Jag Mohan Nath
{{Short description|Indian military personnel (1930–2023)}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Wing Commander
| name = Jag Mohan Nath
| honorific_suffix = MVC & Bar
| image = Wing Commander JM Nath.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|08|08|df=y}}
| birth_place = Jaipur, Rajputana Agency, India
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|03|21|1930|08|08|df=y}}
| death_place = Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
| nickname = Jaggi,{{Cite web|last=Arpi|first=Claude|author-link=Claude Arpi|date=30 January 2020|title=Wrong person at wrong time|url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/columnists/wrong-person-at-wrong-time.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-15|website=The Pioneer|language=en}} Professor
| allegiance = {{flagcountry|India}}
| branch = {{air force|India}}
| serviceyears = 1948–1969
| rank = 20px Wing Commander
| battles = {{plainlist|
}}
| awards = 35px Maha Vir Chakra & Bar
}}
Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath, {{Post-nominals|country=IND|MVC}} & bar (8 August 1930 – 21 March 2023) was an Indian Air Force officer. He was the first of the six officers to have been decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest war time military decoration, twice. He was decorated for his operations in the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.{{cite web|last=Srinivasan|first=Pankaja|date=6 September 2015|title=The pilot who 'shot' Pakistan|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-pilot-who-shot-pakistan/article7620308.ece|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917034448/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-pilot-who-shot-pakistan/article7620308.ece|archivedate=17 September 2015|accessdate=10 February 2017|work=The Hindu}}
Early life
Jag Mohan Nath was born on 8 August 1930,{{cite news |title=Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath: The First of Six Officers to be Decorated with Maha Vir Chakra Twice |url=https://www.news18.com/opinion/wing-commander-jag-mohan-nath-the-first-of-six-officers-to-be-decorated-with-maha-vir-chakra-twice-7357687.html |access-date=24 March 2023 |publisher=News 18 |date=22 March 2023}}{{cite news |title=Wg Cdr Jag Mohan Nath, MVC (retd) |url=http://twdi.in/node/1172 |access-date=24 March 2023 |publisher=The War Decorated India & Trust}} in Jaipur, and grew up in Layyah, Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan) in a Punjabi Hindu family of doctors. He served in the Air Force from 1948 to 1969, before taking up a position in Air India. He had two children, a son, Sanjiv Malhotra, born in 1952 and a daughter Arti born in 1956. {{Cite web |title=Wg Cdr Jag Mohan Nath, MVC (retd) @ TWDI |url=https://twdi.in/node/1172 |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=twdi.in}}
Military career
Nath joined the Air Force Administrative College in Coimbatore in 1948. He was first awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his role in reconnaissance missions in Aksai Chin and Tibet, before and during the 1962 war. His missions proved useful in learning about the Chinese military build-up in Aksai Chin. He flew around 30 reconnaissance missions into Pakistan during the 1965 war in an English Electric Canberra, which earned him his second Maha Vir Chakra.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Squadron Leader Jag Mohan Nath (3946) MVC|url=http://www.indianairforce.nic.in/show_page.php?pg_id=314|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823114259/http://indianairforce.nic.in/show_page.php?pg_id=314|archivedate=23 August 2016|accessdate=10 February 2017|website=|publisher=Indian Air Force}}{{Cite web|last=Pal|first=Snchari|date=2018-01-22|title=The Story of The Only Living IAF Veteran To Get The Maha Vir Chakra Twice!|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/128461/jag-mohan-nath-iaf-veteran-china-pakistan-maha-vir-chakra/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-15|website=The Better India|language=en-US}} He would go over Pakistani territory including Lahore, Icchogil canal and Sargodha.{{Cite web|last=Purohit|first=Jugal R.|date=21 September 2015|title=1965 war hero 'Professor' reveals top IAF officer a Pak mole who bled India|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/1965-war-hero-professor-reveals-top-iaf-officer-a-pak-mole-who-bled-india-264120-2015-09-21|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-15|website=India Today|language=en}} In eastern Ladakh, Nath would fly into Chinese occupied territory. He had stated in an interview that "the Chinese could see me clearly and even fired at my aircraft," but other than that could do little as the Chinese did not have an air force at the time.
Nath had 3275 flying hours.{{cite web |title=Service Record: Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath |url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3946 |website=Bharat Rakshak |access-date=15 February 2021 |ref=service record}}
Controversy
In an interview, Wing Commander Nath claimed that a mole was detected in the Indian Air Force's Western Command during the 1965 war. The mole was a group captain handling flight movements in the Western Command, though he declined to name the person as he was already dead.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=22 September 2015|title=Mole in IAF helped Pak plan attack: 1965 war hero|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mole-in-IAF-helped-Pak-plan-attack-1965-war-hero/articleshow/49053214.cms|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212043831/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mole-in-IAF-helped-Pak-plan-attack-1965-war-hero/articleshow/49053214.cms|archivedate=12 February 2017|accessdate=10 February 2017|work=The Times of India}}
Death
Nath died in Mumbai on 21 March 2023, at the age of 92.{{cite news |title=Air Force veteran Wing Cmdr J M Nath passes away |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/air-force-veteran-wing-cmdr-j-m-nath-passes-away/articleshow/98873362.cms?from=mdr |access-date=21 March 2023 |publisher=The Economic Times |date=21 March 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Kumar |first1=Raju |title=Air Force veteran Wing Cmdr JM Nath, who took sorties in wars against Pakistan, China dies |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/air-force-veteran-wing-cmdr-jm-nath-who-took-sorties-in-wars-against-pakistan-china-dies-2023-03-21-856432 |access-date=21 March 2023 |publisher=India TV News |date=21 March 2023}}