Remembering Sahabzada Yaqub Ali Khan
By Siraj Khan
Boston
Sahabzada Yaqub Ali Khan left on his final journey to his Creator in January 2016. He was 95, when he breathed his last. Until 1971 (age 50), he was a soldier by heart, body and soul. A few years before his death, at a university event in Islamabad, he narrated the story of the five Sullivan brothers who were killed in World War II. At the time of this tragedy, these brothers were serving together in the US Navy as sailors on a ship USS Juneau. Their ship was attacked by the Japanese and sadly all five were killed in November 1942. Yaqub Khan mentioned that one could not fathom a family tragedy as devastating as this one. After a brief pause, he added that the only possible consoling point was that they were all serving in the same Army to fight a common enemy. In addition, this tragedy served as an eye-opener and the US Department of Defense was compelled to adopt the Sole Survivor Policy in 1948, which thankfully continues to-date.
Yaqub Khan hardly ever shared his personal war experiences, which seemed to always haunt him till his death. He had received commission in the British Indian Army in 1940. His elder brother Younus was already in the British Army by then and both served as young officers during World War II. Yaqub Khan was assigned to the 18th Cavalry in the Middle East, North Africa and Italy. He was captured by the Italian Army near the Egypt-Libya border in 1942. He later escaped to France. He was recaptured by the German Army but escaped yet again. Interestingly, he learned Italian and German languages during captivity. He was released after the war was over. Both earned the Indian General Service Medal. Both returned to India, but then the partition of 1947 came along, which also turned out to be a partition of sorts for thousands of families.
Major Yaqub Khan was a young officer in the Viceroy’s Guards at that time. His father Sir Abdus Samad Khan was an aristocrat and politician who served as Chief Minister of Rampur and as British India's Representative to the League of Nations. Yaqub Khan too, had to make his decision whether to stay back or move on to the new land - Pakistan. He went back to his family mansion in Rampur, where he had spent so much time, happy in nature’s surroundings, Eid festivities, Christmas, Diwali, family gatherings, the line of luxurious cars and faithful servants. He moved around the house reliving his childhood, the games that he played with his brothers, cousins and friends. That evening, the dining table was laden with all the delicacies that Yaqub loved, all Mughlai style, prepared by Ramlal, who had virtually brought him up. As they finished their dinner, and were conversing, he broke the news to his mother of his decision to move to Pakistan. The lady was shocked and angry. “I have thought this over for some time now Ammi, and I have come to this decision. Please don't stop me. Let me live my life. You have had yours”, is what he is reported to have told her. For her, they had lived there for over two centuries, tracing back their ancestry to the Ahmed Shah Abdali, and had lived through the Mutiny of 1857, where the British had executed Yaqub’s great grandfather for his role in that historical incident. The young officer tried to convince his mother that living in Lahore or Karachi would be just like living in Delhi.
Yakub Khan bid farewell to his mother, who was draped in a white sari, a sign of mourning. Reciting a few verses from the Holy Quran, she waved back, erect and dignified despite the obvious sorrow. Ramlal, their cook for over twenty-five years and Kundan Singh their driver for over fifteen were there at the gate, their facing streaming down with tears. “Khuda Hafez, Baba”, they said. Lassie, his German Shepherd was barking and whining away, knowing that her young master was never to return again. Yakub’s heart was filled with sorrow. He promised that he would come back to collect all his trophies and mementos, once he had settled down.
Within one year from the move, Major Yaqub Khan was leading a battalion of the Pakistan Army on a slope in snow bound Kashmir, going on an offensive against a position held by men, who just some months earlier had been firmly together in the same uniform. One of the regiments of the Indian Army was the reputed Garhwal Rifles, which was not only holding on to its position, but was stemming the tide of the Pakistani soldiers offensive. Its commander was also a Muslim, who had decided to stay back in India, the land of his birth. He was leading the Garhwals and made a counter-offensive attack and immersing into the thick of the battle. He too was a Khan, Yaqub’s elder brother, Younas. The two battalions rushed towards each other, guns blazing. It was a fight to defend the soil of their two countries. At first, the Khans were not aware that the other was there, leading their men. Suddenly, in the thick of the battle, the brothers met face-to-face, both with their guns spitting out the bullets in rapid fire. And then, one of Younus Khan’s bullets hit his own brother. Yaqub was hit on his leg.
It was then that Younus discovered what had happened. “Sorry, brother. We are soldiers and we need to do our duty". I will die in full glory watched by Him,” replied Yaqub. His throat felt parched. “I am thirsty. Give me some water.” Younus held his water bottle to his brother's lips, who drank in big gulps. “You know, water never tasted so sweet.” He fell silent for a while and on finding his voice added “Tell Ammi not to grieve for me, but to think of me kindly."
