OUR armed forces, including the Pakistan Air Force, are institutions of which we all are proud. However, I was extremely disappointed when I recently took my children to the PAF Museum at Sharea Faisal in Karachi.

While I had been to this museum several times before, this was a special occasion. The reason was an exhibition of paintings by the legendary PAF artist Gp-Capt F.S. Hussaini. Another attraction was the display of the flying suit of Capt. M. Lutz of the Israeli air force, who was shot down by PAF’s ace pilot Air-Cdre (r) Sattar Alvi.

But my children were stopped from proceeding to the area where the paintings and the flying suit were on display — PAF authorities had banned the entry of children under the age of 12.

I remember being fascinated by fighter jets when I was hardly four or five years old. PAF’s decision to stop children from having a glimpse of the exhibition is incomprehensible. If children are barred from viewing such inspiring memorabilia, how can we produce more Rashid Minhas, M.M. Alams, Sarfaraz Rafiquis and Alvis?

Air-Cdre Alvi is one of the few PAF pilots who has the honour of shooting down an Israeli fighter jet during the Arab-Israeli wars. He shot down an Israeli Mirage fighter while flying a Syrian MiG-21 in 1974. He was amongst 16 volunteer PAF pilots who went to fight for the Arabs during the war. Before that, he signed documents which stated that in case of his arrest, crash or even death, the Pakistan government and the PAF would not claim his body or own him as a Pakistani citizen.

Alvi achieved that feat alone while facing two Israeli Mirage fighters, with his formation already gone and his communication jammed. Later, the Syrian air force presented Capt Lutz’s flying suit to Alvi as a war souvenir. As he had volunteered and was not on an official PAF mission, that coverall was his personal war trophy, which he has generously presented/donated to the PAF and was at display at the museum. That coverall is not PAF property and should have been for open public display irrespective of age.

Jamshaid Ahmad
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2018