Page 4 - Pakistan Link - July 2, 2021

P4 – PAKISTAN LINK – JULY 2, 2021 OPINION
Pakistan Link n By Mowahid Hussain Shah Unsung

early 50 years after the

Dacca debacle, the wound
Advisory Board Nstill has not been cleansed.
Dr Sohail Masood False narratives abound. It could
President have been a teach-
Arif Zaffar Mansuri able moment for

ArifMansuri@PLpublications.org searching self-ex-
amination. In its
Editor immediate aft er-
Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui math, those who

afaruqui@pakistanlink.com benefited from the
vivisection of the
Editor Urdu Link & Bureau Chief (Pakistan) nation also had the means to cover
Shabbir Ghori up.

urdulink@yahoo.com The more damaging conse-
quences are that the current Paki-
Resident Editor Urdu Link

& Director Video Operations stan youth is, in effect, clueless about
Anwar Khawaja 1971 and, at best, has a hazy notion,
akhawaja@pakistanlink.com if at all, that Bangladesh once was
East Pakistan. There has been no

Manager Sales & Advertising discernable attempt to dig deep to
sales@pakistanlink.com ascertain the lessons learned. It is
demeaning today to see Pakistan be-
Regional Offi ces
seeching Bangladesh to play cricket
in Pakistan.
YKKB 1971 ruined reputations – some
ykkb03@gmail.com good ones. 1971 also enabled a few
to build their political fortunes on
Sacramento, CA
Sacramento@plpublications.com the grave of united Pakistan.
31 years ago, one of the prin-

San Fransisco/Bay Area, CA cipal figures caught in the vortex

Sanfrancisco@plpublications.com of 1971 left his mortal abode in the
Washington, DC area. He was Air
New York, NY
Newyork@plpublications.com Marshal Rahim Khan, the last Air
Chief of united Pakistan. I happened

Houston, TX to know him and his refined wife,
Houston@Plpublications.org Princess Mehrunissa Khan, quite
well. They lived in the same neigh-

Phoenix, AZ borhood, on the same street.
Phoenix@Plpublications.org File photo: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao, PAF C-in-C Air Marshal Rahim Khan and
Rahim had a stellar profession- Foreign Secretary Sultan Muhammad Khan receive Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan, 1972

Ontario, Canada al career, being the first Asian pilot
Ontario@Plpublications.org to break the sound barrier. He kept compliance on the crackdown, in When old friends, Clara and pilots in Crystal City, Virginia.
his personal dignity as well as the his capacity as GOC, East Pakistan. Aman Khan, hosted a major farewell In Pakistan, sweeping gener-

Letters to the Editor reputation of the Pakistan Air Force Mehrunissa was a daughter of the event for me on the eve of my move alizations are often made about the
intact during those bleak days. After Nawab of Rampur. And Yaqub also to Pakistan, Rahim spoke, wishing venality of elites, but honest excep-

Readers are welcome to express their opinion
in these columns. Please keep your letters the fall of Dacca, he helped facilitate hailed from Rampur. Rahim, how- me well and hoping and predict- tions are not duly noted and do get
brief and to the point. Letters without full a bloodless transition to civilian au- ever, had no ISPR to document his ing at the same time that I would be brushed aside. Not everyone has had
name, complete address, and a daytime

phone number will not be published. thority (vide The New York Times, their hands in the cookie jar. Rahim
Also, copies of letters sent to other news- “Man in the News” by Malcomb W. When Zia was bent on executing Bhutto, Rahim had the self-respect not to go with
papers are not encouraged. Letters can be

mailed, faxed or e-mailed to the Editor at Browne, December 29, 1971.) tried to dissuade him, warning about the lethal the flow.
the Pakistan Link Headquarters address In the spring of 1977, there was The lazy proclivity is to base

listed below. implications. He also interceded with Bhutto

Pakistan Link (ISSN 1074-0406) is pub- popular unrest against Zulfiqar Ali opinions on hearsay and to swal-
lished weekly for $85 a year by JAZ LLC, Bhutto’s autocratic methods. Rahim, in rehabilitating Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, who low what the media dishes out. Few
DBA PL Publications, LLC. at that time, was serving as Pakistan’s bother to probe deeply into charac-
Periodical postage paid at Anaheim, CA ambassador to Spain. Appalled by had run afoul of the military junta following his ter.

and additional mailing offices.
POST MASTER: Send address changes to Bhutto’s violent crackdown, Rahim noncompliance on the crackdown, in his capacity as Rahim didn’t encash his past
Pakistan Link, P O Box 1238, Anaheim, CA

