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Col
(Retd) Nusrat Ullah
The
Publisher and Chief Editor Defence Journal IKRAM
SEHGAL writes the obituary of an outstanding
officer and gentleman.
Pathfinder Group (and
Defence Journal) have been deeply grieved by the sad
demise of our beloved Chairman, Col (Retd) Nusrat Ullah
on Nov 22, 2004 in Karachi. We are that much poorer
for it! Our loss of this outstanding person has been
devastating. It has been difficult to pen my thoughts
to capture the essence of what this man was and what
he stood for. For me personally and for PATHFINDER GROUP,
he was irreplaceable.
My association with
Col Nusrat goes back 40 years to November 1964 when
I was a Gentleman Cadet (GC) in the Second Term (34th
PMA Long Course) and he was attached to our superb Platoon
Commander, Capt (later Lt Gen) Imtiazullah Warraich,
for on-the-job-training (OJT) preparatory to himself
taking over a Platoon of GCs in the following term (May
1965). I first heard of Col Nusrat when he was training
the infantry commando platoons of the three infantry
battalions of 107 Bde in Jessore Cantonment in 1963,
one of the battalions had been raised (and later commanded)
by my father. When I was commissioned into 2 E Bengal
a year or so later and took over the commando platoon,
they still spoke in awe of the “Survival”
Course Col Nusrat ran for them in the Sunderbans in
(then) East Pakistan....more
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Seeking
South Asian Enlightenment
The need
for genuine rapprochement in the region based on compromises
on major issues
[Dr S M RAHMAN] |
In Hamlet, Lord Polinius tells his
son, “To thy own self be true”. South
Asia, if conceived as a single 'self', in a configurational
sense, has not been true to itself in achieving the
quintessential essence of 'being' - a vibrant regional
community, riding the path of enlightenment through
a collective paradigm of development. A realization
has dawned among the policy-makers concerned with
development that unless distributive justice is maintained
along with the economic growth, the accruing miseries
will have contagious effect to nullify whatever comes
under the glittering package of 'macro development'.
A culture of violence is an inevitable consequence.
It is not religion but political
and economic injustice, which forces people towards
adoption of any means for compensation. Call it terrorism
or anything or whatever you may like. Struggle for
identity and independence cannot be suppressed by
labelling it 'terrorism'. It is a bad diagnosis and
equally bad therapy to quell the uprising for seeking
dignified existence through military means. It is
anachronistic. It has not worked in the past and will
not work in the future. No matter how much military
power is brought into operation, the ultimate victor
shall be the 'will' of the people....more
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All
people are equal - Some are more equal than others
Treal
universalism preserves the best from all worlds
[RENEE SCHWALLER]
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| As young
children, my older sister and I were temporarily put
up in a boarding school. At some stage my sister had
set her sights on a new electronic gadget and was keen
to buy it. She asked the lady in charge of my unit,
whether she could have the money that I had as well,
putting forward the argument that I “didn't need”
it. The money was of course not given to her, and I
was advised to spend my pocket money in time. Nowadays,
my sister and I get along nicely and I am able to safeguard
my own interests quite well. But the lesson is clear:
if you are not strong and mature and not able to use
your abilities and resources to the full, somebody stronger
is likely to be tempted to come along and take advantage
of you. Trying to be equally strong or equally able
or equally well-off than others not only keeps us on
our toes and helps to keep the economy going, it is
becoming more and more essential to survival. The planet
earth is becoming a little crowded and resources are
getting precious and much sought after....more
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