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Writer Mod Date & Time
PARTITION: Tape 42 255MODEM 255MODEM Mar 15 09:35
TAPE 42
Side A
SAHABZADA YAQUB KHAN
Pakistani former foreign minister
interviewed at United Service Institution, Delhi on 15 Mar 1997
Indian army officer; served in Tobruk and Syria during WW2, PoW in
Germany, escaped, recaptured; after WW2, was adjutant on viceroy's
staff in 1946-7, and part of ceremonial bodyguard; from Rampur in
UP (Zaffar says from a princely family); opted for Pakistan - was
in Karachi on independence day; recently Pakistan's foreign
minister in the caretaker government (Zaffar says regarded as a
dove)
tall, elegant, immaculately dressed (with more than a passing
resemblance to Jinnah); regal and courteous; in India to attend
75th anniv celebrations of Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun;
5 - no involvement in ML pre-partition; 'I was a soldier, and
I had nothing to do with politics'
24 - was adjutant of viceroy's bodyguard under Wavell, and
later under M'batten; posted to b'guard c Feb 46 - and
continued until post until partition; bodyguard - which
had S and M portions - divided, and led M portion which
contd to serve as b'gd of G-Genl of Pakistan, Mr Jinnah
51 - did not know J well before joining his staff, 'of course I
had boundless admiration for him and for what he'd done,
I'd watched it at close quarters from the V'roy's house
... I was not in the midstream of politics, but
sufficient to hear in the alleyways and byways what was
going on; by then my sympathies were engaged ... we had
to make up our minds in the month of July or Aug [47]
whether we wanted to serve I or Pak, I had decided to
opt for Pak'
78 - 'it is true to say that he was a rather distant person,
... my iprn of him was as a gt leader, a little
imprsonal in his dealings, and we knew he had stood up
v soliodly and courageously not only to the l'ship here
but also on many counts when he had stood up to the
v'roy and the establishment'
102 - 'it is true that [J] ... did not come out as a warm,
outgoing person ... but he generally had the reputation
of being very correct, courteous, but impersonal in
his dealings with those other than whom he was most
intimately linked ... it was I wd say slightly distant,
dignified and an imposing personality'
121 - [opting for Pak] 'it was not an easy decision to make, at
the same time I made it cos I realised that the future
of the ms in I was dark, sommbre and therefore as a
young man ... I thought Pak was the place, and I've
never regretted it since, where the Ms wd live in an
atmos of relative equity and justice, and all those
benefits that one expects to receive as a citizen in a
state that is not ruled, dominated by a strong rel or
sectarain views towards the minority ...'
147 - in Indian army, rel differences always secondary; 'we were |
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