92815 quit with no “Plan B” and left for GOC, East Pakistan. Mehrunissa was a daughter of position and never lowered his mor-
The management has the right to refuse the United States. For being a con- al standards. Perhaps, his mistake
to print any advertisement, news, article, the Nawab of Rampur. And Yaqub also hailed from
letter or any other material. In case of scientious objector, I witnessed him was not writing and recording his
any errors in advertisement the manage- endure tough times with ineffable Rampur. Rahim, however, had no ISPR to document recollections of 1971, which could

ment will not be liable for more than the
amount paid for the advertisement to the grace. He was distinct from so many his role have led to an accurate and instruc-
Link. of the expats who are soaked in ma- tive diagnosis of the Dacca debacle.
Advertisements in Pakistan Link are
placed in good faith. The newspaper is not terialism. To cite Robert Frost, he role. back. In Lahore, he made it a point Its misdiagnosis paved the path for
responsible nor endorses the contents of chose “the road less traveled.” Always neatly attired, Rahim to visit my parents at our family resi- recurring mishaps, which continue
any advertisement. In case of a frivolous
lawsuit, the plaintiff will bear the total cost When Zia was bent on execut- exuded modesty and knew how to dence in Muslim Town. to divide and metastasize, with no

of the suit, including but not limited to the ing Bhutto, Rahim tried to dissuade treat and fete friends, being par- His curiosity was infectious. I lessons learned.
Link’s costs and the attorney’s fees.
him, warning about the lethal im- ticularly attentive and caring about remember how interested he was In a social landscape where the
plications. He also interceded with their comfort. A man of few words, when I wrote an article about my unscrupulous and venal bloom, Ra-
Information for Bhutto in rehabilitating Sahabzada he mostly communicated in English. meeting General Adolf Galland – him remains unsung. But what en-
one of Hitler’s greatest Luftwaffe aces
Yaqub Khan, who had run afoul of

dures and grows larger is the imprint
And I never heard him bad-mouth
Subscribers the military junta following his non- anyone. – during a World War II reunion of of an upright gentleman.
The printing of Pakistan Link is unfail-
ingly completed by Wednesday every Fear and Abuse
week and its copies are handed over to n By Rafi a Zakaria Even though all of this material
the mailing house for prompt dispatch Karachi, Pakistan was available on June 17, 2021, when
to the subscribers. The Link should Wafaqul Madaris. leave on June 3. the video became public, the police
reach its destination on time if there is

no delay at the post office. If a delay is t happened every Friday. Ac- Facing this difficult situation Yet even while the adminis- did not arrest the mufti and his sons

occasioned it is in no way attributable cording to the statement re- because of which he was not able tration had seen clear evidence of
to the performance of Link’s manage- FEAR, P7
ment. In case of delayed receipt of Pak- Icorded when the complaint to take his exams and graduate, he the sexual assault, no FIR was reg-
istan Link or missing issues, please con- was lodged with the police, Mufti begged Mufti Rehman to allow him istered. That did not happen until Views and

tact your local Post Office and submit a opinions ex-

“Publication Watch” form. Azizur Rehman, to take his exams but was told by the June 17 after the video was leaked
who is accused of latter that he would consider doing on social media and went viral with pressed by

sexually assaulting so only if he would ‘make the mufti stunned viewers calling for action authors and

PAKISTAN LINK a madressah stu- happy’. This, the victim learned, was against the perpetrator. For his part, contributors
articles,
in
dent, did it every
the mufti himself issued a video

a euphemism for letting the mufti
Headquarters Friday. The victim sexually assault him. The assaults statement in which he swore on the letters, opin-

P O Box 1238, Anaheim, CA 92815 had gained admis- continued for years. According to Holy Quran that he did not commit ion pieces,
Tel: 714-400-3400 reports, advertisements, etc

Fax: 714-400-3404 sion in the Jamia Manzoor-ul Isla- the victim, the mufti had recently the acts. According to him, he had
E-Mail: Editor@PakistanLink.com mia in 2013 when he was a child. A also begun to blackmail him. When been drugged with some substance appearing in Pakistan Link
few years ago, when he was sitting he complained to a madressah ad- and then made to commit the deed. and Urdu Link are their own.

for exams, Mufti Rehman accused ministrator, he was not believed. It But that was exposed as a mistruth The paper neither shares

Pakistan Offi ce the victim and his friend of cheat- was only when the video surfaced, in another video where he is re- nor endorses them and thus
42 Rehman Court ing. This led to the victim being clearly showing the mufti assaulting portedly seen talking on his mobile should not be held responsi-

Plaza Square, Off M. A. Jinnah Road banned for three years from tak- his teenage victim that action was fi- phone in the same room and fully in ble for the views/opinions of

Karachi-74400, Pakistan

ing exams at any madressah in the nally taken and the mufti was told to control of his faculties. the writers & advertisers.
www.PakistanLink.com