Daniel Austin was a Christian Brigadier in the Pakistan Army.Dharkan Spring 2014

Early life

He was born in Christian Town, Sialkot in 1935. He attended the CTI School in Sialkot, where he enjoyed athletics, track and field and basketball. He had a lifelong interest in basketball and was captain of his school, college and university teams.

Career

After graduation, Austin joined the Pakistan Army. He graduated from the

Pakistan Command and Staff College ( ''romanized'': Pir Sho Biyamooz Saadi)English: Grow old, learning Saadi ur, سیکھتے ہوئے عمر رسیدہ ہو جاؤ، سعدی , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'' in Deolali, British India) , closed ...

in Quetta and participated in several other command and tactical courses both within the country and abroad. He commanded a Cavalry Regiment and served as Director Budget for the Pakistan Army. Austin retired from active service in 1988 with the rank of Brigadier. During his career he received the Tamgha-e-Basalat, Sitara -e- Harb and the Tamgha-e-Jang. He was also awarded the President’s Pride of Performance Medal for his contribution to the field of sports.

Sports

Austin captained the

Pakistan national basketball team The Pakistan National Basketball Team ( ur, پاکستان باسکٹ بال) is the basketball team representing Pakistan in international competitions, organised and run by the Pakistan Basketball Federation. Its biggest success came at the ...

. Under his captaincy the team won silver medals in international championships in Tehran and Lahore. He was also a member of the national basketball team which played test matches against Iran and took part in the Quadrangular Championships in Sri Lanka in 1957. Austin also coordinated the National Boxing Championships in 1985 and the Pakistan-Holland hockey test matches in Islamabad. He was also the Chief Coordinator of the 4th SAF Games held in Islamabad in 1989. Austin also represented Pakistan on a number of international organizations and competitions. He was Pakistan’s deputy chef de mission at the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of t ...

held in Delhi. He also served as Vice President of the

Pakistan Olympic Association Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) or National Olympic Committee of Pakistan (NOC) ( ur, پاکستان اولمپک ایسوسی ایشن, acronym: POA) is the national olympic organization in Pakistan. It was established in 1948 to oversee the ...

, the Pakistan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Chair of the Defence Services Sports Board and Director General,

Pakistan Sports Board Pakistan Sports Board ( ur, ) was established under the Ministry of Education in 1962 as a corporate body for the purposes of promoting and developing uniform standards of competition for sports in Pakistan comparable to the standards prevailing ...

. He served on the Board of the Christian Study Centre and St. John’s High School in Rawalpindi. He also served as Administrator and CEO of the United Christian Hospital, Lahore between 1990 and 1997. Brigadier Daniel Austin died on 29 December 2013. A memorial service was held at the

Cathedral Church of the Resurrection The Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, aka Lahore Cathedral, is a United Protestant cathedral in the heart of Lahore, Pakistan. It was built on The Mall in 1887, opposite the Lahore High Court. The cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of L ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

on 25 January 2014. The fourth Kashmir Cup All Pakistan Basketball Championship was postponed for a month as a mark of respect.

References

Pakistani Christians Pakistan Army officers Pakistani men's basketball players 2013 deaths 1935 births Pakistan Command and Staff College alumni {{Pakistan-bio-stub