5th January is the 7th death anniversary of Air Marshal Asghar Khan, who was the 5th Commander-in- Chief of Pakistan Air Force and the first Pakistani to command this prestigious institution. Following in the footsteps of his father, Brigadier Thakur Rahmatullah Khan, he and all his brothers, except one, joined the armed forces of Pakistan. Two of his siblings, Asif and Khalid, who also had joined the Air Force, met their Maker in air crashes at an early stage. His father was a POW during World War-I, and also served in World War-II. His illustrious father and elder brothers played a valiant role in the liberation of Azad Jammu Kashmir.

After independence, Asghar Khan opted to join PAF. While commanding the Flying Training School at Risalpur, he had the unique distinction of hosting the founder of Pakistan. As Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of PAF from 1957-65, the venerable Asghar Khan moulded PAF in tempered steel and through his outstanding attributes of leadership; transformed it from a fledgling status with WWII aircraft into a fine fighting force, which had the capacity to rise to the occasion when the test came and got the better of an adversary five times its size in 1965, 1971 and continues to do so in every trial and tribulation the nation faces.

Under his able leadership the PAF created a world record as early as 2 February, 1958, by performing the 16 aircraft loop on the US supplied Sabre jets, which catapulted the fledgling air force into a highly professional and operational fighting machine. The........

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