INTERVIEWS

Monday, November 15, 2010

Beera , Major General Naushad Kiani ,Talha , Irfan , Late Asif Shaukat ,
Cantt Public School Quetta,Forman Christian College Lahore and Old
Cavalry Ground

Beera , Major General Naushad Kiani ,Talha ,

Irfan , Late Asif Shaukat , Cantt Public School
Quetta,Forman Christian College Lahore and
Old Cavalry Ground

click on photos to enlarge

Agha H Amin -Citizen of wilderness and stateless man
 I visited a house somewhere , cities are not
important in my life scheme , countries are a
conspiracy against the superior specie so not
important ........I visit some one regarding
business and it turns out that we were
contemporaries , lived in generally the same
neighbour hoods , joined the Forman Christian
College in Lahore also known as FC College in
November 1977.

This was a dark period in Pakistans chequered

history when a shabby looking man with a most
unofficer like appearance , through extreme
sycophancy had become Pakistans army chief !

There is no doubt that we all hated him !

I could find his face familiar but not his name ! Yet
many of our friends criss crossed !

Tanvir Shaukat my class fellow in Cantt Public

School Quetta in class ninth and tenth also known
as Beera was his best friend !

Tanvir had left Quetta in 1976 and we had rejoined

in FC College in 1977 November .He in the science
section and I in the arts section.
 Babar Akhtar Qureshi son of a military doctor
colonel was a close friend at the Forman
Christian College.He was nephew of the
famous French scholar Dr Laeeq Babri.Babar
was extremely well read and specialised in
vampire stories and Somerset Maugham.We
studied together from November 1977 to
December 1979.I lost touch with him after I
joined the army but re-established contact
again in 1989.I have never encountered a
finer soul than Babar.
click on photos to enlarge
 The Author while a student at the FC College on summer holidays at the
Khujerab Pass , July 1979 , extreme left
It was while visiting the Northern Areas when I
met Lieutenant Colonel Rathore a GSO 1 with my
father.Rathores narration of the traumatic events
at the Paksey Bridge in December 1971 was a
primer to my later article written in 1999 titled "
Tank Ambush at Kushtia".
 Father , self and Colonel Rathore , the hero of Paksey Bridge

Farooq Gul son of my fathers friend Brigadier Gul

Mohammad Jadoon was also our class fellow .He
went missing after 1977 but I served with his elder
brother then captain Kamran Gul a good friend in
the 58 Cavalry and later in the Tactical Wing in
Armour School .Kamran Gul is off the compass
since mid 1992.
Farooq Gul later married Major General Hameed
Guls daughter with diasastorous consequences for
Guls daughter . A sad story .
 Infantry School November 1983

Also at Cantt Public School Quetta was Imran

Mahmood .Imran had been a classfellow at Public
School Muzaffarabad earlier .
His father then Major Raja Sultan Mahmood had
been my fathers class fellow at Gordon College
Rawalpindi in 1949-51 and was then BM of 1 AK
Brigade with Brigadier Shinwari.

We met again in Quetta where Raja Sahib was

commanding a battallion from Baluch Regiment in
16 Division and my father was GSO 2 Operations
of the division .Both went to East Pakistan whe n
16 Divsion moved there in March 1971 .

My father got promoted in October 1971 and came

back while Colonel Raja Sultan Mahmood died
fighting gloriously with a bullet in his chest or
rather many bullets in his chest while ironically the
battalion that he was leading (not his own) bolted
away in a most cowardly manner abandoning their
commanding officers body which was never
discovered.Imran a good friend there was my class
fellow for third time in Station School Pindi in
1972.
His younger brother Nomi joined the army and is
a brigadier now .
 Brigadier Raja Nouman Mahmud who I saw when
he was very young, now CI Command and Staff
College, Quetta

I also served with Colonel Raja Sultans brother

Brigadier Aftab in Okara where he was
commanding the 23 Brigade while I was
commanding the 5 Independent Armoured
Squadron .

It was here that we both served in the hoax

demonstration type exercise with 2 Corps as
umpires ! The exercise was a total white wash and
everything was tied up which does not happen in
war !

