Story of a Living Conscience "Asghar Khan"

In 1941, Asghar Khan was twenty years old and had barely completed a year of service in the air force. It was the time of martial law in Sindh, imposed to control the Hur freedom movement led by the Pagaras and their followers who had been fighting the British rulers since 1843.

Col Richardson, the martial law administrator at the time, was hot on the trail of the then-Pir Pagara Syed Sibghatullah Shah and had just received information that a caravan, of which Pagara was a part, had been located some 15-20 miles from Sanghar. Four air force planes were sent to strike the caravan and kill Pagara. The young pilot leading the mission was Asghar Khan.

Some hours later, the planes returned to Hyderabad where an eager Richardson stood waiting on the airfield.

“Richardson asked what happened and I told him we did not strike the caravan because women and children were also part of it,” an 81-year-old Asghar Khan said at his residence on Sunday. “I told him it was not my job to strike women and children and so we returned without doing anything.”

Richardson asked Asghar Khan why he didn’t obey his command. “Because it was illegal,” he replied.

“I was twenty years old with one year of service but my conscience told me something. Who don’t those in command now also hear the voice of their conscience?” Asghar Khan asked.

Of course, an inquiry was held against Asghar Khan and the other pilots, though nothing came of it. Sixteen years later, he went on to become the youngest and first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force.