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When Pakistan’s Unarmed Dakota Defeated Indian Fighter Aircrafts

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Danish Anwar tells the forgotten story of an unarmed Pakistani Dakota airplane, which was attacked by the Indian Tempest fighters.

When you have not caught me yet, you will never be able to do it again.” These words sound like the hero of a Hollywood action movie, but in fact, these words were written by Mukhtar Ahmad Dogar, a pilot of the Pakistan Air Force in history. A Sita-e-Jurat, who served with three different Air Forces in succession, his life might not have been mentioned in history if it weren’t for his life story of saving the Unarmed Dakota.

He was born on 15 May 1920 in a farming family in Punjab province. Received his higher education in the field of agriculture. At that time, the Second World War was going on, probably based on which Mukhtar Ahmad Dogar joined the Royal Air Force after completing his education, where he was commissioned on 29 March 1943. go Participated on the Burma front in World War II as a flying officer, retired from Royal Indian Air Force on 22 December 1946, then re-joined the agriculture sector, but joined Pakistan Air Force after the creation of Pakistan. Of course, the situation on the Kashmir issue soon began to deteriorate.

The Royal Pakistan Air Force started a series of flights in Kashmir under the name of Valley Flights. At that time, the American-made DC 3 Dakota aircraft were used in cargo and other operations in the air forces of Pakistan, India, and the world. In 1947, the war was going on in Kashmir; Mukhtar Ahmad Dogar and Flight Lieutenant Jag Jeevan left for Skardu from Risalpur on a supply mission by taking this plane. How is this incident written in the official history book of the Pakistan Air Force? I’m looking at you.

I set out on my mission early in the morning on 4 November 1947. The weather was fine, and morale was very high. Meandering through the now well-known Indus Valley, I dropped my cargo in a sandy valley near Skardu. Happy with his one more action, I handed over the control of the aircraft to Flying Officer Jag Jivan to have a respite. We were in the vicinity of Chilas when I noticed two Tempest planes in the sky, which I mistook for my own, as I had received no warning of the presence of enemy planes in the area.

But as soon as the planes approached, they were correctly identified, and I immediately took control of the aircraft. The Indian pilots were very annoyed with my respite for some time. The valley at Chilas is five miles wide, due to which there is no problem with the air landing page. Tempest (Indian aircraft) asked me to land at the nearest Indian base. But I ignored the order, which the Indian pilot repeated three times, but I did not respond, at which point the Indian pilots threatened to shoot down my plane. Yes, they were armed, they fired a volley of bullets into the air, but I continued my effort undaunted.

Mukhtar Ahmed Dogar and Scene painted by Wing Commander Hussaini.
Mukhtar Ahmed Dogar and Scene painted by Wing Commander Hussaini.

While this battle was going on, the fellow soldiers sitting behind the thought that maybe I was showing them my flying skills, came and said, Sir, we know you fly a good plane, but why are you testing us, when they were told that Indian planes are attacking us, so Subedar said, “Sir, let the plane crash into the mountain, but don’t let the plane fall into the hands of the Indians.

It is further written in history that, at the same time, an Indian aircraft separated from the formation and reached the height and flew toward us to attack. Naik Deen Muhammad was mortally wounded, Flying Officer Jag Jivan fainted, and Air Signaller Mohsin was instructed to stand in the straw hedge and kick when the enemy attacked three times. I was hit. I managed to escape death at medium speed with full flaps and left the rudder in use all three times. I was flying just above the water’s surface with almost deck height, so the enemy’s final attack. After addressing the Indian pilots said. “When you can’t capture me yet, you will never again, they probably realized that and retreated in failure.

Indian and Pakistan Air Force Hawker Tempest
Indian and Pakistani Tempest fighter jets

 

According to the official history of the Pakistan Air Force, it lasted for 20 to 25 minutes. For this gallantry, Flying Officer Dogar was awarded the highest military award of Sitara-e-Jarat.

Pakistan raised the matter in the United Nations Security Council. In mid-November 1947, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal S Mukherjee, arrived in Karachi to negotiate a reconciliation agreement with the then PAF Commander, Air Vice Marshal Perry Kane. In this meeting, it was decided that our unarmed cargo aircraft and communication aircraft would not be attacked outside the war zone.

Amin Mukhtar Ahmed Dogar, the founder of the Pakistan Air Force, retired as Air Commodore on 21 August 1968 and died on 5 June 2004.

The Dakota was a cargo plane, which was no match for attack aircraft like the Tempest or any other aircraft in combat.

The record of Mukhtar Ahmad Dogar and his co-pilot Alfred Jag Jivan, as I found on the Indian website, is available. Unfortunately, I could not find any record on the Pakistan Air Force or Pakistan Military Consortium website. There used to be a website called “Insecure,” which was not opened for the same reason, but the record of a Pakistani pilot found on Bharatrakshak.com will remain regrettable. This is true at the time of writing. Many such incidents may now never be found by online researchers. The Air Force doesn’t need to do this, but history is not a pile of blank papers. Books on the history of the Pakistan Air Force keep coming into the market and libraries.

https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/2353

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/1955

Later in 1992, the Indian book Air Force Psyche of Pakistan Air Force mentions this story on page 13. If for some reason, we don’t believe this incident to be actual, then Indians would not have mentioned it.

 

 

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