Younus, with his men surrounding him, heads bent, for his brother, and for the friends that they had to kill in defense of their motherland, were in sorrow. And in a further show of deep love and concern, the men of the Indian Army got out their woolen blankets and covered each of the fallen Pakistani soldiers, as if protecting them from the bitter cold. Yaqub was left presumed dead, but he was destined to live. Live to age 95.
The two brothers never contacted each other again. Meanwhile in 1949, Yaqub attended Staff College at Quetta and became a Colonel. In 1953 and 1954, he attended Ecole Superieure de Guerre in Paris. On return to Pakistan, he was promoted to Brigadier and given command of an armored brigade. In 1958, he became vice chief of army general staff. It was only in 1960, when Yaqub, a senior groom, married a young Indian lady Tuba Khaleeli from Kolkata, did the next contact with the brother take place. Younus sent greetings to his younger brother in Pakistan on his marriage. Yaqub ended up commanding an Armored division during the India-Pakistan war of 1965, but by then his brother Col. Younus had retired from the Indian Army. In 1966, Yaqub Khan was made chief of general staff. In 1968, he attended Imperial Defense College in London.
Yaqub Khan was soon promoted to a three-star General in Pakistan Army and in 1969, appointed Commander of Eastern Command and martial law administrator of East Pakistan, based in Dhaka. Tensions had grown following the 1970 elections and in the first week of March 1971, he was ordered to launch a military operation against Awami League lead by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Lt.Gen Sahabzada Yaqub Khan advised General Yahya Khan to avoid using gun power against the democratically elected leader. He informed General Yahya in writing that transfer of power to Sheikh Mujib was the only solution to counter the crisis. When Yahya refused to listen to his Commander, Yaqub Khan decided to resign on April 6, 1971. Initially, he became a target of the dictator’s anger but history proved that he was right. The Quaid’s dream had crashed and within 25 years of independence, we had lost one half of Pakistan. However, Yaqub Khan still commanded respect due to his refusal to shoot at his own countrymen, leading to his resignation. At least he was not tried for any crime or insubordination.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was aware that Sahabzada Yaqub Khan had a good command over several languages including French, German, Italian, Russian, Persian and Arabic. In fact, he had picked up some Bengali as well, since his posting in East Pakistan. He appointed him Ambassador to France in 1972. When General Zia toppled the Bhutto and his government in July 1977, Yaqub Khan, Zia's senior, was serving as Ambassador in the US. He once again decided to act courageously and advised General Zia not to hang a politician, but Zia paid little heed to that advice and hanged Bhutto. Zia, however, appointed Yaqub Khan as his Foreign Minister in 1982. In the same year, Sahabzada Yaqub Khan traveled to New Delhi in his official capacity and met his brother after 34 years. They embraced each other with tears in their eyes and never discussed what had happened between them back in 1948.
Over the next few years, Sahabzada Yaqub Khan became the backbone of Pakistan’s foreign policy, while General Zia was busy creating private militias to fight Soviet troops in Afghanistan. It was in 1986 when General Zia shared a plan with his foreign minister of capturing Kargil. This plan, created by some military commanders of Pakistan Army was rejected outright by Sahabzada Yaqub Khan. Thankfully, General Zia agreed with his foreign minister and this planned operation was aborted. After a few years, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto informed her cabinet ministers including Yaqub Khan that the Army wanted to capture some strategic heights in Kargil. Once again, it was Sahabzada who vehemently opposed the idea and persuaded Benazir Bhutto to avoid that adventure. Sadly, this plan was not shared with the political government in 1999 and Pakistan had to face unfortunate consequences.
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan was the longest serving foreign minister of Pakistan. He served with General Zia and later with elected leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. He successfully negotiated the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Pakistan. He knew multiple languages and it is said that Henry Kissinger once told him that he had an unfair advantage in the arena of diplomacy. Even in his last few years, he continued to advise the Nawaz Sharif administration discreetly to remove misunderstandings with the neighbors. When many of his well-wishers persuaded him to write his memoirs, he once reportedly said that “Let me not make a tamasha of my personal pains and gains”. He said "I cannot tell my full story without mentioning my brother who served India. He did his job and I did mine, but in the process we had also fired bullets on each other. I can’t write all this." He always wanted to maintain peace with family and friends across the border, but never compromised his identity and integrity. Both as a soldier, as well as a diplomat, he never advocated for wars. A true son of the soil and a patriot to the core. That was Lt. General Sahabzada Yaqub Khan.
(Siraj Khan is a global finance and audit professional. Born in Karachi and based in Boston, he is a world traveler and passionate about building bridges between people through art and culture. www.opnayyar.org).
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