Article in Citadel Journal C and SC Quetta

with reference to Nov Dec 1993 demo
exercise in which umpires were barred from
debriefing to avoid their critiques and just
some officers allowed .
I had sent this article to the Citadel while Major
General Saeed uz Zafar was the commandant but
soon he was posted out and the Citadel did not
publish it from 1995 till 1998.It was only then Lieut
Col Tariq Khan(now lieut gen) and Lieut Col Ahsan
Mahmood (now major general)

When I had visited the headquarters of First

Armoured Division I had met Captain Khurram
Khurshid Ghumman earlier my squadrons officer in
Okara.

He told me that priorities were such that very

senior officers spent many hours practising sitting
on the commode in the field tent bathroom that
was to be installed for the COAS who was to
witness the exercise !

This was the state of darbari priorities ! More on

this later !
Our discussion went back Talha Saeed who I had
met in FC College . A Close friend of Beera my
class fellow from Cantt Public School Quetta , they
lived in old cavalry ground , an area where many
beautiful girls lived ! I lived on Asad Jan Road , the
old Jhelum Road !
 With my dear friend Major Syed Iqbal Hussain Shah from
Javairaian, Shahpur , Sargodha.Iqbal Shahs father Syed Chan Pir
Shah was Manager of Sir Khizr Hayat Tiwana.Iqbal Shah was
originally 29 Cavalry , later 4 Cavalry and finally 58 Cavalry.
Beeras brother had joined the juniour cadet
battalion in 1977 ! The second course known as JC
2 and later known as 62nd Long course. Asif
Shaukat was a better than average , rather
dynamic school fellow , a class senior to us ! A
good sportsman ! I was sad to hear that he died an
year or so .

With him in JC 3 was another class fellow of mine

Waqar from Saint Marys Academy Lalazar.
Waqar was a fine gentleman , good background ,
courteous , a graceful personality.

I met him after many years when a first termer in

the military academy , while he was the
seniormost fourth termer !

He recognized me and was most friendly and

courteous ! I met him last when he was staff
officer with Major General Saeed uz Zafar at the
staff college in July 1994 .

He was company sergeant major of Babar

Company and Battalion Sergeant Major after de-
belting of the awesome and barbarian like Khalil ur
Rahman Afridi ! Waqar was commissioned in the
Punjab Regiment and also became an aviator .
Both myself and Khalil ur Rahman were
commissioned in the cavalry ! Khalil became a
good friend while we were serving at Multan in
1986-87 !

He later achieved some fame in a wild encounter

with Iranian Baloch drug mafia while commanding
the Saindak Wing of FC in 1991 or so .

Partridge shoot in Chakri near Pindi where great grandfather had served as an inspector in
1890s while on term break from PMA in 1982
 On the Khunjerab Top , January 1981.From left Saleem Khan the greatest hunter of Northern
Areas from Raheemabad near Dih , myself , father ,jeep driver , Lieutenant Colonel Khokhar
 On the Khunjerab Top , January 1981.From left Saleem Khan the greatest hunter of Northern
Areas from Raheemabad near Dih , myself , father ,jeep driver , Lieutenant Colonel Khokhar
He was shot in the shoulder and badly wounded I
am told ! Khalil also went missing from the
compass after 1987.
 Khunjerab Pass,September 1982 while on end term of third term from PMA

Memorable events at the PMA was Exercise Qiadat

where we had some very interesting
experiences.This was a time when you are about
to become an officer and the transition from being
a cadet to an officer is difficult to describe to a
non soldier.This was the case in those days when
the scotch whiskey was grand to sip and the sight
of a lady could galvanise you.As you pass and
progress in age both the two described in the last
sentence become drab ! In the end I suspect
every J and B and Grants as fake because it no
longer gives me the kick that it gave in 1979 or
1981.

I was lucky in having three very fine platoon

commanders at the military academy.Major Ashraf
(later brigadier) was no doubt the most
outstanding both as a man and as a professional.It
is tragic for those who know him that he did not
become a general in this darbari culture dominated
army.Major Kazim and Major Azhar were also great
officers.
MY PLATOON COMMANDER BRIGADIER ASHRAF
 MY SENIOR AND MY FRIEND MAJOR GENERAL NAEEM,AN UPRIGHT MAN
WHO SUPPORTED A NUT LIKE ME.

