Introduction

Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas( seventeen February 1951 – twenty August 1971) American state, was a serviceman within the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).Minhas was the sole PAF officer to receive the best bravery award, the Nishan-e-Haider.He was additionally the youngest person and therefore the shortest-serving officer to possess received this award.throughout the routine coaching mission in August 1971, P/Off.Minhas tried to achieve management of his jet trainer once his officer Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman was attempting to defect to Asian country to affix Liberation war of People'sRepublic of Bangladesh and deliberately seize his plane that crashed close to the Thatta District, Sindh in Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Early Life and Education

Rashid Minhas was born on seventeen February 1951, at urban center to a Muslim Hindu family of the Minhas kindred.Rashid Minhas spent his time of life in urban center.Minhas had his early education from St Mary's Cambridge faculty Rawalpindi.Later his family shifted back to urban center.Minhas was fascinated with aviation history and technology.He wont to collect completely different models of craft and jets.He additionally attended St Patrick's highschool, Karachi.The antecedent of Rashid Minhas was born in Qila Sobha Singh and afterward they captive to urban center and Rashid Minhas was born in urban center.His father, Majeed Minhas, a applied scientist ANd an alum of the NED University in urban center, was in an exceedingly construction management business UN agency later captive toHe was educated in metropolis and taking admission in British-managed St.Mary's faculty in Rawalpindi once his father found AN employment chance however later for good settled in urban center.He passed and qualified for his Senior Cambridge examination and performed well whereas finishing the O-level and A-level qualifications from the St.His father, Majeed Minhas, wished his son, Rashid, to follow his step by attending the engineering university and powerfully desired for his son to achieve a degree in engineeringwhen finishing his high schooling in urban center.:Against the needs of his father, Rashid entered within the PAF faculty in Lower Topa in 1968, the Air Force's officer candidate faculty,and forwarded towards finishing his training at the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Air Force Academy in 1969

Death

Having joined the air force, Minhas was commissioned on thirteen March 1971, within the 51st GD(P) Course.On twenty August of that year, within the hour before noonday, he was preparing to require off in an exceedingly T-33 jet trainer in urban center, Pakistan.His second solo flight in this form of craft.Minhas was taxiing toward the runway once a Bengali teacher pilot, Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman, signalled him to prevent and so climbed into the instructor's seat.The jet took off and turned toward Asian country.Minhas radioed 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.Later investigation showed that Rahman meant to defect to Asian country to affix his compatriots within the People's Republic of Bangladesh Liberation War, at the side of the jet trainer.In the air, Minhas struggled physically to seize management from Rahman; every man tried to overpower the opposite through the automatically coupled flight controls.Some thirty two miles (51 km) from the Indian border, the jet crashed close to Thatta.Minhas was posthumously awarded Pakistan's prime military honour, the Nishan-E-Haider, and have become the youngest man and therefore the solely member of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Air Force toSimilarly, Rahman was worthy by People's Republic of Bangladesh with their highest military award, the Bir Sreshtho.Minhas's Islamic Republic of Pakistan military citation for the Nishan-E-Haider states that he "forced the craft to crash" so as to stop Rahman from taking the jet to Asian country.[Thisis that the official, well-liked and wide celebrated version of however Minhas died.Mazhar, a author for Islamic Republic of Pakistan Military association, relayed in 2004 that he spoke to retired PAF senior pilot Cecil Chaudhry concerning Minhas, which he learned alot of details not usually celebrated to the general public.per Mazhar, Chaudhry light-emitting diode the immediate task of investigation the portion and writing the accident report.Chaudhry told Mazhar that he found the jet had hit the bottom nose 1st, instantly killing Minhas within the front seat.Rahman's body, however, wasn't within the jet and therefore the cover was missing.Chaudhry searched the realm and saw Rahman's body far behind the jet, the body found with severe abrasions from hit the sand at a coffee angle and a high speed.Chaudhry thought that Minhas in all probability jettisoned the cover at low altitude inflicting Rahman to be thrown from the cockpit as a result of he wasn't strapped in.Chaudhry felt that the jet was too near to the bottom at that point, too way out of management for Minhas to be ready to stop the crash.

Legacy

After his death, Minhas was honoured as a national hero. In his memory the Pakistan Air Force base at Kamra was renamed PAF Base Minhas, often called Minhas-Kamra. In Karachi he was honoured 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; 500,000 were printed.

Awards and decorations

• Nishan-e-Haider(NH)