Grave stones and memorial tablets are silent sign posts that provide a window not only to a life but a whole era. Memorial tablet of Major Philip Hockin at a church in Lahore is one such story. He joined Indian army on 08 March 1841. He was promoted Lieutenant on 24 January 1845, Captain on…
The Shia of Kashmir have a unique history. There were two groups of Shias who migrated to Kashmir from present day Iran and Iraq in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. One group escaped persecution and the other were missionaries. Some artisan classes also joined these groups. Local conversion due to efforts of missionaries increased Shia numbers….
Brigadier ® Nisar Ahmad Khan passed away on 30 July 2019 in Michigan; United States. He was nick named ‘Kaka Nisar’. A fine officer and gentleman who was instrumental in a very important holding action of armor in 1965 Indo-Pakistan War faded away into the fog of history. He was born on 28 March 1920 at Bassi Pathana…
‘Being a friend of the United States was like living on the banks of a great river. The soil is wonderfully fertile, but every four or eight years the river changes course, and you may find yourself alone in a desert’. General Muhammad Zia ul Haq to William Casey 1983 quoted in John E. Persico’s…
The First World War was a global conflict with millions of soldiers fighting in theatres all over the globe. All belligerents captured hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war (POWs). British, Prussian, Czarist, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires mobilized native citizens as well imperial subjects for war. The Ottoman Empire was influenced by Prussian military system…
“Spying is a like a game of chess. Sometimes you have to withdraw, sometimes you have to sacrifice one of your pieces to win preferably a knight rather than a king or queen”. John Rhys-Davies Pakistan army spokesperson announced on 30 May 2019 that two army officers and one civilian were tried by a Field…
On the eve of the First World War, the British army consisted of the regular army, territorial forces and reserves. The recruitment of regular infantry regiments was county based. Each infantry regiment consisted of two battalions. Territorial force consisted of part-time soldiers. County associations trained and equipped territorial battalions. These associations were controlled by local…
In the early hours of March 15, 2019 Brigadier (R) Asad Munir committed suicide. In his suicide note, he mentioned harassment by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Thus, extinguished the flicker of light of a fine officer and gentleman. I have known Asad for about ten years when in 2009 he contacted me. A few…
“There is nothing further here for a warrior. We drive bargains; old men’s work. Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men; courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace. The vices of peace are the vices of old men; mistrust and caution. It must be so” Prince Feisal…
This picture is dated 29 November 1972 when the Indian army Chief General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw flew to Pakistan for negotiations after the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. The two Pakistani Air Force (PAF) officers were prisoners of war and brought by Sam as a goodwill gesture. Both officers were shot down in western theatre…
