Malik Nur Khan

Background, early life and World War II

Malik Nur Khan was born in the Tamman town located in the vicinity of the Chakwal District in Punjab, Pakistan, on 22 February 1923. He hailed from the Malik–Awan Punjabi tribe and had come from a family with a military tradition who served in the military of the British Indian Army.

His father, Subedar-Major and honorary army captain Malik Mihr Khan, OBI, IOM, IDSM had been in the British Indian Army and had served with the 15th Lancers, later 20th Lancers. He had been directly commissioned a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer in the rank of Jemedar 1 April 1911 into the 15th Lancers. He served in France & Belgium with the 15th Lancers from 23 September 1914 to January 1916 (during which time he was awarded the Indian Order of Merit, 2nd class) when the regiment was transferred to Mesopotamia. It later served in Persia on the East Persia Cordon, where he was promoted Ressidar and awarded the Indian Distinguished Service Medal. He was promoted Risaldar 3 September 1918 and remained in the army when on the 21 September 1920 the 14th Murray's Jat Lancers and the 15th Lancers amalgamated to form the 20th Lancers. He was promoted Risaldar-Major of the 20th Lancers on 27 May 1927, an appointment he was to hold until 1 May 1928 when he was appointed ADC to the General Officer Commanding, Eastern Command in India. He held this appointment until he retired on the 28 January 1936. He was admitted to the Order of British India 4 June 1935. He had been appointed Honorary Lieutenant 1 August 1931 and the Honorary Captain 1 August 1935.

His family roots traces back to the family of Nawab of Kalabagh Amir Mohammad Khan.

Completing his education from the famed Aitchison College, he was accepted to join the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) at Dehra Dun where he secured his graduation. He perform exceptionally well in RIMC where his British principal once noted as:"An excellent military family from a very military center. The boy has been well educated and is more advanced than many Awans of his age. He is physically fit and should make an officer anyhow, he is the right type".

Upon graduation, the family paid for his flying lesson to learn to fly the de Havilland Tiger Moth and got qualified as a pilot from the Lahore Flying Club. In 1940, he was in the Royal Indian Air Force reserve and trained as an air crew from the United Kingdom. Nur Khan never attended the university nor he received university education instead of gaining commissioned as Pilot officer (2nd Lt.) in the No. 1 Squadron of the RIAF on 6 January 1941. In the United Kingdom, his additional training took place as a gunnery and bomber pilot with the RAF. Upon returning in 1942–43, he was sent to participate in the Burma campaign with the RIAF on the side of the United Kingdom, and served against the Imperial Japan in 1945.

In 1946, Nur Khan was made commanding officer of the No. 4 Squadron of the RIAF which he commanded until 1947. After the partition of British India which resulted in the establishment of Pakistan, Nur Khan opted for Pakistan and joined the newly formed Pakistan Air Force (PAF) where he was the base commander of the PAF Base Lahore.

Commander-in-Chief and between wars

In 1948, he was elevated as base commander of the PAF Base Chaklala but later posted as air attaché at the High Commission of Pakistan in the United Kingdom. However, this position was short-lived when he was asked to return to Pakistan to be posted as commandant of Air Force Academy in Risalpur, Punjab, also the same year.

His career in the Air Force progressed well as he was posted at the AHQ in Rawalpindi as the Director of Organizations, which he remained till 1951. He served as a F-86 Sabre program director where he oversaw the induction of the jet fighter as he played an influential role in the opposition against acquiring the F-84 Thunderjet. From 1955–56, he was promoted as Group Captain and served base commander of the PAF Base Peshawar, followed by commanding the PAF Base Mauripur and PAF Base Chaklala until 1957. Before posting at the AHQ in Rawalpindi as the ACAS Air Operations in 1957, his last field assignment included his role AOC of No. 1 Group stationed in PAF Base Peshawar as an Air Commodore (a Brigadier in equivalence with army).

From 1958–65, he served on the deputation as chairman of civilian organizations and his appointment to three-star appointment was approved by President Ayub Khan in 1965. Air Marshal Asghar Khan resigned from the command of the Air Force as its chief when he cemented conflict of interests issues with President Ayub Khan. Air Vice Marshal Nur Khan was a populist military figure in the country due to his involvement in sports management and managing-director of civilian Pakistan International Airlines, and his name was included in the nomination papers for the command of the Air Force. On contrary, Nur Khan was never achieved to the four-star rank of Air Chief Marshal but appointed to serve as an air force commander under President President Ayub. In 1965, Nur Khan was appointed as Commander in Chief and promoted as Air Marshal— a three-star rank equivalent of the Lieutenant-General in army.

