Mehboob Qadir

There are sane and sympathetic voices out there speaking for Pakistan. One deeply appreciates the understanding and empathy that they show for our men and officers killed by NATO helicopters at Salala Post in Mohmand Agency. One is also very touched by their longing for the outside chance that it had not happened and the […]

Dera Ismail (DI) Khan is a typically rural town located west of River Indus, on the fringes of development. The British built it as a major garrison town for their campaigns into Mehsud tribal territory and conquest of Balochistan from the direction of Zhob. A part of Punjab under the British Raj inhabited mostly by […]

Military’s barrack language ordinarily is a mix of directness, officiousness and many a time, of incomprehensibility. Possibly, it is a logical result of the environment of apprehension and anxiety that surrounds the soldiers in the face of direct danger to life during war and hard-driven competence for war during peace. Amongst the whole inventory of […]

It was 1982-83 when a senior Martial Law officer in Hyderabad overstepped his authority and propriety both. He was reasonably well placed in the hierarchy and had the right connections to late President Zia’s inner circle. Somewhere in 1982, a general decision was taken to round up ‘anti-social’ elements in Sindh. Long lists were prepared […]

The Afghan freedom war was raging furiously in those days. It was 1984. Pakistani posts along the Durand Line would occasionally come under Soviet artillery fire and air raids. The ones suspected by the Soviets of allowing the mujahideen and their supplies to pass through were punished more than others. Paiwar Kotal Post on Parachinar […]

The famous Section 55 in the Pakistan Army’s Manual of Pakistan Military Law (MPML) can easily be regarded as an outstanding example of the brilliance of that unknown legal prodigy who originally conceived it. It is simple and crisp but extraordinarily comprehensive in its application to a majority of military offences. It reads: “Any act, […]

In the year 1987, while posted in Rawalpindi, I went to Hathi Chowk to buy some sweets a day before Eid. A gusty wind was blowing, kicking up dust and light litter everywhere. As the car parked, I saw a youngish beggar sitting on the filthy steps before a shuttered shop. His unkempt shaggy beard […]

During a tenure of duty from 1993 to 1995 in D I Khan, I used to frequently travel by road to Bahawalpur via Muzaffargarh for official business. On one winter day, we turned off the main road onto a dirt track leading into a roadside belt of forest, and stopped there a little distance away. […]

Our Brigade Commander, Brigadier ‘Makhmad’ Hayat, was a noble exception like quite a few others and what a battle commander he was. He never wore a steel helmet and never carried a weapon. Always wore his peculiar discoloured blue beret and knotted Malacca cane in hand. This officer was completely fearless. His standing orders were […]

It was a crisp and pleasantly nippy wintry morning when our plane landed at Dacca Airport on November 18, 1971, after a brief stop over at Sri Lanka. There was an eerie silence and the airport looked almost completely deserted. On the runways other than the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane that had just landed […]