THIS is further to the letter ‘Sindh IG episode’ (July 19). The recently removed Sindh IG Iqbal Mahmood was known to me as a very dashing young flight cadet in the PAF College, Sargodha.

He was my flight commander (second-in-command in a PAF squadron) in one of the fighter squadrons of PAF in the mid-1980s when the Afghan War was at a full cry on the other side of the border and I was posted on a very sensitive PAF base on the western side of the country.

Generally, a very senior squadron pilot is assigned to such appointment (flight commander). But he was relatively quite young by chance when he was assigned this job. He meritoriously and scrupulously carried out this huge responsibility and was a source of great strength to the young fighter pilots. I found him a very brave individual, very helpful person and a reliable friend. At the same time, he was a thorough professional and never compromised on the level of professionalism and wanted 100pc from his officers and ground staff of his unit.

I felt sad to learn that an upright officer like him will not be Sindh inspector-general anymore.

M. Asif

Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2014