During 1964–65, the Air Staff had been fighting with the Cabinet over the rearmament and contingency plans with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) as the Air Staff wanted coordinated efforts if there was a retaliation. The outgoing Air Marshal Asghar Khan handed over the ceremonial baton to Air Marshal Nur Khan and did not briefed him about the impending operations in Indian Kashmir (IoK) since the latter was not aware of it himself. However, there were suspicions regarding the secret operations undertaken by the army in the Air AHQ due to subsequent skirmishes in the eastern border. Therefore, Nur Khan called then-Army Commander in Chief General Musa Khan who admitted that "something was afoot." However, General Musa Khan assured Air Marshal Nur Khan of Indian not retaliating despite Nur Khan's strong reaction. Very few details of plan were emerged to both Nur Khan and Navy Commander in Chief Afzal Rahman Khan and briefly wrote: "Rumours about an impending operation were rife but the army had not shared the plans with other forces."

During the war with India in 1965, Nur Khan became a national fame and hero when he maintained an aerial supremacy against Indian IAF despite its shortcomings. He led the bombing missions during the war using the C-130 Hercules for that purpose in support to the army advances. His actions of valor and efforts won him the praise in all over the country after the war; he was credited with turning the tide of the war in his country's favor that gained air superiority in the first 24 hours.

After the war, he was publicly honored and was famed figure in the country. In 1967, Nur Khan volunteered to serve in the allegiance of Arab countries' Air Forces against Israel during the Six-Day War. He served in many aerial missions and witnessed the dogfight with Israeli IAF whose pilots noted his aerial skills during the conflict. In fact, the Israeli IAF's fighter pilot, Major-General Ezer Weizman, the former Israeli President (1993–2000) and Defence Minister (1977–80), wrote in his autobiography that: "He was a formidable fellow and I was glad that he was Pakistani and not an Egyptian".

After the Six-Day conflict, Nur Khan returned to Pakistan to complete his tenure as Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Air Force under President Ayub Khan and retired in 1969.

Civilian and Sports management

Nur Khan was gifted with administration skills. After the halcyon days of management at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), he made a show of his talents in sports administration. Nur Khan, who at one time headed national sports bodies of Hockey, Cricket and Squash, enabled Pakistan to reach the top in all these games.

Pakistan International Airlines

He was also known to turn around Pakistan International Airlines into a profitable and recognised entity In 1960, PIA's very first jetliner (a Boeing 707-321 leased from Pan Am) took a gentle turn under the command of Malik Nur Khan. Nur Khan was PIA's chairman from 1959 to 1965. His success in establishing PIA on a firm and profitable financial basis in six years is now a fact of airline history. Under his charismatic and inspirational leadership, PIA became one of the leading and respected airlines of the world. During his tenure, PIA became the third Asian airline to operate jet aircraft after India and Japan. The airline inducted modern Boeing 720 B jet in its fleet. PIA started flying to China and flights to Europe via Moscow were also launched during this period. In 1973, Nur Khan was specially requested by the government of Pakistan to resume control of PIA. During his second term as airline's head, PIA became operator of wide-body DC-10s and Boeing 747s. Popular Green & Gold aircraft livery was introduced, plus many more achievements were made by the airline under Nur Khan's leadership. He kept PIA out of Pakistan's turbulent political arena and returned it to a sound commercial basis. Nur Khan was a dynamic leader and believed in innovation and new ideas. He served as minister of Communications, Health, Labour and Science and Technology in Yahya Khan's cabinet.

On 20 January 1978, a PIA plane (while at Karachi) carrying 22 passengers was hijacked by a gunman and asked to be flown to India. The then chairman of PIA, Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan boarded the plane to negotiate with the hijacker. He was hit by a bullet while trying to disarm the hijacker but still managed to overpower him.

Hockey

Nur Khan was handed the reins of Pakistan Hockey Federation as its president in 1976 and was President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation during 1967 – 1969, and 1976 – 1984. During his Presidency, The Pakistan Hockey Federation won 2 Olympic Gold Medals (1968 Mexico & 1984 Los Angeles), 2 Hockey World Cups (1978 & 1982) and 2 Hockey Champions Trophy (1978 & 1980. Being a sports enthusiast, he not only ably facilitated the game at home for eight years. but also played an iconic role in international hockey arena. Conception of Champions Trophy, an annual hockey tournament, was his brain child that was realised in 1978 by his endeavours.

On his personal initiative, the FIH introduced the World Cup Tournament and the Champions Trophy Tournament, which are now rated amongst the major international tournaments, alongside the Olympics.

