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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

AI’s Maharaja smiles joyfully

All 30 grounded aircrafts now fly Mumbai : Air India’s Maharaja is all pleased as punch at 80. After years of huge costs and efforts, the last of the grounded 30 aircraft – inherited by the Tata Group during the privatization in Jan. 2022 – is now resurrected fully and took to the skies gracefully on Monday.   The aircraft is the gleaming VT-ALL, a Boeing 777-300ER, that was gathering grime since February 2020, and becomes the final among the two-and-half dozen aircraft that have been revved...

AI’s Maharaja smiles joyfully

All 30 grounded aircrafts now fly Mumbai : Air India’s Maharaja is all pleased as punch at 80. After years of huge costs and efforts, the last of the grounded 30 aircraft – inherited by the Tata Group during the privatization in Jan. 2022 – is now resurrected fully and took to the skies gracefully on Monday.   The aircraft is the gleaming VT-ALL, a Boeing 777-300ER, that was gathering grime since February 2020, and becomes the final among the two-and-half dozen aircraft that have been revved up and revived in the past few years, AI official sources said.   It marked a symbolic milestone for Air India itself - founded in 1932 by the legendary Bharat Ratna J. R. R. Tata - which once ruled the roost and was India’s pride in the global skies.   Once renowned for its royal service with the iconic Maharaja welcoming fliers on board, in 1953 it was taken over by the government of India. After years of piling losses, ageing aircraft, decline in operations and standards – almost like a Maharaja turning a pauper - it returned to the Tata Group four years ago.   This time it was not just the aircraft, the brand and the deflated Maharaja coming into the large-hearted Tata Group stables, but a formidable challenge to ensure that the airline could regain its old glory and glitter. Of the total around 190 aircraft in its fleet were 30 – or 15 pc – that had been grounded and neglected for years.   At that time, the late Ratan N. Tata had directed that all these valuable aircraft must be revived as far as possible and join the fleet. Accordingly, the VT-ALL, languishing at Nagpur for nearly five years, was ‘hospitalized’ at the Air India Engineering Service Ltd., its MRO facility in May 2025.   New Avatar Then started a thorough, painstaking nose-to-tail restoration of an unprecedented scale, in which over 3000 critical components were replaced, over 4,000 maintenance tasks executed, besides key structural upgrades like the longeron modification, engines, auxiliary power units, avionics, hydraulics, landing gears and almost every vital system was rebuilt or replaced.   After the repairs, the old aircraft was reborn, under the gaze of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and technical assistance from Boeing, and the new ‘avatar’ jetliner emerged with the highest global safety standards.   The aircraft cleared all the rigorous checks, a successful test flight, earned the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate and then made its maiden commercial flight from Monday, March 16 – after a wait of six years.   Sturdy Fliers Created in 1946 to become an instant global icon, the Air India’s mascot Maharaja now sports a youthful and chic look, a welcome with folded hands, closed eyes, featuring a bejewelled turban, stylish jootis, and a textured kurta in Air India’s new colours. He is prominently visible at various touch-points in a flyer’s journey, such as First Class, exclusive lounges, and luxury products.   Today, he commands a mix fleet of around 190 narrow and wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft like : A319, A320, A320neo, A321, A321neo, A350-900 and B787-8, B787-9, B7770200LR, B-777-300ER. With the merger of Vistara and agreements signed for 10 A350 and 90 A320 aircraft, the Maharaja’s fleet is slated to soar to some 570 in the near future.

Sinister Designs

Leh, which is synonymous with serenity, its monasteries and mountain vistas than for violence, has been transformed into a scene of bloodshed. Four people were killed and more than seventy injured as protests over statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule spiralled into arson and chaos. A BJP office was torched, a CRPF van set ablaze and a curfew has been imposed in this hitherto peaceful region.

 

Yet the unrest was no spontaneous eruption of frustration. Authorities have pointed to activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose incendiary rhetoric in invoking Arab Spring-style protests and Gen Z mobilisation in Nepal appears to have deliberately misled Leh’s youth. Government sources allege that Wangchuk used the platform of civic activism to pursue personal ambitions, turning idealistic young people into instruments of disorder. The Central Bureau of Investigation’s probe into alleged Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act violations by Wangchuk and his institution lends credence to the suspicion that darker motives were at play.

 

Even more disturbing are indications of political complicity. Congress leaders, according to officials, did not merely observe the unrest but actively encouraged it, issuing statements that verged on instructions for stone-pelting, arson, and shutdowns. This was opportunism at its most lethal - hijacking local grievances to destabilise a peaceful union territory for short-term political gain. The blueprint is eerily familiar, echoing destabilising tactics once seen in Nepal and Bangladesh.

 

The context of the unrest is grounded in post-2019 political reorganisation. With the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh came under direct central administration without a legislature of its own. Calls for Sixth Schedule protections, which grant tribal-majority regions legislative and financial autonomy, are not unreasonable as more than 90 percent of Ladakh’s population belongs to Scheduled Tribes. The Union government has repeatedly signalled its willingness to engage, scheduling a High-Powered Committee meeting for October 6, with the possibility of preponement to September 25–26. Despite the option for talks, confrontation was chosen.

 

Regrettably, Leh’s youth, whose energy and idealism could have been harnessed constructively, have been misled into chaos. Authorities are clear that the violence did not spiral on its own but was engineered deliberately.

 

Leh offers a cautionary tale for India. Activism untethered from responsibility, coupled with cynical political manoeuvres, has transformed a peaceful region into a theatre of disorder. If Congress and its enablers continue to seek leverage through chaos, they risk alienating the local population and undermining India’s territorial integrity. Stability cannot be achieved through slogans or imported templates of protest. It requires prudence, dialogue and the recognition of the human cost.

 

The violence is a reminder that India’s unity depends on vigilance against both overt aggression and subtle destabilisation. Its youth, its communities and its institutions will need to navigate this peril with resilience, clarity, and an unwavering commitment to peace. Only then can the mountains return to being witnesses to serenity rather than scenes of engineered chaos.

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