Major General Mohammad Naeem

Our acquaintance with Major Naeem 27 Cavalry began on 3rd May 1981
when we saw him exhorting cadets of 67 Long Course to face the PMA
reception or go home.
 Major Naeem was not my platoon commander but his presence was
overwhelming in the life and times of 67 Long Course all throughout 3rd May
1981 till end of 1982 when he left to attend the Malayasian Staff College.

Major Naeem was a hard task master but a well meaning man.

We shared the alma mater of Forman Christian College Lahore.

 When I got married Colonel Naeem was happy but warned me " you better
behave now you bugger , because you have got married in Lahores finest
family " !

This was one aspect of his character .Love and concern for those who he
regarded as friends.

Fate had it that myself and Major General Naeem were together for most of
our military career till I retired from the army in 1993.

When I was commissioned in 11 Cavalry in March 1983 , Major Naeem

landed as the brigade major of our brigade in late 1983.

When I was posted to Multan to an armoured regiment on raiisng Major

Naeem soon joined 27 Cavalry in Multan in mid 1985.

We were in constant touch and Major Naeem was always there to render
moral support on any issue that I confronted.

When I was posted to Lahore as MTO of an armoured brigade Major Naeem

followed as brigade major with an infantry brigade in Lahore with that
outstanding man Brigadier Anwar Muneeruddin.

When I was posted to the School of Armour Nowshera in October 1990 ,

now Lieutenant Colonel Naeem soon followed as a colleague at the Tactical
Wing.

He was also an instructor when I attended the mid career course.

A man of principles Naeem worried too much and got too much involved in
service matters which gave him ulcers.In his case a purely psycho somatic
disease associated with his temperament of getting too much involved in
service.

A very disciplined man he was not a rebel in the unconventional sense and
all that he saw made him more sick with the system.

Naeem retained the same frankness with all his friends and cadets even as
a one and two star .
 All that he gained in terms of promotion was on basis of sheer hard work
and merit .

As a corps commander he could have improved the army but an upright

man rarerly gets two or three stars in ceremonial , orders oriented third
world armies , barring exceptions like Tariq Khan.

My commanding officer Colonel Munawar who was retired most unfairly

because he had refused to down grade my ACR from above average to below
average as the AG kakar wanted in 1987.
I come back to the old acquaintance that I met in
November 2010.He told me that Irfan (not be
confused with Colonel Irfan Kiani) was also his best
friend ! I asked him if it was the dark Irfan who
hanged out with Haneef Ramays niece and he
roared with laughter !

That off course was the landmark recognition of

Irfan ! Irfan played squash with us in Services Club
Lahore .
We were novices in squash then when compared
with champions like Ateeq son of Brigadier Khalil
(son in law of President Zakir Hussain of India and
a class fellow of my grandfather in 1918).
Ateeq was also a class fellow in FC College after
having failed his class because of too much squash
! Ateeq now runs his advertising agency in Lahore
and is doing well I am told .

So back to the college fellow ! The news report

that he gave was that Talha and Irfan were now
senior bankers and Beera was in the states !
As MTO 3rd Independent Armoured Brigade near Sarai Krishna (Serai
Mohajir) during Exercise Zarb e Momin ,November 1989
 We recollected memories of other friends and
contemporaries like Saail Ishtiaq ,Nabeel Ishtiaq
the asian games swimmer and Pakistani swimming
champion , Sohail Anwaar the army squash
champion with whom I shared an office for an year
while serving as mechanical transport officer of an
independent armoured brigade !
 Tea bar of 3rd armoured brigade.With Captain Asif then serving as G3.Asif was a good
friend and was from 55 Cavalry.We knew each other from the PMA .On the left Captain
Nadeem from the education corps.

Saail was shot dead in front of his house at lunch

time in March 1990 . Right in front of the eyes of
many officers of an infantry battalion leaving office
at two .
The only person who tried to attack his murderer
who had shot him dead was a EME naik , a sad
reflection on the lack of dash and elan in an
infantry battalion !

