Do u know a sitting CM from India was Assassinated by Pakis…

Balwantrai Mehta, at that time was the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. He was killed in an attack by Pakistan Air force, along with his wife, three members of his staff, a journalist and two crew members.

It was September of 1965. India was at war with Pakistan. Although the biggest impact was in Kashmir, the situation along the entire western border was very tensed. Both sides were facing daily casualties. The air force was on high alert on both sides.

CM Mehta flew in a Beechcraft commuter aircraft from Tata Chemicals, Mithapur to the Kutch border. The plane was piloted by Jahangir Engineer, a former Indian Air Force pilot. It was shot down by Pakistan Air Force pilot Qais Hussain, who assumed it 2 be a reconnaissance mission.

Qais Hussain, a PAF flying ofcr during the 1965 war, was the pilot who fired on the civilian aircraft under orders from his superiors. Hussain, then just 25 yrs of age, entered into the Indian airspace at 20,000 ft. It descended to 3,000 ft at which the Indian chopper was flying.

While waiting for permission from Pakistani ground-control interception, Hussain first hovered around Beechcraft.Perhaps on spotting the Pakistani aircraft, Beechcraft started waggling its wings, in an indication to have mercy and spare it.

However, Hussain fired two salvos in the air on getting nod from his superiors. Both the salvos hit the chopper near Suthali village, about 100 km from Mithapur.The Beechcraft exploded in the air and turned into a ball of fire before falling on the ground.

Eventually in Aug 2011, Qais Hussain wrote to Farida, the daughter of the pilot of Beechcraft, Jehangir M Engineer, who was a former Indian Air Force pilot too. He seeked her forgiveness in his letter and later Farida wrote back to him and notified that she didnt hold him guilty.

Back to 1965, the news of assassination of CM Mehta took country was shocked. ceasefire was declared through UNSC Resolution 211 following a diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration

Couple of months later in January 1966, Lal Bahadur Shastriji, then PM was found dead in Tashkent and Indira Gandhi became PM. Congress party accepted the Assassination of CM Balwantrai Mehta as a war casualty and moved on.

Apparently in the history of independent India Balwantrai Mehta is known as the "Architect of Panchayati Raj" Due to his contributions towards democratic decentralization.GoI issued a special postage stamp of face value INR 3.00 to commemorate his 100th birth anniversary in 2000.