Former air chief Zafar Chaudhry passes away

LAHORE: Former Pakistan Air Force (PAF) chief retired Air Marshal Zafar Ahmed Chaudhry passed away due to a cardiac arrest, the PAF announced on Wednesday. He was 93.

Chaudhry had served as the 8th Air Force chief from March 3, 1972 until his resigantion o April 15, 1974. He was among the founding members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Chief of Air Staff Mujahid Anwar Khan has expressed grief at his demise. His funeral prayers will be offered in Lahore Cantt on Thursday.

The HRCP has mourned the passing and will hold a reference in memory of Air Marshal (Retd) Chaudhry on Monday 30 December 2019 in Lahore.

“A committed human rights activist, he was instrumental in supporting HRCP as an independent human rights organisation in the mid-1980s, when no such body existed. Subsequently, he served on its Council and continued to come to HRCP’s office even in frail health. The Commission is indebted to him for helping establish its secretariat in Lahore.

“The entire HRCP family will feel his loss keenly, in particular the friends and comrades with whom he worked so closely – among them Chairperson Dr Mehdi Hasan, Honorary Spokesperson I A Rehman, former Chairperson Zohra Yusuf, Vice-Chair Punjab Salima Hashmi and Council member Hina Jilani,” said a statement by the human rights body.

Zafar Ahmad Chaudhry was born in Sialkot on 19 August 1926. He enrolled at the Punjab University in Lahore, and graduated with bachelor’s degree in 1944, and joined the Royal Indian Air Force.

After the partition of India, he subsequently went to join the Pakistan Air Force, and qualified as an instructor. He received further education at RAF Staff College in Hampshire, United Kingdom before being directed to attend the Joint Service Defence College of the British Army.

In 1971, Chaudhry was appointed as Managing Director of the Pakistan International Airlines where he remained until 1972. On 3 April 1972, he was appointed as first Chief of Air Staff and took over the command of the Pakistan Air Force.

After his retirement, Chaudhry became an activist and was a founding member of the Human Rights Commission serving as its Treasurer and member.