Who was Balwantrai Mehta? A sitting Indian Chief Minister shot down by Pakistani fighter plane during Indo-Pak war

Did you watch Sky Force? The recent release starring Akshay Kumar, Veer Pahariya and Sara Ali Khan reminds us of the ghastly Indo-Pak war in 1965. At the same time, the movie instills in the audiences a sense of pride over the emphatic triumph of our country in the war that claimed thousands of lives. 

With the chants of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Vande Mataram", you can observe the spectators coming out of cinema halls. 

But do you know that the very war claimed the life of an Indian sitting Chief Minister? 

It was September 19, 1965, when the Indo-Pak war was on its height. The then Chief Minister of Gujarat and a prominent Congress leader, Balwantrai Gopalji Mehta, was flying a chopper along with seven others. 

As the chopper touched the Indo-Pak border based in the Runn of Kutch, the Pakistani airforce shot it down accidentally, assuming it to be a reconnaissance mission by India. 

Among those who died was the sitting CM of Gujarat, his wife Sarojben, three members of his staff, one journalist and two crew members. On the day of the incident, Balwantrai Mehta flew to the Kutch border after halting at Mithapur. Minutes after taking off from Mithapur, the aircraft he was flying was intercepted by a Pakistani fighter pilot Qais Hussain, as per a report by India Today. 

Hussain, then 25, hovered around the aircraft, waiting for the permission from Pakistani ground-control inception. 

Soon after spotting a Pakistani fighter plane, the aircraft started waggling its wings, as if was imploring to let it go. However, the Pakistani fighter plane fired two salvos at the aircraft, perhaps after receiving a green light from its superiors. 

Mehta's aircraft turned into a fireball in no time, crashing onto the ground. 

About Balwantrai Mehta 

Known as the 'architect of Panchayati Raj' in India, Balwantrai Mehta was the second Chief Minister of Gujarat. He had also taken part in the Indian independence movement. Born on February 19, 1900, Mehta was raised in a middle-class family. 

He studied up to BA classes but did not take a degree from the colonial government. In 1920, he joined the national movement of non-cooperation, led by Mahatma Gandhi. 

Similarly, Mehta actively took part in the independence movement in 1942, due to which, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by the British government. 

In 1963, years after the independence, he was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.