On 17 February 1951, the brave son of Pakistan was born in Karachi. Belonged to the famous Minhas clan of Rajputs.
His childhood was engrossed with aircrafts and aviation which led him to what he truly destined for.
Rashid Minhas showed his true passion after school and earned a degree in military and aviation history from University of Karachi.
In 1971, he was recruited as a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force.
Rashid was moving towards the runway when a Bengali instructor pilot, Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman, nodded him to stop and took the instructor’s seat. The jet took off and moved toward India.
Minhas alerted PAF Base Masroor with the message that he was being hijacked. The air controller asked to resend his message and he confirmed the hijacking.
However, as per investigation reflected that hijacking. Later investigation showed that Rahman intended to defect to India to join his compatriots in the Bangladesh Liberation War, along with the jet trainer.
Minhas was only left with one option which was in his control and forced that jet to crash just 32 miles away from the Indian border, deliberately Rashid Minhas preferred martyrdom over Pakistan’s disgrace.