I attended his funeral ! The man who shot him was

never discovered ! All of us thought that Saail was
shot by mistake , mistaken for being Nabeel ,a
man who many had a reason to kill !
 A tense situation when my Squadron Commander and myself had disagreed with the
commanding officer over a matter of principle.The successful officer in the army is the one
who keeps his mouth shut and happily takes all amount of kicking,there are exceptions to
this rule like Tariq Khan but that is rare !

Nabeel had his peculiar sense of humour ! One day

he indicated a man to me who ran five rounds in
lahores polo ground , was super fit , dashing , had
a great job in a multi national and yet his wife was
an intimate friend of Nabeel ! Thats why I did not
marry Nabeel said ! A woman is impossible to
understand and to rely on ! He had his own
peculiar logic !
 Troop leader second troop A Squadron September 1985,Kandewala Ranges

Nabeel was a dare devil Casanova whose list of

clients was long and included the high and the
mighty ! He made good use of my room in the old
armour officers mess at the Benares Road in
Lahore in 1990 .
With my dear friend Captain Abid Hamza in Headquarters 3rd Armoured
Brigadewhere I was MTO and he was staff captain ordnance and all three of
us shared an office with Captain Sohail Anwaar 26 Cavalry another dear
friend.I convinced Abid Hamza to do changeofarm from ordanance andto join
his father Major General Ameer Hamzas battalion 10 Punjab.Abid Hamza did
so in September 1990.But the battalion that he joined at Fort Shigai had a
patheticofficer lot , all short courses commissioned.In disgust he resigned
and is now a pilot in PIA.His father was my fathers platoon commander in
PMA.

Nabeel Ishtiaqs violent death in 1999 came as a

matter of shock and grief to me in 1999 . He was a
nephew of the famous writer Ashfaq Ahmad .
Other contemporaries a class senior or two classes
senior at Forman Christian College included Colonel
Masud later Guides , Major General Shahid Hamid
(late) later Guides.Shahid Hamid was son of Major
General Ahmad Jamal son of my grandfathers close
friend Raja Khudadad Lieutenant General Ahmad
Jamal .
Grandfather holding my father at Simla in 1936 while serving in the Ministry of Defence.In
those days all ministries moved to Simla in summers for six months as it was the summer
capital of British India.This was discontinued after 1939 because of the war economy
measures
 Receiving the Military Commander of Chinese Singkiang Military Command and senior
Chinese Intelligence officials , 24 July 1979 ,authors father in peak cap in centre,myself on
extreme left
 Tea served to the Chinese VIP guest with military simplicity

THE FAREWELL OF THE CHINESE MILITARY ENGINEERS AFTER THEY

COMPLETED CONSTRUCTION OF SHISHKAT BRIDGE
Commander of Peoples Liberation Army Military Engineering Group in Northern Areas visits
Jaglot Farm for farewell visit to meet Commander 491 Brigade Group (authors father)
Commander 491 Brigade Group makes the farewell speech after dinner at Passu
Click on picture to see complete picture
 Staff of the Military Operations Directorate GHQ Rawalpindi, 1974.Sitting
on extreme left LTC Nasir Abbas a close family friend,first row standing
eighth from left Major Sardar Yahya Effendi my regimental officer from 11
Cavalry,next to Effendi Major Nazir from engineers later major
general,sitting third from left LTC Iqbal Nazeer Warraich 4 FF/SSG , close
friend of my father and Musharrafs CO in 1971 who stated that Musharraf
never saw any action in 1971 war,sitting fourth from left LTC Safdar later
lieutenant general,sitting in centre Brigadier SM Abbasi son of Nawab of
Bahawalpur and later lieutenant general.Authors father was first officer in
history of corps of engineers to be promoted direct brigadier from LTC in
early 1977.Sitting extreme right LTC Khizar Hayat 15 Lancers.

