KARACHI: Pakistanis mark the 51st martyrdom anniversary of Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed Nishan-i-Haider (NH) today (20 August, 2022).
One of the major arteries of this Metropolis Karachi is called Rashid Minhas Road.
It runs all the way from Shahrah-e-Faisal passing through Cantonment area, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Azizabad etc to join the Super Highway.
And yes Lucky One and Imtiaz Super Market too are located on the same road (near Lyari Naddi) drawing millions.
Passing through this road very few experience the emotion that made young Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas damage control of the jet he was flying in and crash it over fifty kilometers from the Indian border.
Karachiite Rashid Minhas was born in 1951 and got his early schooling at St. Mary’s Cambridge School Rawalpindi.
He was commissioned as PAF Pilot Officer in 1971 the year he sacrificed his life in the line of duty.
According to records Rashid Minhas was taxiing towards the runway when an Instructor, Pilot Flight Lieutenant Mati-ur-Rahman, asked him to stop and then climbed into the instructor’s seat with an intention of flying the jet to India.
When Rashid Minhas realized that Rehman was hijacking the plane along-with him, he informed PAF Base Masroor and later crashed the aircraft.
He wanted to prevent Mati-ur-Rahman from taking the aircraft to India.
Earning the highest medal of courage Nishan-e-Haider he got his name engraved into the history of Pakistan air-war as the youngest recipient of the award.
President Dr Arif Alvi paying tribute on his 51st anniversary of martyrdom maintained that the nation was indebted to the sacrifices of such brave and courageous sons and saluted them for their supreme sacrifices. Alvi stated by sacrificing his life for the country in a tender age, Shaheed Rashid Minhas had set a great example and foiled enemy’s nefarious designs with his valor. Shaheed Rashid Minhas did not desist from sacrificing his life for the honor and respect of the motherland.
PAF documentary paying tribute to Rashid Minhas on 51st martyrdom anniversary:
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PS: It is a general misconception that Nishan-e-Haider is a posthumous award. Late Air Commodore M. M. ALAM told this scribe that Air Marshal Noor Khan had recommended a Nishan-e-Haider for him in recognition of his 1965 performance (i.e.: Killing nine and injuring one Indian Air Force aircraft). But Field Marshal Ayub Khan instead okayed only SJ-Bar for the single-star General M. M. Alam who holds world record of having downed five (Indian Air Force) aircraft in less than a minute.
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