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A tribute to Lt Col Haroon ul Islam Shaheed----written By 1st GOC of elite SSG Maj.Gen Amir Faisal (R) Shaheed.
The untimely and very unfortunate death of Lt Col Haroon ul Islam, a very fine and motivated Special Services Group officer, has driven me to write a little tribute to this young and energetic officer of the Special Service Group of the Pakistan Army who was loved by all and sundry. The day he embraced “shahadat” at the hands of these misguided and ignorant fanatics, I received a telephone call from my daughters in the USA at 4.00 am in the morning. Answering the call a little annoyingly, being a little groggy as I was fast asleep, I asked them whether they realized what the time was in Pakistan. “Papa, haven’t you heard the news, Uncle Terra, (as they affectionately and be musingly used to call him) has been killed in the Lal Masjid operation!” They were visibly perturbed at the news. This made me jump up from my bed as I sought further details from them. They had been surfing the net in Maryland, USA, when they bumped into this news. It was daytime in the USA.
I told them that I knew he was there as I had talked to him the first day that he had arrived in Islamabad and I had wished him the very best, having full confidence in his capabilities and boldness as he had served under me when I commanded the Special Services Group as Commander Special Services Group and later on when I came back again to the Special Services Group as the first GOC SSG, I did my best to get him back into the SSG as the Commanding Officer of Zarar Anti Terrorist Unit, whose command had now been upgraded to that of a Lieutenant Colonels’ from that of a Major and which he had commanded earlier during my first tenure as a Major. My efforts eventually bore fruit and he did come back but was posted back in a late time frame and by that time, I had been retired and we did not get to serve together again.
I felt his loss at his not being there when the SSG was tasked to move to Waziristan to rescue the two Chinese hostages who had been kidnapped from the Gomal Dam by Abdullah Mahsuds’ terrorist cronies. The previous company commander had been posted out and Zarar Company now having been re-designated as Zarar Anti – terrorist Unit awaited its first Lieutenant Colonel and, obviously, for me there was no better choice than Haroon ul Islam whose name I passed to the Military Secretary’s Branch, which, to my utter dismay, took its time in posting him back and hence, he was not available for this operation. The unit thus moved for the operation without a commander and to cater for that I sent Lieutenant Colonel Waseem Ayub, also a good officer the Headquarters Special Services to command the unit for this operation as all the young Captains in the unit were very new in it and lacked the requisite experience. Zarar did well as expected, killing all five kidnappers and rescuing one of the two Chinese, taken hostage. The other Chinese, very unfortunately, came in the crossfire and died of his wounds. It was my firm belief and it still is till today that had Lieutenant Colonel Haroon been around, we would have managed to rescue the second Chinese too. I reiterated this belief of mine to the Military Secretary when I saw him the next time, only to get in return, a sheepish smile.
He need not have been there when his troops were laying that breaching charge against the Lal Masjid walls but true to his nature of always leading from then front, he was there. As the SSG had been doing this with stealth for the last few days, it appeared that the terrorists inside were alert this time and as they withdrew after laying the charges and to explode them, a burst of fire erupted in the dark out of which two bullets hit the gallant Haroon, one in the leg and the other below the neck. The one below the neck proved fatal. Major Tariq who was also hit in the pelvis and the other few men picked up Haroon and withdrew his body to safety by returning fire in the dark in the direction from where the fire had come. This warriors’ time was ended as per destined. He had already done a lot since his arrival at the spot just a few days back. He had personally sited all his snipers who took in one volley a heavy toll of the terrorists. The terrorists never showed their heads again knowing that they were now dealing with some real professionals. His men if they move in now to clear the terrorists will move in with a vengeance. The terrorists will stand no chance against his highly trained commandoes. It will take them only a few minutes if the approval is accorded.
