Farida Singh, the daughter of Indian civilian aircraft pilot Jahangir Engineer, has gracefully and generously accepted the apology of a former Pakistan Air Force pilot, Qais Hussain, who shot down her father’s plane when it drifted off course along the border during the 1965 war. Engineer and seven others in the aircraft were killed.
Guilt had forced Mr Hussain to look for the family of the Indian pilot and, after almost half a century, he sent an email to the surviving daughter of Jahangir Engineer seeking to apologise and clarify his position.
In a touching email, Farida Singh, thanked the Pakistani fighter pilot for his apology. Mrs Singh replied that she was “somewhat overwhelmed” at receiving his letter and that the death of her father had “defined our lives”. “But in all the struggles that followed, we never, not for one moment, bore bitterness or hatred for the person who actually pulled the trigger and caused my father’s death,” she wrote. “The fact that this all happened in the confusion of a tragic war was never lost to us. We are all pawns in this terrible game of war and peace,” she added.
Describing her father as an “ace pilot, a great leader of men (and) a willing team player,” Mrs Singh said he was also generous of spirit. “Hence it is now easy for me to reach out my hand to receive your message. This incident is indeed a prime example of what damage strife and mindless battles can drive even good men to do,” she said. Earlier, he
wrote to Mrs Singh saying he was sorry for the loss of precious lives and had been acting under orders. The Pakistanis had suspected the aircraft of being on a reconnaissance mission to open a new war front. Mr Hussain was ordered to shoot it down despite pleas for mercy from Jahangir Engineer.
Qais Hussain said that when he returned to the airbase in Karachi he had felt elated at having completed the mission. But the mood changed later that evening when All-India Radio announced that the plane had been a civilian Indian aircraft carrying eight people. In his email to Mrs Singh, Mr Hussain said everyone connected with the incident felt sorry and dejected.
The email sent by Mrs Singh to Mr Hussain:
“Dear Mr. Hussain,
Firstly, thank you for your condolences on the passing away of my brother Noshir.
I am somewhat overwhelmed at receiving this letter, even though I was expecting it as Jagan Pillarisetti had been in touch with me recently on this.
It took courage for you to write this. And for me, too, (I say this humbly) it takes the same to write back. But my father was Courage and Grace at their finest and I now speak on behalf of him, my extraordinary, gracious mother (who survived my father by just 16 years), my late brother Noshir and my elder sister in Canada who is unfortunately legally blind.
Yes, this was the one incident which defined our lives henceforth. But in all the struggles that followed, we never, not for one moment, bore bitterness or hatred for the person who actually pulled the trigger and caused my father’s death.
The fact that this all happened in the confusion of a tragic war was never lost to us. We are all pawns in this terrible game of war and peace.
A little more about my father. An ace pilot if ever there as one. A WWII veteran fighter pilot, a great leader of men, a willing team player, strong in body and spirit.
This would have been just the view of an adoring daughter, had it not been reflected by all those fortunate enough to know him. Most of all was the generosity of spirit, and his intuitive understanding of the pain of others.
Hence it is now easy for me to reach out my hand to receive your message. This incident is indeed a prime example of what damage strife and mindless battles can drive even good men to do.
Thank you again for your gesture. I know it was not an easy thing for you to do.
In closing, I would like to say that I have no idea as to how your email has made the front page in some prominent dailies here. (Jagan knows how publicity-shy I generally am).
A friend told me about it and I then re-checked my inbox and opened your mail this morning, four days after you sent it.
However, I am glad that it is now public as it can do nothing but heal wounds, not just on a personal scale but in a much wider arena.
And, most of all, my father would have liked that it goes towards bringing a spark of forgiveness between our two peoples, who after all were one.
Warm regards, Farida”