Brig Saadullah Khan, Hilal e Jurat, took over command of 14 Punjab Regiment at Kasur in mid-1966. It was my proud privilege, as it was for the others, to have served under him. He was born to train men, to lead them, and to get the best out of them.
He came to us on promotion. The reputation that preceded him was that of a thorough professional not given to overlooking lapses. Thus, we daily waited for him to lose his temper. We kept waiting for two months and then gave up. In the two years that he commanded, he never felt the need to raise his voice.
He was also known for very strict observance of religious practices. And so we waited for him to ask which way the Kaaba was, or if there was a Jai-namaz available, or where the lota was. But he disappointed us again. He never asked. In his book, justifying one’s pay by dedicated service had more religious merit to it than a lifetime of praying and fasting. Therefore, he severely discouraged discussion on any religious topic. He was much happier discussing how a machine gun should be sited.
The start of his military career was not very auspicious. Within weeks of joining the Pakistan Military Academy, he was charged with insubordination, and papers were drawn up for his withdrawal from the Academy. The specifics of the charge were that he refused to shave off his flowing beard when ordered to do so. He escaped because the order itself was illegal.
Two years later he passed out with the Sword of Honour and joined the unit which he came to command in 1966. As a Brigadier in the 1971 War, he was recommended for the award of Nishan e Haider for having personally led an infantry platoon assault on two enemy battalions and routing them. Because he came out of battle without a scratch, his N.H. was downgraded, and he came away with an H.J.
He was a shoo-in for his promotion to Maj Gen and was duly approved. But before this approval could be converted to a promotion by formal orders, it was rescinded, and he was superseded. Not given to allowing an inaccuracy or a falsehood to pass without check, he got into a situation where he felt the need to put right an incorrect tactical conclusion drawn by his Corps Commander during a military demonstration. For this, he paid the price.
His brigade was then sent to Baluchistan to fight the insurgency. Through decency and showing respect to their families he got more Baluch “hostiles” to lay down their weapons, than the rest of the Division did by use of firepower. This excited the envy of his peers, and some ill talk reached Zia ul Haq, the Army Chief. And Zia, to reaffirm his loyalty to Bhutto, advised him that Saadullah was more to be feared than relied upon because he was a man of very strong convictions, and that therefore the army would be better off being rid of him.
And so Saadullah Khan, probably the best soldier produced by this army, was given 24 hours to pack up and march into retirement.
But that was many years later. As our Commanding Officer [ C.O] we had much to remember him by.
I especially remember a discussion with him during one of our tea breaks. The CO, speaking about deliberate orders, was emphasising that an officer giving an order should make certain that the order he was giving was both legal and “obey-able”. Otherwise, both the officer and the order itself would be discredited. And then he expatiated on the advisability of explaining to the men the spirit behind a given order. His view was that if the man who was to carry out an order felt invested in it, because he knew why such an order was necessary, he would carry it out to better effect.
At this, Lt Iftikhar Gondal, who liked asking questions, sometimes to his detriment, couldn’t help blurting out: “But sir, orders are orders, and should be obeyed with eyes closed.”
“No, Gondal”, said the CO, ” Never with eyes closed. The officer giving out the order must be certain that it was a legal order, and the men should have faith that the orders their officers gave, were such.”
Some days later, for one week in June, the unit was allotted [rifle] firing ranges located in the dry bed of the Ravi, near Thokar Niaz Beg. So the entire unit moved and made camp near the ranges.
Pre-monsoon June weather in Lahore can be brutal. So the CO ordered firing in two shifts. From thirty minutes after first light to 10 a.m.; and then from 5 to 7 p.m.
It was the first day of firing, and my detail began firing at 9 a.m. The first practice was 5-round grouping fire on a 4 by 4 foot target at hundred yards. The targets were stood up against the river bed escarpment, which had to do in place of butts. After each round of firing, we had to walk from the firing point to the targets, examine and measure the groups on each, and return to the firing point.
Each of the ten firers did pretty well on their first attempt. All except sepahi Liaqat. Amazingly, he did not get even one round in the target! Surely this must be a freak, I thought. So he was included in the next detail and had a second go. Again, the result was the same. So he was included in the third detail and still managed the same result. Impossible, I thought. But he repeated the miracle twice more, by which time it was 10 a.m. and the end of the first shift.
But I kept him back, and asked Subedar Iqbal, the firing coach, to see what he could do about him. So he was told to take off his steel helmet and web equipment, and a couple of sandbags were provided to him to rest his rifle on while firing. In short, we tried to make him as unencumbered and as comfortable as possible. But the bloody fool clean missed the target on his sixth attempt as well.
Subedar Iqbal, as he had been doing all morning, checked out his firing position with great care, told him how he should take a deep breath, then breathe out slowly, hold it, and then gently pull the trigger as if squeezing a lemon. He followed all the instructions, and managed to clean miss the target yet again.
Soon it became extremely hot and humid. Trudging repeatedly from the firing point to the butts to check the target was getting exhausting, and I was getting very irritated. After about his twentieth attempt, each one as clean a washout as all the others, my patience broke, and I told him to stand up. I began to rave: what the bloody hell did he think he was doing?; who did he think he was?; did he think I was his bloody servant? With each question, I would slap my cane hard against my right leg. But this did not help me to get an answer.
Eventually, completely exasperated, I asked: “Why can’t you bloody well at least get one bullet in the target?”
Having remained completely mum all this time, he took me by complete surprise by firmly informing me that he could not see through his right eye, while the left one was “ordered” shut. He then asked: ” Sur jee, so how can anyone see the target with both eyes closed?”
Stunned, I could only foam at the mouth and barely managed to sputter: “But why the hell did you not tell me this before?
“Because sur jee” he replied straight to my face, “you never asked.”
He was right of course. I had not asked. There was nothing more for me to say or do but to call off the firing.
I was apoplectic and beaten. Terribly frustrated with a futile day’s effort, totally exhausted, and with my uniform completely drenched in sweat, I made my way to the mess tent.
The officers were playing cards, and the CO lifted his eyes from his book and fixed me with a quizzical look. When I explained why I was so late, much sniggering broke out in the tent. Smiling, the CO then turned to Gondal. “See Gondal,” he said, “never with eyes closed!”
I remembered this story today when thinking about Pakistan. It occurred to me that at a critical time like this when the entire high command ought to have its eyes open, they seemed to be taking illegal orders and passing these on with eyes closed, while sinking Pakistan in the process!
Those in the high command that have a bitch at home would know that when she gives birth to a litter, the pups open their eyes in a day or two. It is beyond me how, those with upwards of 25 years of service, have still to open theirs.
Email: saeedakhtarmalik85@gmail.com