One day he came to me and requested that he wanted to do the High Altitude High/Low Opening freefall parachutist course at the Parachute Training School in Peshawar. This was a course which was both dangerous initially and equally thrilling and I knew that every SSG officer wanted to do this course for the challenge. “No way,” I said, “your outfit has nothing to do with sky diving. You ought to concentrate on your primary job which is hostage rescue and anti terrorist duties.” I enjoyed the way he kept pestering me for the course and also sent his good friend the Officer Commanding the Parachute School to recommend him for the course. Finally, I submitted to his request and he delightfully went for the course. The Officer Commanding the Parachute School kept me informed about the course and it was news for me to learn that Haroon had topped the course and had completed his jumps but wanted to jump again the next day as there were some officers and men who still needed to complete his jumps. I accorded the permission on being impressed at his standing out so well in the course.
The next day I was in Tarbela witnessing some exercise when it was conveyed to me that there had been a parachuting accident at the Durrani drop zone in Peshawar and two officers had been seriously injured and one of them was Haroon ul Islam. I left for Peshawar immediately and went straight to the CMH. There I met the OC Parachute School who explained that during the last jump Haroons’ and another officers’ parachutes had collided in midair and Haroons’ leg had got entangled with the lines of the other parachute once they were at 800 feet above ground level. This had made the canopies of both the parachutes collapse into cigarette rolls and also gets into a spin, which in turn increased the descent speed of the parachutes over five times. Resultantly, both of them had come hurdling towards the ground and had hit it at a speed which virtually made dust rise which could be seen at a distance. “Will they survive?” I asked worryingly. The Officer Commanding Parachute Training School replied in the affirmative but told me they had bad injuries.
Haroon had broken his pelvis badly and the fall had badly rattled his bones. I saw him as he was brought back from the X-ray department. Meanwhile, my wife who also lived in Peshawar had also reached the hospital and was with me as he emerged in the Officers ward on a stretcher. Happy at seeing him alive, “I knew you’d do something on this course and you’ve done it”. I joked with him in a mean manner. He managed a smile till my wife asked him how he was feeling. “I am in great pain, Bhabi, “he whispered to my wife”. Okay, but don’t show it to anyone here, you are a brave commando and are known as such, my wife whispered back to him and then went straight to the doctor to tell him to administer him a pain killer. The next day Haroons wife was also there and then we saw his entire pelvis and leg plastered with his leg hauled up and a weight dangling on the other side.
It was while he was on crutches that General Parvez Musharraf was appointed as the Colonel in Chief of the SSG and dinner at Cherat of all SSG serving and retired officers was followed by a musical evening and once the musical group, the Jupiters started playing the Bhangra song, the entire SSG as well as General Parvez Musharraf watched as they saw a person on crutches coming upfront in front of the stage to do the Bhangra. And then the entire SSG jumped in to do the Bhangra! That very evening, he rattled out in Punjabi, a poem dedicated to his city, Lahore. He was a very proud Lahori and this poem of this exalted the virtues of the city of Lahore.
Most of his sisters live abroad in Canada; I hear they are on the way to their family home to attend their brave and courageous brothers’ last rites. His elder brothers loved him too. He was their little brother that they were so proud of a professional commando officer, their kid brother! I think about the agony his wife and two little daughters would be in at this stage. The elder one was very attached to him. The younger one may be too young to ever remember her father, later. His family has lost him at the hand of those terrorists who profess to be better Muslims then the others, with their perverted intolerantly indoctrinated minds. What about his loving mother who doled over him, so much as he was her youngest son! Is it gratifying for her to learn that her courageous son, having survived Kargil, having survived such a dangerous parachute accident, having survived so many ordeals of commando life, finally met his end at the hands of so called Muslims or as they proclaim to be, better Muslims. We remember his mother shouting angrily at the SSG officers to put her son down as he could get injured when they were tossing him in the air on his wedding day, as per SSG tradition. Jolly good fellow as they call it in the Army and making one airborne as they call it in the SSG. For his mother, this was no tradition. She was simply shocked to see him being tossed real high in the air as he as well as his friends laughed. “Put my son down,” she ordered “You will hurt my Bubloo”, she said to the now startled SSG officers.
His men simply loved him for his being straight forwardness, professional honesty and leadership qualities as the SSG calls for much higher leadership qualities as officers in the SSG have to lead from the front to be respected by their troops. To be really respected by the troops in the SSG is an acid test of leadership qualities. The SSG will remain proud of him, forever, I am sure!
