Air Marshal Inamul Haque Khan ( ur, ; 25 May 1927 – 10 August 2017) was a three-star

air officer An air officer is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force, air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth nations ...

in the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

who is known for his role as

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

of the Dacca airbase of the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

. In 1971, Inamul Haque Khan, as Air Commodore, was one of the highest-ranking officers to be taken as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

after Eastern Command's

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

A.A.K. Niazi signed an instrument of surrender with

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

's Eastern Command GOC-in-C, Lieutenant-General

Jagjit Singh Aurora Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora (also Jagjit Singh Aurora)Both spellings are used in official documents; though "Aurora" predominates in the listings in the pre-Independence ''Indian Army List'', as do those in the ''Gazette of India''. ...

. After his

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

in 1974, he continued to serve in the Air Force with distinction, and eventually joined

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

General

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

where he held many cabinet ministries.

Biography

Inamul Haque Khan was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, into an Urdu-speaking family on 23 May 1927. He was educated at the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

where he attained his BA and MA in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and briefly tenured as professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

at the

Zakir Husain Delhi College Zakir Husain Delhi College (formerly known as Zakir Husain College, Anglo Arabic College, and Delhi College), founded in 1696, is the oldest existing educational institution in India, and is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, ac ...

from 1945–47. In 1948, he

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, following the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

of India and joined the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

after seeing an advertisement. Inamul was directed to attend the RPAF College at Risalpur. He graduated in the class of 5th GD pilot course. He participated well in the Indo-Pakistani air war during the second war with

in 1965 as Group-Captain, earning recognition as an ace fighter. He continued his lectures on English literature, serving in the faculty at the Islamia College. In 1969, he was promoted to one star rank, Air Commodore, in the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

and was stationed in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

. In June 1971, he took over as the air officer commanding Dacca airbase from Air Commodore M.Z Masud. As the war progressed, Air Cdre. Haque was instrumental in getting almost all PAF pilots and their aircraft out of

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

after the

Dhaka Airport Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport ( bn, হযরত শাহ্‌জালাল আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর, Romanized: ''Hôzrôt Shahjalal Antôrjatik Bimanbôndôr'') ( formerly VGZR) is th ...

was permanently damaged by the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

, and had all the air force pilots flown out to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Though it was initially thought that the army aviation's evacuation by air was not possible due to the air superiority enjoyed by the IAF, he also provided his expertise to

army aviation An army aviation unit is an aviation-related unit of a nation's army, sometimes described as an air corps. These units are generally separate from a nation's dedicated air force, and usually comprise helicopters and light support fixed-wing airc ...

pilots to fly out the army helicopters with remaining PAF pilots. He himself, however, stuck to his post till the end of the war and then was taken as a

by the

in 1971. In 1974, Inamul Haque was

repatriated Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

under the agreement signed with India and Bangladesh, and was allowed to continue his service, eventually attaining the three-star rank in the Air Force.

Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Haq had been appointed as the

ACAS The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a Crown non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong ...

(Operations) at the Air AHQ, and later commanded Air Defence Command as its AOC-in-C with a three-star rank, Air Marshal. His command assignment also included as Director General Joint Staff at JS HQ. Air Mshl Haque was appointed as

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the

Zia administration The Parliament of Pakistan ( ur, , , "Pakistan Advisory Council" or "Pakistan Consultative Assembly") is the federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature that consists of the Senate as the upper ho ...

until 5 July 1978. From 1978-82, he served as the Minister of Housing and Works. In 1980-81, he also led the

Ministry of Water and Power The Ministry of Water and Power ur, , ''wazarat-e- aabb o barq-e'' (abbreviated as MoPW) was a federal ministry in Pakistan. The ministry was dissolved in August 2017. The water division was merged with newly created Ministry of Water Resourc ...

. In 1981, he was posted on a diplomatic assignment as an envoy to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

until 1985. From 1997–99, he remained part of the cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

but eventually retired. Air Marshal Inamul Haque died of natural causes on the 10 August 2017 at the age of 90 after being ill for quite some time. His funeral prayers were held at PAF Base Noor Khan on 11 August with full military honours.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Inamul Haque 1927 births 2017 deaths People from Delhi Aligarh Muslim University alumni Delhi University faculty Muhajir people Islamia College University faculty Pakistan Air Force officers Pakistan Air Force air marshals Pakistani flying aces People of the Bangladesh Liberation War Pakistani prisoners of war Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) Pakistani poets Pakistani non-fiction writers Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Pakistani novelists Pakistani memoirists Ambassadors of Pakistan to Croatia Information Ministers of Pakistan Water and Power Ministers of Pakistan English-language writers from Pakistan Indian emigrants to Pakistan