When General Ahmad Jamal got married one of his

marriage functions was held in the lawns of my
grandfathers house in Darya Abad
Rawalpindi.Jamals father Raja Khudadad Sahib was
serving in Military Lands while my grandfather was
serving in Ministry of Defence.
The family friendship extended to third generation
of both with my great grandfather serving as an
inspector of police at Chauntra near Chakri in
1890s.
The house in Darya Abad had a big lawn and many
family friends held their wedding receptions
there .General Ziauddins sisters wedding reception
was also held in that house .
One Zinda Khan Mahmud of cantonment board
who was not happy with my grandfathers rulings in
the mininstry of defence played below the belt
after grandfathers retirement in 1954 and got the
house allotted to him in lieu of the house he had
built at Delhi while serving there as Asssistant
Secretary in the Ministry of Defence.

Thus Daryaabad houses allottment was cancelled

in 1959 or so and this is how it became a girls
school.My grandfather got another property in
Karachi in lieu which was as good in value.But the
pain of leaving Pindi and the Daryabad house was
so lethal that he died a heart broken man in 1962 .

General Ziauddins father Major Khwaja Allauddin

(Bhopal State Forces ) was my grandfathers class
fellow at MAO College Aligarh as was the famous
Brigadier Gulzar (who Ayub Khan had not
promoted out of bias against Janjuas in the
aftermath of Pindi Conspiracy) who was from MAO
College Aligarh fraternity was also close friend of
my grandfather and most of the renunions of the
MAO College Old Boys Pindi were held at my
grandfathers house in Darya Abad Rawalpindi with
Brigadier Gulzar in full attendance !
Gulzars son was the famous Brigadier Farooq Lala
(late).Two of his sons in laws Adnan Janjua and
Sohail Mehdi were my contemporaries in the
armoured corps and Adnan Janjua at the Saint
Marys.

Captain Adnan Janjua alias Bunty

On two occasions General Ayub Khan also an MAO

College Aligarh old boy attended the reunion at my
grandfathers house .

My fathers youngest brother was at the Saint

Marys and he and his class fellow Nasir Nawaz
Janjua (later brigadier) joined the first entry of the
newly established Cadet College Hassan
Abdal.Both rose to be cadet captain , first my uncle
and later Nasir Nawaz ! Nasir Nawaz was cousin of
General Asif Nawaz Janjua .

Saint Marys Murree Road was just next to a house

of a close family friend ! Their son Agha Zafrullah
commanded the submarine PNS Ghazi which sank
in 1971 off Vishakapatnam I have heard.
A course mate Saadullah Fatmis father stands behind my grandfather .Mr
Fatmi was also father in law of late Honorary Major General Rafi (SSG/Baluch
regiment)
 General K.M Arif visits his parent regiment 11 Cavalry.Captain Adnan Azim grandson of
grandfathers contemporary and friend Sardar Azim Sahib of Kala Gojran Jhelum shaking
hands with the VCOAS.Brigadier Lehrasab (later lt gen in the rear behind Lt Col Mian
Liaquat Shah CO 11 Cavalry)

Shahid Hamids cousin Abid ur Rahman was my

class fellow in Cantt Public School Quetta in 1970
and later a course senior in PMA when I joined the
academy in May 1981 ! He was my company mate
also in Tipu Company for an year and half.

I did not meet him after he was commissioned in

September 1982.His younger brother Khalid Kamal
was my brigade mate in 1988-89 at Multan while I
was in 15 Lancers and he was in 10 FF .We were in
the same mess next to Baba Gharib Shah on Sher
Shah Road in Multan.Khalid Kamal was my student
in Armour School again in 1991 ! A fine young man
then !

My maternal grandfather Sultan Khan was also a

friend and contemporary of Raja Khudadad Ali
Khan Sahib (father of generals Ahmad Jamal and
Ahmad Kamal ) and of Sardar Azeem (father of
Ejaz Azim and brothers) as well as that of Brigadier
Gulzar.
Sultan Khan as Deputy Secretary Ministry of Finance, 1957
 Sultan Khan as Deputy Chief Accounts Officer American Purchases , New Delhi ,1946

A cousin of my great grandfather Agha Niamatullah

Khan had established a school in Gujjar Khan on
his own despite being an inspector of police and
not being connected to education ! The school I
believe survives and is now a high school.Agha
Naimatullahs status in that era was that of Sir
Syed of Gujjar Khan on a mini scale !