The untimely and very unfortunate death of Lt Col Haroon ul Islam, a very fine and motivated Special Services Group officer, has driven me to write a little tribute to this young and energetic officer of the Special Service Group of the Pakistan Army who was loved by all and sundry. The day he embraced “shahadat” at the hands of these misguided and ignorant fanatics, I received a telephone call from my daughters in the USA at 4.00 am in the morning. Answering the call a little annoyingly, being a little groggy as I was fast asleep, I asked them whether they realized what the time was in Pakistan. “Papa, haven’t you heard the news, Uncle Terra, (as they affectionately and be musingly used to call him) has been killed in the Lal Masjid operation!” They were visibly perturbed at the news. This made me jump up from my bed as I sought further details from them. They had been surfing the net in Maryland, USA, when they bumped into this news. It was daytime in the USA.
I told them that I knew he was there as I had talked to him the first day that he had arrived in Islamabad and I had wished him the very best, having full confidence in his capabilities and boldness as he had served under me when I commanded the Special Services Group as Commander Special Services Group and later on when I came back again to the Special Services Group as the first GOC SSG, I did my best to get him back into the SSG as the Commanding Officer of Zarar Anti Terrorist Unit, whose command had now been upgraded to that of a Lieutenant Colonels’ from that of a Major and which he had commanded earlier during my first tenure as a Major. My efforts eventually bore fruit and he did come back but was posted back in a late time frame and by that time, I had been retired and we did not get to serve together again.
I felt his loss at his not being there when the SSG was tasked to move to Waziristan to rescue the two Chinese hostages who had been kidnapped from the Gomal Dam by Abdullah Mahsuds’ terrorist cronies. The previous company commander had been posted out and Zarar Company now having been re-designated as Zarar Anti – terrorist Unit awaited its first Lieutenant Colonel and, obviously, for me there was no better choice than Haroon ul Islam whose name I passed to the Military Secretary’s Branch, which, to my utter dismay, took its time in posting him back and hence, he was not available for this operation. The unit thus moved for the operation without a commander and to cater for that I sent Lieutenant Colonel Waseem Ayub, also a good officer the Headquarters Special Services to command the unit for this operation as all the young Captains in the unit were very new in it and lacked the requisite experience. Zarar did well as expected, killing all five kidnappers and rescuing one of the two Chinese, taken hostage. The other Chinese, very unfortunately, came in the crossfire and died of his wounds. It was my firm belief and it still is till today that had Lieutenant Colonel Haroon been around, we would have managed to rescue the second Chinese too. I reiterated this belief of mine to the Military Secretary when I saw him the next time, only to get in return, a sheepish smile.
He need not have been there when his troops were laying that breaching charge against the Lal Masjid walls but true to his nature of always leading from then front, he was there. As the SSG had been doing this with stealth for the last few days, it appeared that the terrorists inside were alert this time and as they withdrew after laying the charges and to explode them, a burst of fire erupted in the dark out of which two bullets hit the gallant Haroon, one in the leg and the other below the neck. The one below the neck proved fatal. Major Tariq who was also hit in the pelvis and the other few men picked up Haroon and withdrew his body to safety by returning fire in the dark in the direction from where the fire had come. This warriors’ time was ended as per destined. He had already done a lot since his arrival at the spot just a few days back. He had personally sited all his snipers who took in one volley a heavy toll of the terrorists. The terrorists never showed their heads again knowing that they were now dealing with some real professionals. His men if they move in now to clear the terrorists will move in with a vengeance. The terrorists will stand no chance against his highly trained commandoes. It will take them only a few minutes if the approval is accorded.
