Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui

Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui
Born	(1935-07-18)18 July 1935 Rajshahi, British India
Died	6 September 1965(1965-09-06) (aged 30) Halwara, India
Burial place	Pakistan Lahore
Alma mater	St. Anthony High School, Lahore
Military career
Birth name	Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui
Nickname(s)	Mani
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Air Force
Years of service	1953–1965
Rank	Squadron Leader
Service number	PAF-3550
Unit	No. 14 Squadron Shaheens/No. 5 Squadron Falcons
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Awards	Hilal-e-Jurat (Crescent of Courage) Sitara-e-Jurat (Star of Courage)

Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui (18 July 1935 – 6 September 1965) was a fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force. He was known for his bravery and courage in two of the aerial combats during Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, and is a recipient of both the Hilal-e-Jurat (Crescent of Courage) and the Sitara-e-Jurat (Star of Courage) military awards from the Government of Pakistan.^[1][2][3]

Early life[]

Sarfraz Ahmed Rafiqui was born in Rajshahi (then British Raj, present Bangladesh) on 18 July 1935. He had three brothers and a sister. He started his education at St. Anthony High School, Lahore, matriculating from Government High School, Multan in 1948. With the transfer of his father to Karachi, he joined D. J. Sindh Government Science College. Inspired by his elder brother Ijaz Rafiqui (of 4th GDP Course), he later joined RPAF, graduating in 1953 from RPAF College Risalpur.^[4]

On return from UK in 1962, he was appointed OC of No 14 Squadron in Dhaka. After a year there, he was transferred to No 5 Squadron as OC, which he commanded during the war of 1965.^[4]

Indo-Pakistan War of 1965[]

On the evening of 1 September 1965, Indian Air Force intervened at Chhamb Sector by launching 26 aeroplanes (12 de Havilland Vampires and 14 Mysteres) to stop the Pakistan Army's XII Division offensive against Akhnoor in response to an SOS from the Indian Army. The IAF's 45 Sqn was tasked to carry out Close Air Support missions in support of Indian troops. These 26 planes flying in finger-four formation strafed Pakistani positions and attacked Pakistani tanks and ground targets, when these Indian aircraft were sighted, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) scrambled two F-86 Sabres, flown by S/L Sarfraz Rafiqui of No 5 Sqn and F/L Imtiaz Bhatti of No 15 Sqn from PAF Base Sargodha to intercept. In the ensuing dogfight over Chhamb, where S/L Rafiqui took on flight leader and wingman and F/L Bhatti went after element leader and element wingman. India acknowledged losing four aeroplanes, all 4 IAF Vampires, flown by Squadron Leader Aspi Kekobad Bhagwagar (flight leader), Flight Lieutenant Vijay Madhav Joshi (element leader), Flight Lieutenant Satish Bharadwaj (element wingman) and Flight Lieutenant (later Group Captain) Shrikrishna Vishnu Phatak (wingman). Both PAF pilots were credited with shooting down two de Havilland Vampires each and were awarded with Sitara-e-Jurrat for this mission.^[4]

On 6 September 1965, he was tasked to lead four aircraft of No 5 Sqn to strike IAF Halwara Air Base along with Flight Lieutenant Khawaja Younus Hussain as his number 2, Flight Lieutenant Cecil Chaudhry as number 3, and Flight Lieutenant Saleem as No 4, reaching there by at 1705 hours.^[4]

For his bold leadership displayed over Halwara, Rafiqui was awarded Hilal-i-Jur’at. His citation read:

On 6 September 1965, Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmad Rafiqui led a formation of 3 F-86 aircraft on a strike against Halwara airfield. The formation was intercepted by about 10 Hunter aircraft out of which Squadron Leader Rafiqui accounted for one in the first few seconds. But then his guns jammed due to a defect and stopped firing. However, Rafiqui refused to leave the battle area which he would have been perfectly justified to do; instead he ordered his No. 2 to take over as leader and continue the engagement while he tried to give the formation as much protection as was possible with an unarmed aircraft. This called on the part of Squadron Leader Rafiqui. The end for him was never in doubt but he chose to disregard it and, in the process, his aircraft was shot down and he was killed but not before enabling his formation to shoot down 3 more Hunter aircraft. Rafiqui’s conduct was clearly beyond the call of duty and conformed to the highest traditions of leadership and bravery in battle against overwhelming odds. For this and his earlier exploits, he is awarded Hilal-i-Jurat and Sitara-i-Jurat.^[5][3][2]

Honors and legacy[]

Pakistan's third largest air base, Rafiqui Airbase (Shorkot Cantonment) is named after him.^[2] One of the largest roads of the Lahore Cantonment is named Sarfaraz Rafiqui Road in his honour. Rafiqui Shaheed Road in Karachi is also named after him. In Peshawar, the Rear Air Headquarters and PAF School and Degree College, are located on Rafiqui Lane.^[6]

Parents' gesture[]

The Government of Pakistan awarded 77 acres of prime agriculture land as a recompense with the awards of HJ and SJ, which was bequeathed by Rafiqui's parents to the Sarfraz Rafiqui Welfare Trust.

References[]