 22 rockets were used in these attacks. Bhuj is very important for the Indian Air Force, primarily because it is close to the Pakistani border. However, due to various reasons the Indian Air Force at Bhuj had very little staff at that time.
The most devastating attack occurred on the evening of 8 December. A squadron of Saber jets of the Pakistan Air Force attacked the airstrip, dropping more than 14 napalm bombs. In comparison to other missiles and ammunition used by any air force at that time, napalm bombs were designed in such a way that wherever a napalm bomb was attacked, that area would be completely burnt to ashes, because The napalm bomb produced the benefit of fire. Before the Bhuj attack, napalm bombs were used by the US in the Vietnam War.
Attacks with napalm bombs meant that there would be no major explosion whenever the bomb hit the ground. Instead it will burn the place where the bomb falls and simply incinerate everything. The result was that the fire would continue to burn for hours, no matter how much good firefighting equipment was used, and of course, we did not have good firefighting equipment then. Needless to say, the airstrip at Bhuj was completely destroyed, which meant that no aircraft could take off now.[1]
role of 300 women
Despite being an important airfield for the Indian Air Force, the squadron deployed at Bhuj was understaffed. Furthermore, after the attack it was not possible for the Air Force to send its engineers and construction crews to rebuild the airstrip. So Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik had to turn to a local village named Madhavpur for help. 300 women from Madhavpur village came and completely rebuilt the airstrip, enabling the Indian Air Force to launch a counter-attack.
Challenges
Rebuilding the airstrip was not an easy task. It had to be made within 72 hours and it had to be done right. Air Force planes need a good runway to take off and land safely without any problems and accidents. Above the runway, the runway should also be long so that airplanes do not face any problem in taking off. In addition, the Pakistan Air Force was also continuously conducting raids on nearby airfields. Therefore, the women had to cover part of the airfield with cow dung, so that the Pakistani Army could not see the airstrip being built by 300 women.
The problems of women were further increased by the winter season. The temperature in Bhuj often dropped to 5 degrees during winter. Eventually, the women braved the difficulties and made it back to the airstrip, thanks to which Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik was ready to attack with his 2 officers and the rest of the crew. Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik and his crew also successfully saved several of their aircraft from raids and bombings by Pakistan.
example of patriotism
According to a 2010 interview with The Times of India, one of the 300 women who worked at the airstrip said that after the war ended, India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi honored the women with the title of ‘Queens of Jhansi’ Was. The group of 300 women were offered a reward of Rs 50,000, which was a lot of money at that time. However, the women refused to accept this, saying that they did what they did not for money but because of their patriotism and because rebuilding the airstrip was like saving the country. Due to the 2001 Gujarat earthquake the entire airfield and runway had to be rebuilt.[1]
end of war
This war started on December 3, 1971 and ended on December 16, 1971.