The Rashid Minhas saga: Some unknown facts
 

The incident took place on August 20, 1971 at around midday. An hour later, while hosting a lunch in Peshawar, the air chief recommended a “Sitara-a-Jurrat” to General Yahya. The President, General Yahya, in a drunken state immediately upgraded it to Nishan-e-Haidar and the award was announced on the same date i.e. August 20, 1971.
The board of inquiry was immediately suspended and later scrapped - and within hours Rashid Minhas from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) became the first recipient of Nishan-e-Haidar, the highest gallantry award.

The military action in East Pakistan began on March 25, 1971. Soon thereafter, the Bengali pilots of PAF were grounded and all their flying clothing and equipment withdrawn. It was then that to call world attention to the plight of Bengalis in East Pakistan and freedom movement, the Bengali pilots at Masroor air base, Karachi, plotted to hijack a PAF aircraft to India. It was also agreed that any backlash from the authorities would be borne by the remaining Bengalis collectively.

Flight Lieutanent Mati-ur-Rahman was a flight instructor at No. 2 squadron but was given the charge of a ground safety officer. Hence, he enjoyed the liberty to move on the flight lines and tarmac without arousing any suspicion. His wife and two daughters were to be shifted to the Indian consulate in Karachi before the hijacking.

On August 20, Rashid Minhas was due for a solo mission on the two-seater T-33. On seeing Minhas’ aircraft on the taxi-track Mati-ur-Rahman sped his official jeep and gestured him to stop as if to pass on some urgent instructions. As Minhas pulled the plane, Mati-ur-Rahman jumped into the rear cockpit through the open canopy.

The plane took off and minutes later, three frantic calls were received by the air traffic control: “Bluebird-166 is hijacked! Two F-86 Sabres immediately scrambled to go after the hijacked aircraft to force it to turn back. Later, another pair of sabres took off to go after the trainer aircraft.However, neither the sabre crew nor the sector operations center (SOC) had any clue of the position of the aircraft which was flying at a very low altitude. The SOC and the sabre crew then made calls to Rashid Minhas to eject.

The plane which was hijacked at 1130 hrs crashed at approximately 1143 hrs- around 43 nautical miles from Masroor air base, near Thatta. The wreckage of the plane was found at 32 nautical miles from the Indian border in a muddy terrain at the mouth of river Indus. The bodies or Rashid Minhas and Mati-ur –Rahman were reportedly found much ahead of the aircraft wreckage.What transpired in that aircraft and what caused the crash, nobody knows for sure as the board of inquiry was shelved! What we are left with is conjectures and assumptions! But within hours Pakistan Air Force won its first Nishan-e-Haidar.
Rashid Minhas was buried at the Military graveyard at Masroor. In his memory the Pakistan Air Force base at Kamra was renamed PAF Base Minhas. In Karachi, he was honored by the naming of a main road, Rashid Minhas Road. A two-rupee postage stamp bearing his image was issued by Pakistan Post in December 2003.

Mati-ur-Rahman was buried at the military graveyard at Masroor Air Base reserved for class four employees while his widow, Milly, and his two infant daughters were imprisoned for a month by Pakistan Air Force. They were released on September 29, 1971. On December 15, 1973, Mati-ur-Rahman was posthumously awarded Bir Sreshto- Bangladesh’s highest gallantry award . After over 30 years of negotiations, Mati-ur- Rahman’s remains were exhumed from his grave in Karachi and finally returned to Bangladesh on June 24, 2006 for a ceremonial and highly symbolic reburial in 2006. He was buried at the Martyred Intellectuals Graveyard, in Mirpur, Dhaka, with full military honors.

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