Operation Lal Dora

This article is part of a series about Indira Gandhi
Prime Minister of India 1966–1977 1980–1984 Early life and education Public image Family Eponyms International trips Domestic Policy Economic Policy Foreign Policy Assassination Premiership General elections 1967 1971 1977 1980 Union Council of Ministers First Second Third Fourth Lok Sabha Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh National policy Legislation COFEPOSA Enemy Property Act, 1968 The Gold (Control) Act, 1968 IMDT MISA NPE North-Eastern Reorganisation Act Privy Purse Treaties and accords Delhi Agreement Indira–Sheikh Accord Shimla Agreement Sirima–Gandhi Pact Missions and projects Operation Blue Star Operation Flood Operation Lal Dora Operation Steeplechase Operation Sundown 1975 Sikkimese monarchy referendum Samjhauta Express Smiling Buddha Controversies Emergency Baroda dynamite case State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain Turkman gate Riots and attacks 1966 anti-cow slaughter agitation 1974 railway strike in India 1975 Sikkimese monarchy referendum 1980 Moradabad riots Insurgency in Punjab Airbus hijacking Constitutional amendments Twentieth Twenty-first Twenty-second Twenty-third Twenty-fourth Twenty-fifth Twenty-sixth Thirty-eighth Thirty-ninth Forty-first Forty-second Forty-fifth Forty-seventh Forty-eighth Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video
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Operation Lal Dora (lit. 'Operation Red Line') was conceived in 1983, with the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi's approval and called for the secret landing of Indian troops in Mauritius.^[1][2] These troops were to be launched from the 54th division and the purpose of doing this was to help the Mauritian Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth fight off a challenge from his rival Paul Berenger which Government of India feared might take the form of an attempted coup.

In February 1983, Jugnauth travelled to New Delhi to meet with Mrs Indira Gandhi, where he asked for military assistance in the event of a coup by Berenger. Gandhi assured him of Indian support. The power struggle between Berenger and Jugnauth came to a head in March 1983. On Mauritian independence day, while Jugnauth was in New Delhi attending a Non Aligned Movement summit, Berenger arranged for the Mauritian National Anthem to be broadcast over Mauritian television in Creole, referring to Creole, instead of English, as the national language. On Jugnauth's return to Mauritius, Berenger proposed constitutional changes that would strip power from the prime minister. The MMM-PSM government disintegrated with Berenger and most of the cabinet resigning from the government. Jugnauth was left with a small number of mostly Hindu followers.^[3]

Gandhi ordered the Indian Army and Navy to prepare for a military intervention against a possible coup against the Jugnauth government. She chose to task the Research and Analysis Wing’s then chief, Nowsher F. Suntook, with supervising a largely intelligence-led operation to reunite the Indian community whose fracturing along ideological and communal lines had allowed Mr. Berenger to mount a political challenge.^[4]