Being President Pakistan Hockey Federation, he donated World Cup Trophy and Champions Trophy to the International Hockey Federation. During his tenure Pakistan hockey team performed a grand-slam. The World Cup and Champions Trophy are the toughest events in Hockey.

He made valuable and tremendous contributions in Hockey in Pakistan. During his first tenure (1967–1969) that Pakistan hockey team won the Mexico Olympics and in second tenure (1976–1986) Pakistani team won Los Angeles Olympics.

Cricket

In 1980, he was also brought in as President of Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP; currently known as Pakistan Cricket Board) to manage the disarrayed cricket affairs. He served as president from 1980 to 1984. In this capacity, he helped win the hosting rights for the 1987 Cricket World Cup with India. He was also part of the organising committee of the 1987 World Cup and was credited with bringing some of the World Cup matches to Pakistan.

Omar Noman, in his history of cricket in Pakistan, said: "Nur Khan was an exceptional administrator. He did not know much about cricket, but his efficiency and vision had a positive effect on the development of hockey, squash, and cricket."

He introduced the idea of neutral umpires in cricket.

Squash

From 1951 to 1963, Pakistanis achieved remarkable success in Squash winning the most coveted title, the British Open, all those thirteen years. Thereafter, it was a barren period. Any Pakistani failed to land the title over the next decade except one Aftab Javaid who managed to reach the final. Nur Khan took over the charge of Pakistan International Airlines for the second time in 1973. He immediately took revolutionary steps. He initiated the PIA Colts scheme. Young promising boys were spotted and given a monthly stipend. They were coached and sent to participate in international tournaments with PIA bearing the travel expenses. Whosoever performed well on the international circuit was given permanent employment in PIA. The incentives didn’t end there. If any of the players achieved some major success in prime events, he was rewarded with a departmental promotion. All this led to a surfeit of world class Pakistani players in the 70s: Qamar Zaman, Gogi Allauddin, Hiddy Jahan, Mo Khan Junior and others. There used to be six to seven Pakistanis among the top 10 in the world rankings.

In 1975, on Nur Khan’s request, legendary Azam Khan, four-time winner of British Open (1959–62), who was running a squash club in England, prepared Qamar Zaman and Mohibullah Junior for the British Open. Qamar Zaman brought back the title to Pakistan after 12 years. He gave the Squash World Jahangir Khan, a pure PIA colts product who became the greatest squash player of all time. Pakistan Open initiated in 1980 became a prestigious tournament and the country also hosted World Open.

A marvellous PIA complex in Karachi was constructed in 1976. It was then the World's best and biggest. The First Pakistan Open Team and Open Championships for the Hashim Khan trophy, in 1976, was graced by the world's best and in the presence of Hashim Khan, Azam Khan, Roshan, and Mohibullah. Pakistan had become a major force in Squash, organisationally and competitively.

Nur Khan gave Squash players employment and free travel. He gave the Squash world an international circuit which reached the four corners of the world. He made Squash into a TV Sport, the Squash players became household names. He is definitely the best that could have happened to Pakistan sport.

Politics and governorship

In 1969, Nur Khan retired from his military service and his prestige to led him secure an appointment in Cabinet led by President Yahya Khan; but it was short-lived due to his demands for reforms. His tenure was renewed and his retirement was overturned by President Yahya who appointed him as Deputy CMLA under his administration.

In Yahya administration, he was inducted as cabinet minister of communications, health, labour, and science on August 1969.

Nur Khan, however, was appointed as Governor of West Pakistan on 1 September 1969 who made radical reforms in country's political and educational structure.

He supported the devolution of controversial One Unit program and oversaw its termination in 1970. He also announced new labour and educational policy to limit the role of politics in the universities. Nur Khan was later unexpectedly replaced with Lieutenant-General on 1 July 1970 after witnessing the termination of One Unit program and tendering resignation from his renewed term in 1970 over mutual disagreement with President Yahya.

In 1985, he decided to enter in national politics as a nonpartisan after successfully participating in the general elections to be elected as a member of National Assembly (a lower house. In 1987, he joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and contested for the Constituency NA-44 on a PPP's platform in the general elections held in 1988. He conceded his defeat and eventually retired from the politics in 1988.

Throughout the 1990s, he remained to live a quiet life while his cousins Malik Mumtaz Khan and Malik Awan worked as political workers for the PPP and contested for Constituency NA-44.

Legacy and Commemoration

In commemoration of his services rendered to Pakistan Air Force, PAF Base Chaklala was renamed as PAF Base Nur Khan in 2012.