Rashid Minhas was born on 17 February 1951 in Karachi at Air Force Hospital 9:40 PM. He was a Pilot Officer in Pakistan Air Force. Rashid Minhas passed the examination of Senior Cambridge from Saint Patrick College in Karachi. In 31 August 1968, he admitted in the School of Air Force in Risalpur. He received the degree of BsC in February 1971 from Peshawar University. Rashid Minhas died on 20 August 1971 in Sindh.
At the age of 4
He was born to a family that had settled in Gurdaspur from Jammu and Kashmir and belonged from a Minhas clan predominantly found in Northern Punjab and in Kashmir regions. After the creation of Pakistan, the family migrated there and lived near Sialkot. Minhas spent his early childhood in Lahore. Later, the family shifted to Rawalpindi.
Minhas was fascinated with aviation history and technology. He used to collect different models of aircraft and jets. He studied from Saint Mary’s Academy, Lalazar and completed his O and A levels at the age of 18. He then attended Karachi University where he studied Military history and Aviation history.
From a young age he was interested in joining the air force. His collection of toy planes of different models are a proof of his interest. It is said that those were the only things on which he spent his pocket money. His aim was to prove his worth in this field. On August 7, 1965 he wrote in his diary
“Today I promise from my heart
that out of three sectors of defence I will join any one.”
In 1969 he joined the air force with his mother’s permission. His father didn’t want him to join any profession other than engineering but he won’t change his mind. He was sent to Risalpur from where in March 1971 he successfully completed his training. He received his B.Sc. degree from Peshawar University in 1971. He came to Karachi for further training and on August 15, 1971 he completed his final training and became a pilot officer.
While going back after visiting his family for the last time he said Khuda-Hafiz to his family for the first time.
Once while he was flying the plane, the petrol started leaking, and when he informed the radio control they aksed him to bail out but he did do that and landed the plane successfully. This, however, was not the only incident that shows how brave he was.
On August 20, 1971, he had to go on a training flight; it was his third solo flight. After getting his clearance he started his plane but while the plane was still on the runway his instructor, Mati-ur-Rehman, came running to the plane and asked him to stop. As he was his instructor Rashid thought that there must be some problem in the plane and not suspecting the evil thoughts of the wicked instructor he stopped and asked what the matter was. The instructor entered the plane (though it is not allowed to board a plane while any training pilot is flying). Mati-ur-Rehman not only entered the plane but also asked Rashid Minhas to take it towards India and on wireless he asked his fellow in Karachi to take his family to the Indian High Commission.
At this Rashid sent the message to the control tower of Mauripur that he is being kidnapped. The instructor made him smell a handkerchief dipped in chloroform. For a while Rashid lost his consciousness. When he regained consciousness he noticed that the instructor had turned the plane towards India. Rashid struggled with all his might to keep the plane within Pakistani territory. The instructor tried hard to take charge of the plane and move it towards India. The instructor had some important papers which he wanted to pass on to the Indian government, and if he became successful in moving out of Pakistan then India would get a lot of information. Rashid Minhas could not let this happen and again informed the control tower but they could not help because the radar could not spot the plane because of its low altitude. Meanwhile Rashid was finding it difficult to overpower the instructor. He again informed the control tower
“I am being kidnapped but I will not let the plane be kidnapped”.
The battle between the wicked instructor and a patriotic soldier with the desire for martyrdom continued for some time. Rashid knew that in a while the plane will enter Indian air space and when they were only 40 miles away from India and sensing that he could not over power Mati-ur-Rehman and take the control back, he aimed the plane towards land and let it crash to the ground killing both the pilot and the instructor. Rashid could not bear to let his plane go to India and so sacrificed his life.
Rashid Minhas became a martyr and on August 21 1971 he was buried with full military honour. For his valour and determination he was awarded the highest military award — the Nishan-i-Haider.
