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….
‘Victory in the true sense implies that the state of peace, and of one’s people, is better after the war than before.’ Liddelhart Conflict in Afghanistan is now three decades old with short periods of relative calm and long periods of violent conflict among Afghans. The cast of external actors changed with changing times while…
