‘Chief‘ to the Air Force, ‘Idris Bhai’ to
his friends,‘Uncle’ to his younger family, but all of these were amalgamated
for me,a ‘fan’ who was privileged to know IdrisHasanLatif, the quintessential
officer and gentleman.
I was first introduced to him at Bombay
when Air Marshal Latif and his Begum visited Air Force Station, Cotton Green,
he then being AOC-in-C Central Air Command. BilkeesLatif was a cousin of a
friend’s wife from Hyderabad and soon enough, we became ‘family’ ! The Air Marshal was intrigued at my
‘knowledge’ of matters aviation, and particularly about the Indian Air Force
and we were to share this enthusiasm into the decades ahead.
There are so many memories : he was
Commodore Commandant of No.9 Squadron (Wolfpack)
but the unit lacked a formal crest (the original No.9 Squadron RIAF). When this
was commissioned, the artist made a very childlike drawing which unfortunately,
before it could be ‘smartened up’, received the President’s approval and so
marked for posterity. The Air Marshal however asked me to find animaginative commercial
artist to create a stylised crest which I did and this was (unofficially)
adopted and today adorns many places around the premises of No.9 Squadron.
And so, he became Chief, and Air House
has never been that gracious as it was during those three years. Apart from
formal functions on Air Force Day, we were privileged to be invitees at several
dinners (a particular one will stand out in my memory forever – more on that
anon).
When their daughter Mariam got married,
we were at the Reception held in the lawns of Air House but soon pandemonium,
the sudden heavy downpour catching those present by surprise. Except for the
Chief and his wife who marshaled (pun !) everyone to the sanctity of rooms and
verandahs of 23 Akbar Road and the party went on, with dignity if a little
moistly !
Now for that dinner. Air Chief
Marshal Latif was the CAS when the Government of India selected the
Anglo-French Jaguar as the IAF’s deep penetration strike aircraft (DPSA), after
several years of intense evaluation and negotiations. The formal contract was
signed in April 1979 and teams from the IAF sent to the UK for conversion
training even as the Indian Air Force prepared for induction of this next
generation combat aircraft. In remarkably quick time, the IAF selected pilots,
engineers and logistics officers who were seconded to the UK for orientation
including training with the Royal Air Force, aircraft and engine manufacturers.
Air Force Station Ambala was suitably
upgraded with new facilities and there was general excitement in the air as the
IAF was finally to receive an aircraft it had long sought. And then, the
Government changed.
For reasons which do not need
elaboration here, the ‘new boys on the block’ soon began to query the choice of
aircraft selected and began an insidious campaign in the media and parliament,
threatening to cancel the contract or, as minimum, restrict the numbers to just
40 as initially ordered and abort the balance 110 Jaguars, all to be
licence-built by HAL in India (sounds familiar today ?!).
Yours truly had, meanwhile, crafted what
was considered a very timely article published in the Illustrated Weekly of India which examined, threadbare, the
rationale behind selection of the Jaguar. As the introduction put it : “No acquisition of defence hardware has been
bombarded so intensively with controversy as that of the Anglo-French Jaguar
international, the Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft (DPSA) which are have
chosen in preference to the French Mirage F.1 and the Swedish VA 37 Viggen. The
Jaguar is a highly specialised aircraft corresponding closely to the prime need
for low-level offensive support and deep-penetration strike. Used in
combination with the MiG-21 for top cover, it will make the IAF one of the most
balanced tactical air forces in the world”.
The Indian Air Force was delighted, the
Jaguar’s detractors not. So, the hostility was also now directed towards the
writer of the article (me) and soon began strange telephone calls hinting that
one’s antecedents werebeing examined, queries on how much money was given for
writing this etc. etc. !
The Air Chief who simply loved the
article, soon enough heard about – andunderstood– the game. Shortly, an
invitation arrived for a formal dinner at Air House where me and my wife were
the only ‘civilians’ amongst virtually all PSOs of the Air Force as also the
entire MoD hierarchy. Air Chief Marshal Latifpointedly introduced me to the then
Defence Secretary (whose name is omitted but will be well known to readers as
he too was involved with certain nefarious people), stressing how much the
Indian Air Force ‘owed’ me for its image building and raising morale of the
service, with my continuing writing in Indian and international journals about
the Indian Air Force, its evolution and history, particularly stout defence
against scurrilous articles by hostile writers. I think the point was made and
all silly phone calls ceased thereafter.
Another example of the Chief’s faith in
my flying the IAF’s flag : a new magazine, with the venerable Khushwant Singh
as Managing Editor, had carried major excerpts from the book ‘Battle for
Pakistan’ authored by the well known British aviation writer and historian John
Fricker. Air Chief Marshal IdrisLatif was incensed and within an hour, I was at
his office when he ‘directed’ me to counter what he considered was not only ‘rubbish’
but to set the record right, once and for all. He sent for the Director of Air
Intelligence to make available all official records of the 1965 air war so that
I could put together this official history for publication in that magazine.
Easier said than done !Data and
information were tardy and had to be painstakingly collated from individuals
and whatever records were still at VayuBhawan and MrKhushwant
Singh gave a final deadline for submission of the counter-article. Well, the counter was managed – and therest is
history (again pun !). I could go on and on but must cease as
my memory is runneth over, recalling
this wonderful human being and leader of the country’s air arm during its most
transitional years.
Pushpindar Singh
(Founding Editor Vayu Aerospace Review and President The Society for Aerospace Studies)