M.M Alam - A Bihari

Muhammad Mahmood Alam SJ (Urdu: محمد محمود عالم‎‎, Bengali: মোহাম্মদ মাহমূদ আলম); 6 July 1935 – 18 March 2013) was^[3] a Pakistani fighter pilot who was credited by the Pakistanis with having downed nine Indian Air Force aircraft during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, including five Hawker Hunter aircraft on one sortie on 7 September 1965.^[4] He was a F-86 Sabre flying ace as per Pakistan records and one-star general in thePakistan Air Force. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat ("The star of courage"), the nation's third highest military award and Bar for his actions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Early life[edit]

Alam was born on 6 July 1935 to a well-educated family of Calcutta, British India. Born and raised in Bengal, Alam was a fluent Bengali speaker, however his paternal line was of Urdu-speaking Bihari origin; having emigrated from Patna and settled in the Bengal province of British India for a long time.^[5] The family migrated from Calcutta to eastern Bengal which became East Pakistan following the formation of Pakistan in 1947.^[5] It was in East Pakistan, where Alam completed his secondary education, graduating from the Government High School in Dhaka in 1951. He joined the then RPAF (now PAF) in 1952, being commissioned on 2 October 1953.^[6] Alam's brothers are M. Shahid Alam, an economist and a professor at Northeastern University,^[7][8] and M. Sajjad Alam, a particle physicist at SUNY Albany.^[9]

His family moved to West Pakistan in around 1971, after the secession of East Pakistan.^[5] Being the eldest of his 11 siblings, Alam did not marry as he had to assume the responsibilities of the upbringing of his family. Some of his younger brothers became distinguished in various academic careers.^[6]

Service with the Pakistan Air Force

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

Main article: Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

Alam was listed on the top of the hall of fame list at the PAF Museum in Karachi. Alam is considered a national hero for Pakistan, most significantly for his service in the war of 1965 when he was posted at Sargodha. During this war he was involved in various dogfightswhile flying his F-86 Sabre fighter. He downed nine Indian Hawker Hunter fighters in air-to-air combat, and damaged two others.^[1] In one mission on 7 September 1965, Alam downed five Indian aircraft in less than a minute, the last four within 30 seconds, establishing a world record, with total of nine aircraft downed in the war.^{[1][10][11][12][13]} Alam's confirmed kills are as follows:

• 6 September 1965, 1× Hawker Hunter
  • Squadron Leader Ajit Kumar Rawlley, No. 7 Sqn, KIA near Tarn Taran.
• 7 September 1965, 5× Hawker Hunters
  • Squadron Leader Onkar Nath Kacker, No. 27 Sqn, POW
  • Squadron Leader A B Devayya, No. 7 Sqn. (IAF shows him a Mystere Pilot & he belonged to No 1 Squadron)^[14]
  • Squadron Leader Suresh B Bhagwat, No. 7 Sqn
  • Flight Lieutenant B Guha, No. 7 Sqn
  • Flying Officer Jagdev Singh Brar, No. 7 Sqn, KIA, near Sangla Hill.
• 16 September 1965, 1× Hawker Hunter
  • Flying Officer Farokh Dara Bunsha, No. 7 Sqn, KIA, near Amritsar.

Although the figures have been confirmed by some independent sources,^[12][13] Indian sources claim that Alam made four kills, attributing one of the losses of Sqn Ldr Onkar Nath Kacker's aircraft to technical failure or some other cause, including the possibility of ground fire.^[15][16] They also claim that gun camera footage of Alam's kills is yet to be made public and therefore his kills cannot be confirmed.In 1978, when Alam gave speech in karachi university he told that during the fight he saw a spiritual force coming from the sky.^[17]

In 1967, Alam was transferred as the Squadron Commander of the first squadron of Dassault Mirage III fighters procured by the PAF. He was removed from staff college over his alleged excessive involvement with Tableeghi Jamat and focusing more on preaching religion instead of carrying out his core responsibilities. In 1982, Alam retired as an Air commodore and took up residence in Karachi. Since retiring, Alam had become more deeply interested in religion.

Death

The Air Force legend was admitted to Pakistan Naval Station Shifa Hospital in Karachi.^[18] Alam died in Karachi on 18 March 2013. He was 77. He was being treated for respiratory problems for 18 months. Alam's funeral prayer was performed at the PAF Base Masroor, where he served some of the significant years of his career. Alam was buried at the Shuhuda (Martyrs) Graveyard, located at PAF Masroor Airbase. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, Air Chief Marshal (Ret.) Farooq Feroz Khan, Sindh corps commander Lt. Gen Ijaz Chaudhry, Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Director-General Maj. Gen. Rizwan Akhter, Base Commander PAF Base Masroor Air Commodore Usaid ur Rehman, many war veterans of the 1965 war and Alam's closest colleagues attended the funeral. One of the younger brothers of the deceased, Zubair Alam, was also present.^[6]

Memorials

M. M. Alam Road, a major road in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan is named in honour of the flying ace of Pakistan Air Force, Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam, running from Main Market to Gulberg. The road runs parallel to famous Main Boulevard thus providing an alternate route and is a commercial hub with many restaurants, fashion boutiques, shopping malls, beauty saloons and décor stores. M.M. Alam Road hosts a variety of flamboyant restaurants in modern Lahore.^[19] On 20 March 2014, on account of his first death anniversary, the PAF Airbase Mianwali was renamed after him as PAF Base M.M. Alam.