By Ayaskant Das
New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS): A video eulogizing Indian Air Force (IAF) chief B.S Dhanoa as an exceptional leader has gone viral much to the amusement of veterans who received it on WhatsApp groups.
The video, with "HQ EAC (Headquarters Easter Air Command) presents" appearing in the credit line, opens with a clip of 2004 film 'Downfall' showing an agitated Adolf Hitler surrounded by Nazi generals.
The clip with superimposed subtitles saying that an annoyed Hitler is informed that behind IAF's air superiority capability is its chief B.S. Dhanoa. In the next part, Dhanoa's achievements are narrated with a background score of a popular Bollywood number.
IAF sources claimed that it was a "fun video" shown at a function held in honour of Dhanoa who is retiring next month, and was not meant for public.
"How is IAF to support two fronts with limited resources?" thunders Hitler in the spoof clip.
"This is due to the transformation of IAF with has taken place since their present Chief of Air Staff took over," replies a cowering general (in the substitle).
The video then goes on, through a series of text illustrations, to trace Dhanoa's incredible journey to the top echelons of IAF. The clip, titled 'The Man, the Machine and the Mission', traces the journey right from Dhanoa's birth in Deoghar town of Bihar (now Jharkhand) in the year 1957.
The video further traces his school and college education, his training at the National Defence Academy and entry into the air force where he served as top fighter pilot.
Among the many things during his career for which Dhanoa will be remembered, the video says, the Balakot airstrikes are the most outstanding.
Under Dhanoa's leadership, five Indian fighter jets flew over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in a pre-dawn operation on February 26, 2019 and dropped bombs on terrorist launchpads in Balakot region in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
The airstrikes were carried out in response to a terrorist attack on a CRDF convoy Pulwama area of Jammu and Kashmir that left at least 40 soldiers dead.
Dhanoa, who is also the present Chairman of the Chief of Staffs Committee, is set to retire next month after serving for over four decades in the air force.