In Memory of Saleem Akhtar Soomro

(31 March 1955 - 1 August 1998)

Whenever we remember someone who is no more, we always remember him in good words, may be as a courtesy and not to displease the soul of the deceased. But in case of our course, all those who taken their Heavenly flights much too early, every one was an exceptional human being, lovable, friend of the friends and officers for whom it is said: An Officer and a gentleman. And Saleem Akhtar was no exception indeed, whose life ended in a daring feat of bravery and paternal love.

Saleem enjoying the snow fall in PMA (2nd term 1975-76 )with his fellow Petarians (Naeem Cheema and Shaukat Parekh of 54 PMA)

Generally, I compose these post on my own. But this time I requested a few sapper friends to write about him. And I am grateful to Baqar who volunteered to send me a write up about Saleem. And let me confess right from outset that his remembrance of Saleem was so wholesome that I am reproducing the same herein under unaltered. 

Salim with Naeem Cheema 54 PMA

All smiles of Final Term: Ateeq, late Zahid Rasool, Qizilbash, Azhar and Ghazanfar sitting in front with Azhar Ali , Jamal, Bajwa and Saleem sitting at the back، the two rows separated by Muazzam, Inam Karim and Tariq in the center row

Final Term Aurangzeb Company

Saleem sitting second from left holding appointment of BQMS

Thus from here Baqar takes over:
Saleem Akhtar Soomro was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. Hailing from southern Punjab, he was educated at Cadet College Petaro. A highly qualified officers who, besides doing his mandatory Engineering Degree Course, also complete two Masters degrees in engineering, Public Health Engineering and Structural Engineering at his own expense, later one from UK. An extremely cheerful company to be in, he was never seen gloomy. Always laughing and keeping the aura light and amusing. A very popular commander during all stages of his career, he was very particular about welfare of his troops. 

Saleem in his office

 

 

 Memorable photos of last days of Saleem in Northern areas

All photos above are courtesy Mrs Saleem Soomro which she provided on special request of our Sapper brother Baqar

While commanding an FWO unit at Karakorum Highway (KKH), he lost three of his Sappers in a a road accident. I was then serving in the FWO group and was assigned to conduct the inquiry of the accident. I went to his unit and when I met him he told me “Baqar please complete this inquiry with your two days stay here so that I can ensure necessary benefits to the affected individuals”. He measured up to his words and later, after about two weeks I received a THANK YOU note from him, informing me that that all necessary benefits had commenced to the next of kin of all the deceased. He would usually not sit and wait for the procedures. Unfortunately, he became victim of a wrongly conducted court of inquiry during his Karachi stint. Resultanty, he was prematurely retired and given a date of release. Since he had already been picked for retirement, he wrote a DO to the the then COAS and mentioned all the facts, stating that he had not been afforded a clarification and an explanation before being recommended for invalidation out of service. His request was upheld and his retirement orders were cancelled.

Deaths are always very tragic for the dear ones, but his was much more, as he died saving the life of his beloved daughter. The tragic incident happened on 1 August 1998. There is a Kayal Nullah which has highly turbulent flow during rains and also during summer snow melt period. This nullah was a very favourite spot of Col Salim Soomro and he often went there with unit officers for a unit picnic and BBQ. As the incident is narrated by his driver, who was present there, the family was sitting at the bank of the nullah when his daughter, Zimsha, slipped into gushing water. 

A view of Kayal Nullah when in high flow

Salim Soomro, and excellent swimmer too, without giving it a second thought dived behind her and tried to save her, but the water was so cold and fast flowing that they both vanished in the wink of an eye. They must have gone through instant hypothermia due to intense cold water. Who knew that a person who was a swimmer of a class would die by drowning one day? His body was recovered about ten days later down stream of the incident spot, but his daughter’s body remained unrecoverable till to date. Kayal Nullah, about 2.50 kilometres downstream vanishes into the wilderness of Mighty Indus and it is feared that his daughter’s body being small must have vanished in Indus. The Indus gorge is deep and narrow in this stretch and is inaccessible and river being turbulent cannot be combed on boats.

 

 Unit History Photos of Saleem Soomro (shared by Muhammad Umer of his unit at Facebook)

The mobile phones were not very common those days so we often talked to each other late in the night for long duration on land line phones. On the days of incident, I was visiting construction sites and stopped in the units for a short time while passing, my telephone operator told me that there was a call from Saleem. Since I was already on the move so I told him to inform Saleem that will call in the night and left for the next site. This never materialized. I was still on site late in the evening when I got the message from the Group’s GSO-1 to call him ASP on telephone. I rushed to the unit which only about 20 minutes’ drive from where I was. On contact, I was informed of the sad incident of accident. Later, I have always repented why I did not call him in the afternoon. Such are the gloom of the life. 

A plaque at the bridge of the tragic incidence

Later on, I was once browsing on internet I when came across a poem. Reading that poem, I realized how exactly it represented my situation with regards to Saleem. I slightly altered that poem and adopted it (due apology to the original poet) for Saleem. The poem is attached.

Think About It…………
A distance away, I had a friend, 
On that winding highway that has no ends, 
The hours go by and the days rush on, 
And before I know it, a month is gone. 
Never again, I see my old friends face, 
For life is a swift and terrible race, 
We knew we liked each other just as well, 
From the core of our hearts, no need to tell
And now I miss him, that hearty guy 
My dear comrade, of the days gone-by
Busy in playing that worldly game, 
Running around to make a name.
I missed his calls on my telephone
When in my absence he called in noon
“Later on” I said! “I will call Saleem”
Just to know that why was he so keen 
But before the sunset behind the woods
My friend was gone, and gone for good
Saving his daughter, that brave man drowned
In those depths of Kiyal,ne’er to be found
And that's what I get and deserve in the end. 
In the waters of Indus, a vanished friend.

PS: It was a coincidence that on that fateful day, I along with my family passed through Pattan and stopped at a road side Dhaba for drinks. There I was told that an officer and his daughter had drowned in a nearby nullah. I never knew it was our dear friend and brother Saleem. He is survived by his Wife and two sons Hammad and Fahad, presently residing in England.

May Allah bless him and his daughter Zimsha, and his surviving family. Aameen

Photos: PMA Archives, Google Map