KARACHI: An impressive ceremony took place on Saturday [July 9] morning at the Mauripur Airport when Begum Liaquat Ali Khan performed the naming ceremony of the first Hawker Fury Fighter aircraft generously presented to the Pakistan Air Force by the Wali of Swat. After recitation from the Holy Quran and a speech of welcome by Air-Vice Marshal R.L.R. Atcherly, Begum Liaq­uat Ali Khan … expressed her sincere pleasure in the formal naming ceremony of the aircraft. She observed that the aircraft had been presented to the country by the ruler of Swat to whom every Pakistani was grateful.

Congratulating the makers of the aircraft and the firm’s test pilot, she said that the aircraft had already made history by flying from London to Karachi in the record time of 15 hours… .

Continuing she said that the ruler of Swat had expressed a wish that this aircraft should be named “Prince Jahanzeb” after … his son and heir-apparent. …[S]he hoped that this aircraft, like any other machine in the service of the RPAF [Royal Pakistan Air Force], would never be used as an instrument of aggression against anyone but that it would play its part in the … defence of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2024