Another contemporary was Adeel Kazi at Saint

Marys and FC College.Kazi and I rejoined in
Forman Christian College Lahore in 1977-78 while
he was doing B.A and I was in the F.A section.Kazi
became the general secretary of students while
great Aminullah Khakwani from Mailsi was union
president.

Sadly Aminullah Khakwani was murdered in 1978

with full support of the martial law authorities and
one of his murderers later was an an MPA and an
MNA !

Another contemporary of Aminullah was Ahmad

Nawaz Khichi studying in Government College
Lahore .I later bought a car belonging to Khichi in
Multan in 1988.

Kazi was later commissioned in 12 Cavalry.

An extremely fine man Adeel did not go high in the

army but that is expected if a man is upright and
does not indulge in cheap zia ul haq type
sycophancy !

Another class fellow at FC College was the

dashing , handsome Naushad Kiani ! We sat in the
same class rooms and Naushad was the most
handsome looking gentleman in FC College !

Naushad Kiani rose to the rank of major general

and now heads the Military Intelligence
Directorate.
Also hanging out with Naushad Kiani was Pervez ,
another class fellow , not as handsome as Naushad
but a sharp intelligent guy.Both joined 65th Long
Course !

Brigadier Tariq Aslam was a daredevil young

subaltern when I met him in March 1986 in
Multan.He was son of Major General Aslam Zuberi
and nephew of Major General Arshad Malik.

Tariq was a great friend and was unjustly penalised

by his commanding officer for being my defence
witness.We stayed in touch and I specially went to
Bagram to meet him when he was Liasion officer
with US forces.We lost touch after 2009 .
I am glad that he is a brigadier but the tragedy is
that many far less talented than Tariq are major
generals.God help Pakistani armour in the next war
!

Visiting Tariq Aslam at Bagram Air Base Afghanistan ,April 2008

I met both when I joined the academy !

Naushad a true gentleman was most courteous

and friendly ! I met him again on the steps leading
into the command and staff college Quetta in July
1994 where I had gone to meet Colonel Naeem
alias Phanna from 27 Cavalry , a platoon
commander of ours in the PMA and then an
instructor !

Myself and Naeem Phanna were good friends

,having served in the same stations from 1983 till
1991 and having actually been colleagues in the
tactical wing at school of armour Nowshera.Naeem
rose to be a major general in the army. I am glad
that Naushad is a general officer in the army !
Although one good man cannot change the corrupt
system of this doomed country nose diving into
decadence and chaos !

My stay at the School of Armour was most

memorable.The commandant had opposed my
posting but I found sudden friends like the
indomitable Colonel Idris Niazi who gave me great
moral support.Colonel Naeem Phanna soon joined
the Tactical Wing . Idris Niazi insisted on my
attending the mid career course in which I got the
second position.

It was at the Armour School that I started reading

the army journals and my first article in the
Pakistan Army Journal was printed in March
1991.The library was well stocked and Nowshera
was good to sip scotch in the winters.Colonel Zahid
Shah a great friend who I knew from Kharian in
1983 was also great company.
Pervez when I met him after FC College in the
Pakistan Military Academy would pretend not to
recognize a class fellow who he knew well ! He had
his hang-ups and was awkward and hostile as a
senior although this had no affect on my course of
life as a cadet ! It did not matter !

Pervez rose to be Battalion Sergeant Major of 65th

Long Course but was ineffective ! He was more
suited to be an SUO or a JUO ! Not able to exert
his fear of personality in the juniors , inters and
uppers ! He was a dwarf in the art of bullying and
ragging after towering terror personalities like BSM
Khalilur Rahman Afridi or BSM Naseer Raja ( an old
Formanite who I heard of but did not see).

Pervez I am told is the CEO of the Uch Power

Company ! Goes well with Pervezs modus operandi
of being a smart ambitious person ! Although
never a close friend I am glad that he has done
well ! His brother Gulrez , some courses juniour to
me and a colleague at the armour school in 1991 ,
although an extremely bright officer did not do well
.Life has its imponderables and enigmas !

Also with us in PMA was Aamir of 64th Long Course

, as company quarter master of my Tipu
Company , and a class fellow at Saint Marys from
1971-75 .Aamir was a great soul and joined the 7
Baloch ! I did not see him after the 64th passed
out in October 1981.

