Rashid Minhas remembered on his 49th martyrdom anniversary

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army has paid tribute and remembered the sacrifice of martyred pilot officer Rashid Minhas on his 49th death anniversary.

The Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) in a Twitter message said, “Today we remember supreme sacrifice of Pilot officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed (Nishan-e -Haider) in the line of duty. Pilot officer Rashid Minhas lived up to great traditions of Pakistan Air Force serving the motherland.”

Today we remember supreme sacrifice of Pilot officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed (Nishan-e -Haider) in the line of duty. Pilot officer Rashid Minhas lived up to great traditions of Pakistan Air Force serving the motherland.#OurMartyrsOurHeroes

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) August 19, 2020

Rashid Minhas was the youngest Pakistan Air Force officer who was awarded Nishan-e-Haider, the highest military honour, aged 20. He was born on 17th February 1951 in Karachi and was commissioned as a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force in March 1971.

Minhas spent his early childhood in Karachi and later his family shifted to Rawalpindi. Minhas embraced his true passion school for aircraft and earned a degree in military and aviation history from University of Karachi.

On 20th August 1971, during a routine training mission on a T-33 Jet trainer, Rashid Minhas was stopped by an instructor Flight Lieutenant Mati-ur-Rehman who got into the instructor’s seat, seized control and tried to fly the jet to India.

Minhas sent a radio message PAF Base Masroor with the message that he was being hijacked. The air controller requested that he resend his message and he confirmed the hijacking. Minhas forced the plane to crash just 32 miles from the Indian border, sacrificing his life for the nation.

He was awarded the military’s highest honour Nishan-e-Haider posthumously for his bravery, becoming the youngest person in history and the only member of the Pakistan Air Force to be honoured with this award for his bravery.

Minhas was honoured as a national hero. In his memory, the Pakistan Air Force base at Kamra was renamed PAF Base Minhas. In Karachi. he was honoured by the naming of the ‘Rashid Minhas Road’.