‘In a western democracy, you lose touch with your people, you lose elections; in a monarchy, you lose your head’. Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, Former Saudi Ambassador to Washington. On In the last two years Saudi Arabia has gone through many changes. Absolute monarchies are not easy to decipher. There are many opacities and it is…
“Everyone is critical of the flaws of others, but blind to their own.” Arab Proverb On June 05, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE) severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and also placed land and air embargo. This move came as a surprise to many as this immediately followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s…
Brigadier Jafar Khan passed away in May 2017. Jafar belonged to a family with long association with the army. His grandfather was Khan Bahadur Risaldar Major Malik Muhammad Gulsher Khan Gheba. Born in 1860, young Gulsher was an expert horseman. In 1880, he rode into Mardan with his horse and servant to join legendary Guides…
16th Light Cavalry was one of the first cavalry regiment of the Indian Army that was Indianized. 7th Light Cavalry was the second cavalry regiment that was Indianized and later 3rd Cavalry was also earmarked for Indianization. Disproportionately, a large number of future senior cavalry officers of Indian and Pakistani armies belonged to these three…
This book by the husband and wife team provides a window into the personality of an officer and gentleman, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Brigadier ® Behram Panthaki served as ADC to Sam and Behram and Zanobia had a life long association with Sam and his family. This gives the authors a unique vantage point, they…
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent; but it takes a touch of genius and lots of courage to move something in the opposite direction.”Albert Einstein The Government of Pakistan announced that it has given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to recently retired Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General ®…
The Indian National Army (INA) was formed during the Second World War from Indian Prisoners of Wars (POWs) captured by Japanese. Later, it was re-named Free Indian Army (FIA) but it remained known by its INA name. Second World War saw rapid expansion of Indian Army to participate in another global conflict. On the eve…
“We always take criticism from our friends. If we are wrong, we need to hear that we are wrong. But if we are not wrong, we need to hear support from our friends. What I request is that the thing you actually believe, to say it”. Saudi Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman.1…
We don’t know the final decision of General (Retd) Raheel Sharif about his role in the Saudi led coalition. I am just putting down my thoughts about the issue with the hope that he will seriously re-consider his options. I don’t know if any officer has communicated his thoughts about this issue but almost all…
Major General Muhammad Akbar Khan (1897-1993) was the senior most Muslim officer at the time of independence in 1947. He was the son of Risaldar Major Fazal Dad Khan (1847-1943) who a Minhas Rajput from Chakwal area. His family’s fortune was linked with Sikh durbar. After the demise of Sikh rule and emergence of British…
