About Col. Saeed Afzal Durrani
An Account by Col. (Retd.) Nadir Ali Khan
Saeed Afzal Durrani “ I was just trying to put some memories and thoughts on paper. Sid was truly a great man and life and this army did not do justice to his talent or to his memory .I would say in Shakespeare's words." His life was gentle and elements so mixed in him that that Nature may stand up and say, "This was a man! "On a long truck ride from Mansehra to Cherat he taught me some English verse. Small talk and frivolities were not his way of life. He always was reading one book or the other. The poem that he read out to me of Kipling also is relevant to him. "If you can walk with kings, yet not loose your common touch! " Although I was his commander and he my second in command during the exercise, we had to disguise as civilians and collect some target information. He was great talking to peasants and workers. Of course I could not match his " Chchaachchee “ " Do learn to talk to a common man, Captain!” he would say.
His outstanding qualities were of character and self-discipline .He had great skills with weapons and Army field craft. He was a sharpshooter, mountain climber, good enough in most sports to be able to play with his men. When we had our rappelling class, in which we had to jump down from a high rock with D rings and a rope around our waist. He noticed my reluctance. In the evening he was back with the mountain climbing gear to teach me climbing and getting down from a rock on hill near my house. He "filled each minute with its worth in distance run." May God bless his soul and may he find peace that life did not provide him!”
“I saw Saeed Afzal Durrani when he joined Pakistan military Academy in Sept 1956. He was a course junior to me and two years younger and in a different company. But he stood out as a serious minded very disciplined and sober cadet. Everyone from Lawrence College Ghora Gally held him in very high esteem. There were a lot of Ghora Gally cadets with us in PMA. Unlike them he was neither an outstanding athlete nor a typical Public School bully. But they all treated him as an icon. He soon started standing out. In the next long break of a month long holiday, he did not go home. He took off on a one man-canoeing trip down the River Indus, from Attock to the Arabian Sea. In the best of times it would be suicidal and dangerous. He was not a professional boat person. He went ahead and after some near death episodes came back after the break from Karachi. I do not remember exactly, but I think in the last accident he lost his boat and nearly lost his life. It happened thrice when he had near death experiences. On his return he was a celebrity. He briefed the entire Academy, cadets and officers about the trip with maps and photographs. He was already top of the course. He should have gone to RMA Sandhurst. It was wrongly stated in this narrative that Gohar Ayub was picked up. It was Anees Ata Ullah, whose father was a friend of FM Ayub. I traveled by bus on the trip back from Pindi and happened to meet Saeed. He was disappointed but he, a junior, explained to me how these things do happen! In 1960 when we were both young subalterns. We together joined the SSG Commando Course at Cherat and became life long friends. I was already married as he called her; he never met my squa (The Red Indian word for wife). He did not socialize or mixed with married crowd. Having won the Sword of Honour and Norman Medal at PMA, he was already a celebrity. But he stood out in whatever we did or learn .He never cheated on carrying less weight than prescribed, as most of us did. Small talk never interested him. He had few friends and I had the honour to be one. We enjoyed our drinks in the mess once or twice in a week. He read a lot and loved Hemingway as an author and personality. He was a Hemingway hero, if ever there was one and equally a loner and a tragic hero. He was the top our course. I was posted out of SSG and Cherat to East Pakistan.
When I returned in 1965 to SSG, he was my Para Jump Instructor. He made it look so easy! When I was standing on the little platform outside the aircraft for my first jump .He tapped my shoulder gently and said," Sir, now you can jump, it is very easy and simple! " He made it so easy for the students! Although a friend he always did call me sir because of my six months seniority. The next episode was 1965, when he along with another two batches was sent on an unplanned ill-conceived mission deep inside Indian Territory. The failure and becoming a POW broke him. This was virtually the end of Saeed's glorious story. An unhappy marriage did the rest. We also did the Staff College together in 1968 and he did top the course. He served as a very dedicated and devoted officer right to the end of his life. But he never recovered from the hurt of 1965. Brig Aslam of my course and an outstanding officer in his own right, who taught at Staff College and National Defense College, said to me yesterday," Saeed Afzal Durrani was by far the best officer that this Army ever produced! " Those who knew him will agree with this statement.”
(The above account by: Lt Col (Retd) Nadir Ali Khan. My PA No is 5517. I was commissioned in Army Ordnance Corps. I was at PMA 17th Long Course, Sid was 18th and we spent a year and a half together at PMA. I served three tenures in SSG Commandos; two with Sid .We did the Staff College together in 1968.)
https://www.geni.com/people/Col-Saeed-Durrani/6000000008963548976
Man is this thing over yet? My goodness man, my disappointment in the indian army knows no end right now. If I was the Pakistani pm I'd offer to have our SSG train the indian soldiers rather than fight them.
