RAWALPINDI: The 52nd martyrdom anniversary of Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas is being observed today.
He is the youngest recipient of the highest gallantry award Nishan-e-Haider, who embraced martyrdom at Goth Ahmed Shah, Sujawal on this day in 1971.
On his martyrdom anniversary, Armed Forces of Pakistan, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and Services Chiefs have paid glowing tribute to Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas.
The ISPR said Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas’s martyrdom anniversary serves as a powerful reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by Armed Forces of Pakistan.
In the line of duty, Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas lived up to great traditions of Pakistan Armed Forces in defending the motherland, it added.
“Let us remember these heroes who have laid down their lives in defence of our motherland. The nation is proud of its gallant sons,” it said.
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas was born on 17 February, 1951. He was commissioned as a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force.
Rashid Minhas was taxing for take-off on a routine training flight when an Instructor Pilot forced his way into the rear cockpit, seized control of the aircraft and took off.
When Minhas realized that the absconding pilot was heading towards India, he tried to regain control of the plane but was unable to do so.
Knowing that it meant certain death, he damaged the controls and forced the aircraft to crash 32 miles short of the border on 20 August 1971. He was martyred at the age of 20.
