Condolence and closure

Jehangir (Jangoo), the second of the famous four flying Engineer brothers — the others being Aspi, Minoo and Ronnie — was shot down by a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officer while piloting a civilian aircraft during the 1965 war. Forty-six years later, the then rookie PAF pilot, Qais Hussain, has sent a condolence message to Engineer’s daughter, Farida Singh via e-mail dated August 5, 2011, explaining the circumstances under which he downed the aircraft. All eight persons on board, including the then chief minister of Gujarat Balwant Rai Mehta, were killed.

The e-mail, which was copied to Naushad Patel and Jagan Pillarisetti, the Indian contacts who assisted Hussain to reach out to the bereaved family, gives details about the encounter: "The aircraft flown by your father had drifted off course by many miles... he had been going up and down in the border area of Rann of Kutch and made our radars uncomfortable. I intercepted your father’s aircraft, thought to be on a recce mission to open a new war front. Your father spotted my presence immediately... Instead of firing at him at first sight, I relayed to my controller that I had intercepted an eight-seater transport aircraft and wanted further instructions. I was hoping that I would be called back without firing a shot. But, I was given clear orders to shoot. After the shooting, I had a sense of achievement and satisfaction that I had completed my mission.”

(Left): Qais Hussain with his fighter plane in 1965 and today; (ext right): Jehangir Engineer;

The former pilot explained why he wanted to contact Singh: "I have chosen to go into this detail to tell you that it all happened in the line of duty and it was not governed by the concept that ‘everything is fair in love and war,’ the way it has been portrayed by the Indian media due to lack of information. I did not play foul and went by the rules of the business but the unfortunate loss of precious lives, no matter how it happens, hurts each human and I am no exception. I feel sorry for you, your family and the other seven families who lost their dearest ones.”

The Sunday Times of India (STOI) of August 21, 2011 carried an interview with Singh in which she admitted: "For 46 years after my father died, I could not bear to think of the moments before his death, when he was struggling to bring his planeload of innocent lives to safety. The clippings from newspapers my mother put together were just put away, never read by me or shown to my children. If people discussed the incident, I’d only listen with pain.” Hence, Hussain’s e-mail detailing these very moments came as a shock. It also brought relief. "The Pakistani officer’s gesture was astonishing... he needed to say something. And I had to be brave enough to listen.”

Singh told STOI: "Suddenly I could open the drawer in which the clippings were kept. I could scan the picture which showed us standing by as my father was being laid to rest... The letter did bring me closure, yes. And an opening for the rest of my life.” Singh says she feels no animosity for those who had caused her father’s death. "As I wrote to Hussain, there was never any hatred for the pilot who shot the plane down. But there was certainly a villain of the piece. That was war itself.”