Now coming back to my old college fellow that I

met after 31 years.

We recollected about Taimur Aslam son of Brigadier

Aslam Dandy from the SP regiments , my class
fellow at Saint Marys till he failed in class seventh ,
class fellow at FC College and course mate at the
Military Academy ! A fine soul ! Taimur was a good
friend and a laid back soul !
 Meeting the VCOAS in January 1986

This narrative would not be complete without

mentioning Five Independent Armoured Squadron
in which I served from January 1992 to November
1993.Despite not being a regular tank regiment
we successfully worked to win the 31 Corps tank
firing trophy defeating eight fine and illustrious
tank regiments.An honour unprecedented in
history of the army of a tank sub unit winning a
corps competition.

He was known to be a religious man but he never imposed his

religious views on anyone !
In early 1993 we started preparing for the corps tank sub caliber
firing competition .Major General Zia ul Haq visited the firing ranges
where our tanks were practicing.He asked me if he could do
anything to assist in our preparations ! I requested him for extra
ammunition and he on the spot sanctioned 50,000 rounds !

When my squadron won the corps competition defeating many

eminent units of the tank corps ,General Zia was the happiest man
in Okara Cantonment !
We talked about Noman Kiani son of the famous
Brigadier Jan Kiani a class fellow at Saint Marys
Academy Lalazar ! Noman was a naughty young
boy and I am told remains one till to date ! Colonel
Irfan Kiani a nephew of Brig Jan Kiani a senior in
the army who has done extremely well in defence
procurement ! Irfan Kiani is a fine gentleman from
the old school !

An year or so senior in the Saint Marys was Adnan

Janjua , later commissioned in the Guides Cavalry ,
a notoriously mischievous character always at
logger heads with the tecahers .His brother was
my class fellow.Adnan Janjua had mellowed done
when we did MCC in Nowshera in Mid 1991 .
Great friend Major Alamzeb Aridi extreme left,Lt Col Javed Sher , Self , Major Changez Dil,
Major Talat,Major Adnan Janjua behind Majors Changez Dil and Talat (man with a
beard),Lahore January 1995

Life in those days was simple and defined ! Every

one knew everyone ! The dirty money of Afghan
war had not yet seeped in Pakistan like seepage of
a gutter although it started doing so from 1979 .

This country became militarized ! Liberalism and

finesse disappeared ! Lahore was overtaken by the
noveau riche of the gulf labour money , the drug
mafia , the property speculators !

All of us were scattered while pursuing careers or

living lives of bankers , military officers , free
booters and so many other professions !

Nevertheless it was nice meeting a person after so

many years with whom you could relate something
!
Some old memories ! Lahore cantonment remains
a place of nostalgia always like Quetta where I
spent a large part of my youth ! But more on
Quetta later !

And destiny is strange ! In 1981 I could have

imagined that I would be constructing transmission
line foundation for the Uzbekistan Kabul line in
2006 !
Tailpiece :-- Although not really relevant , in the
course of remembrance of the past I gobbled more
than half of the Johnie Walker Black Labels bottle
of my host which it turned out belonged to his
brother in law , a rich doctor ! My host had not
anticipated my drinking appetite and was
immensely distressed because of my speed !

My Sindhi Baloch friend had left hard liquors and drank only wine but always had two
bottle of Black Label just to make sure that nothing is left to chance ! Cultural differences !
 A small collection of bottles that we had drunk

So my host planned a rescue operation and when I

told him that I might like to leave as I wanted to
pee in the open , he insisted that I should use his
beautiful washroom and while I was doing so his
newly married wife hijacked what 45 % was left in
his brother in laws bottle !
The Punjabis off course are misers in sharing
booze and miles below Sindhis and Baloch who are
hearty hosts !
The Pashtuns are finer hosts and far better
company in a booze session ! I cannot forget my
Khalqi Afghan boon companions ! But God created
Kabul with its cool crisp weather for the having the
booze and off course the other allied pleasures !
http://www.scribd.com/doc/61839666/Indo-Pak-Wars-A-Pictorial-History