Remembering Arshad Aziz

 

(1 April 1956 - 7 July 1977)

Arshad Aziz - a handsome, well built course mate of ours joined PMA May 1975 and right from day one he had a aura of his own and his pleasant personality earned him many a good friends from our course, as can be seen from the photos shared herein under. Like many of us, he too hurriedly wrote back home informing him them of the tough and rigorous life in PMA as is evident from the letter he wrote to his maternal aunt on 22 May 1975:

Herein under there two more letters from Arshad Aziz (shared by his niece Maleeha Malik today - 26 August 2020- one must appreciate his aesthetic sense in choosing animated letter pad of his times:

Arshad remained with our course but destiny had some other plans for him and was relegated to 56th PMA Long Course in the final term. We never knew why, but he was to embark upon a journey with the cadets of 56 PMA Long Course to Murree - a journey that was to take him away from us forever to his heavenly abode, along with more than a dozens other cadets when their bus plunged into a ravine. The details of this tragic accident have been covered separately in our post: 7th July 1977 - The day we lost two of our comrades

The news were printed on the front page of the then only English newspaper The Pakistan Times

For quite sometime, I had only two photos of Arshad Aziz: The thumbnail photo (above) and the following memorable photo shared by Asif:

(L to R) Javed Sultan and Arshad Aziz and Asif

Then one day, I received a mail from Dr Tanveer Ahmed Malik, brother of Arshad, who promised me to send more photos of Arshad. Please read the message from Dr Tanveer and see a number of photos sent by Dr Tanveer of Arshad's PMA days as well as that of his burial day. I on behalf of all course mates thank Dr Tanveer for this favour and sharing some of the memorable photos of Arshad.

Dear Jalal Bhai !! AOA, As promised in my last mail, Please find attached few pics of Arshad while he was in PMA and couple of them of his burial. I shall be thankful to you if you could label the names of his course mates in these pictures. I could only recognize General Zahir ul Islam with who happened to be his close friend. Wasalam and regards - Dr Tanveer Ahmad Malik

The photos herein under (and the photos of accident above) are the once shared by Dr Malik of his brothers - never shared before (Some of the photos are with our course, while a few are with cadets of 56 Long Course after his relegation): 

 As pointed out by Dr Tanveer, General Zaheer figures out prominently in the photos - others who are also frequently seen are Asif Alvi, and Faheem Khawar

Beside many other qualities, Arshad was also a good debater as can be seen in the photo on left

 In the photo on the left besides others, late Khurshid can also be seen (second from left)

As photos above show, Arshad was quite close to Zahir, Asif and Alvi

 With cadets of 56 PMA Long Course

... and finally a rare video of Quaid e Azam guard featuring Arshad Aziz (Courtesy Maleeha Malik)

Then suddenly all smiles ceased - no more letters from Arshad and no more of his typical silent smiles. Everything got buried with the burial of sixteen smiling and enthusiastic cadets, including Arshad and Iftikhar from our course:

The farewell send off of bodies of the perished cadets from PMA in helicopters

Asif Alvi in his mail remembers Arshad: What a sweet person he was and being his side room mate i have vivid memories of him. I feel he was the most sophisticated prospective office, full of wit and equally mature. He was in deep love with one of his cousins and was planning a wonderful life but God has his own ways and directions of destiny for humans. When i reflect about his, barring his running capabilities, probably he should have ended among to cadets. Even in the hard days of PMA he was a veracious reader. He had intimate friendship with Gen Zahir, and you may fine more insights into his personality from him. God may bless his soul. Ameen 

Muhammad Asif remembers Arshad and says, "Arshad Aziz was in our platoon (Tariq-I) and relegated in 1st term on physical grounds as he was very week in PT (A CASUALTY CAUSED DUE TO ------ATTITUDE Of Gen G. M Malik, the then Bn Comd). After relegation he became part of 56 PMA L/C. A group of about 40 to 50 cadets went to Murree on excursion trip on one of the week end and on their way back they met an accident and in which many cadets were killed and Arshad was one of those. Arshad was very humble, quite by nature and through gentle man, in short span of 6 months which he spent with Tariq-I, he became friend of almost all platoon mates. ."

The mention of Arshad Aziz while could not have been wholesome by input from his brother in law Dr Malik as mentioned above, I am equally indebted to Arshad's niece Maleeha Malik who recently got in contact with me and shared some valuable letters and the news clipping, she recently provided. She wrote:

Assalam alikum Jalal Uncle,
I went to New Jersey this weekend and found Arshad Mamu’s beautiful letters that he wrote to my Naani (his phopho). I also found a newspaper clipping about the accident. There were two condolence letters from General Zia ul Haq and Brigadier Ahmad Kamal Khan to Arshad mamu’s family. I also found a really funny letter giving a glimpse into PMA life. I can’t begin to tell you how it feels to read his letters. My grandparents saved these letters in plastic sleeves. They span the years 1971-1977. It even includes his last letter written on July 5th and received on the day he was buried July 9th. It is like taking a trip down memory lane and into history. His love and humor are prominent in all his letters. He was and continues to be so loved. May Allah bless his soul in heaven. You may publish these online since they pertain to his PMA life. I am fortunately or unfortunately the only one in this generation who still reads and writes Urdu so I have inherited this treasure now.
Best wishes

 Herein under are two letters shared by Arshad's nieces, one from General Zia ul Haq, the then COAS and Brigadier Ahmad Kamal, the then commandant PMA:

Let us keep memories of Arshad and all those brothers who have taken their Heavenly flights by sharing their memories and photos.