One day he came to me and requested that he wanted to do the High Altitude High/Low Opening freefall parachutist course at the Parachute Training School in Peshawar. This was a course which was both dangerous initially and equally thrilling and I knew that every SSG officer wanted to do this course for the challenge. “No way,” I said, “your outfit has nothing to do with sky diving. You ought to concentrate on your primary job which is hostage rescue and anti terrorist duties.” I enjoyed the way he kept pestering me for the course and also sent his good friend the Officer Commanding the Parachute School to recommend him for the course. Finally, I submitted to his request and he delightfully went for the course. The Officer Commanding the Parachute School kept me informed about the course and it was news for me to learn that Haroon had topped the course and had completed his jumps but wanted to jump again the next day as there were some officers and men who still needed to complete his jumps. I accorded the permission on being impressed at his standing out so well in the course.
The next day I was in Tarbela witnessing some exercise when it was conveyed to me that there had been a parachuting accident at the Durrani drop zone in Peshawar and two officers had been seriously injured and one of them was Haroon ul Islam. I left for Peshawar immediately and went straight to the CMH. There I met the OC Parachute School who explained that during the last jump Haroons’ and another officers’ parachutes had collided in midair and Haroons’ leg had got entangled with the lines of the other parachute once they were at 800 feet above ground level. This had made the canopies of both the parachutes collapse into cigarette rolls and also gets into a spin, which in turn increased the descent speed of the parachutes over five times. Resultantly, both of them had come hurdling towards the ground and had hit it at a speed which virtually made dust rise which could be seen at a distance. “Will they survive?” I asked worryingly. The Officer Commanding Parachute Training School replied in the affirmative but told me they had bad injuries.
Haroon had broken his pelvis badly and the fall had badly rattled his bones. I saw him as he was brought back from the X-ray department. Meanwhile, my wife who also lived in Peshawar had also reached the hospital and was with me as he emerged in the Officers ward on a stretcher. Happy at seeing him alive, “I knew you’d do something on this course and you’ve done it”. I joked with him in a mean manner. He managed a smile till my wife asked him how he was feeling. “I am in great pain, Bhabi, “he whispered to my wife”. Okay, but don’t show it to anyone here, you are a brave commando and are known as such, my wife whispered back to him and then went straight to the doctor to tell him to administer him a pain killer. The next day Haroons wife was also there and then we saw his entire pelvis and leg plastered with his leg hauled up and a weight dangling on the other side.
It was while he was on crutches that General Parvez Musharraf was appointed as the Colonel in Chief of the SSG and dinner at Cherat of all SSG serving and retired officers was followed by a musical evening and once the musical group, the Jupiters started playing the Bhangra song, the entire SSG as well as General Parvez Musharraf watched as they saw a person on crutches coming upfront in front of the stage to do the Bhangra. And then the entire SSG jumped in to do the Bhangra! That very evening, he rattled out in Punjabi, a poem dedicated to his city, Lahore. He was a very proud Lahori and this poem of this exalted the virtues of the city of Lahore.
Most of his sisters live abroad in Canada; I hear they are on the way to their family home to attend their brave and courageous brothers’ last rites. His elder brothers loved him too. He was their little brother that they were so proud of a professional commando officer, their kid brother! I think about the agony his wife and two little daughters would be in at this stage. The elder one was very attached to him. The younger one may be too young to ever remember her father, later. His family has lost him at the hand of those terrorists who profess to be better Muslims then the others, with their perverted intolerantly indoctrinated minds. What about his loving mother who doled over him, so much as he was her youngest son! Is it gratifying for her to learn that her courageous son, having survived Kargil, having survived such a dangerous parachute accident, having survived so many ordeals of commando life, finally met his end at the hands of so called Muslims or as they proclaim to be, better Muslims. We remember his mother shouting angrily at the SSG officers to put her son down as he could get injured when they were tossing him in the air on his wedding day, as per SSG tradition. Jolly good fellow as they call it in the Army and making one airborne as they call it in the SSG. For his mother, this was no tradition. She was simply shocked to see him being tossed real high in the air as he as well as his friends laughed. “Put my son down,” she ordered “You will hurt my Bubloo”, she said to the now startled SSG officers.
His men simply loved him for his being straight forwardness, professional honesty and leadership qualities as the SSG calls for much higher leadership qualities as officers in the SSG have to lead from the front to be respected by their troops. To be really respected by the troops in the SSG is an acid test of leadership qualities. The SSG will remain proud of him, forever, I am sure!
