“After this operation, it’s going to be either a Court Martial or Martial Law!” Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations) Air Commodore Abid Rao after attending a briefing at X Corps Headquarters about Kargil operation, May 1999 (1) On October 12, 1999, Pakistan army moved to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government when he announced…
Abdullah, a young army officer met a charming lecturer, Anjum at Peshawar University. They decided to travel the brief journey of life together and married. Abdullah Saeed was son of Dr. Saeed Ahmad Khan (1900-1996) of Abbottabad. In early part of twentieth century, the Indians were trained at the newly established medical schools and Dr….
Recently, the birth centenary of Brigadier Muhammad Usman was celebrated in India. Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari and Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh attended the ceremony. Usman was born in Azmagarh and commissioned in Indian army in 1934 and was among the last batch of Indians to be trained at Royal Military Academy…
India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947 amid chaos and violence. All assets including armed forces were divided between the two countries. Both countries inherited intelligence agencies set up by British colonial authority. In British India, the most effective intelligence set up was civilian. Main concern of the authorities was attempts to tamper with the…
In the first decade after independence in 1947, several officers of Pakistan army were given rapid pro-motions. Officers with same names resulted in some confusion. Two Akbars and two Latifs were frequently confused. Two additional officers named Akbar served in different times. One was Khan Muhammad Akbar Khan, commissioned in different times in 1905 from…
Recently, there is lot of speculation in Pakistan about emergence of a third political force centered on cricketer turned politician Imran Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). A number of politicians from southwestern Punjab recently joined PTI. Southwestern Punjab is taking a lead in this phenomenon which makes it an interesting study to understand…
In a 1.3 million strong Indian army, there is a discrepancy about the date of birth of one officer. In Military Secretary’s (MS) branch the date of birth is May 10, 1950 while in Adjutant General’s (AG) branch it is May 10, 1951. This information was entered over three decades ago. In a mountain load…
I died in pure white snowIcy handsIcy toesFrozen tear decorated my cheeks,Like crystal clear beadsAlways coldAlways alone Pure White Death by Raven (1) On April 06, 2012, a serac (large block of ice) wiped out the battalion headquarters of 6th Northern Light Infantry (NLI) at Gayari in Siachin. Instantly, bustling battalion headquarters became the grave…
Carey Schofield’s book on Pakistan army is another addition to the work done on Pakistan army. Carey was given unprecedented access by then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and President General Pervez Mussharraf. She made several trips to Pakistan over five years time period and was given access to several senior generals and visited many…
Indian Military Academy (IMA) was established at Dehra Dun and it started to train Indians as commissioned officers in 1932. In August 1947 when India and Pakistan emerged as independent nations, India inherited IMA while Pakistan had to start a new facility from scratch. Muslim cadets training at IMA shifted to Pakistan in October 1947….
