Air Marshal Nur Khan (1923-2011)

In this age of specialisation, all-rounders such as Air Marshal Nur Khan can be hard to find.

Air Marshal Nur Khan, who passed away on December 15, at the age of 88, was a man born to lead and a name associated with heroic tales. Many people rise to the top in their chosen field after decades of hard work; Nur Khan succeeded no matter how foreign the field. An air force man, he rose to become commander-in-chief, a position he held for four years from 1965-1969. But that was hardly the start of his myriad accomplishments. In fact, even before he was commander-in-chief of the air force, Nur Khan served as managing director of PIA. The position is now associated with nepotism, corruption and inefficiency, all in the service of one the largest-loss making state corporations. It can be hard, then, to remember that back in the 1960s, thanks to the efforts of Nur Khan and other dedicated professionals, PIA was one of the most respected — and profitable — names in aviation. Civilians and the military alike respected and utilised the talents of Nur Khan. Ayub Khan appointed him governor of West Punjab after his term as commander-in-chief ended. And so successful was Nur Khan in running PIA from 1959 to 1965, that in 1973 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto personally requested that he take over the airline, then facing financial difficulties. Once again he was able to turn around the fortunes of the national carrier.

Later in life, Nur Khan took a completely different tack in his career, bringing all his skills as an administrator to Pakistani sports. He left a distinct impact on two of the major sports in the country: hockey and cricket. He was instrumental in establishing the Champions Trophy competition during his tenure as president of the Hockey Federation of Pakistan. As head of the cricket board from 1980-1984, he was responsible for improving cricket ties with India. He was also part of the organising committee for the 1987 World Cup with India, a tournament that went off without a hitch and was a great commercial success too. It is unlikely that Pakistan will ever see a person with the diverse resume of Nur Khan ever again. In this age of specialisation, such all-rounders can be hard to find. Few will approach his brilliance but this country would be in much better shape if more, at least, shared his honesty and patriotism.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2011.