Here is the Cecil Chaudhry eulogy written by Michelle Chaudhry for our Memorial service:
No
amount of words spoken in his honor could do justice to the person that was
Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, who was an acclaimed national hero, a highly
decorated war veteran, a legend of the Pakistan Air Force, a bold and fearless
human rights activist, a beacon of light and inspiration for thousands of
Pakistanis; Who’s passing away has been widely mourned - from the President of
Pakistan to the man on the street, the magnitude of the loss was felt.
A
testimony to this fact was evident by the funeral he received. It was the
Pakistan Air Force, which left everyone completely overwhelmed. The Chief of
Air Staff flew into Lahore for the funeral from the Air Headquarters in
Islamabad, and senior serving and retired officers and all the officers at
Lahore Air Force Base went beyond all expectations to bid farewell to their
colleague, in an extremely befitting manner.
The
Honor Guards of the Pakistan Air Force were especially flown in from the Air
Head Quarters in Islamabad; he was presented with a Guard of Honor, carried by
the Air Force pallbearers in a coffin wrapped in the national flag of Pakistan.
A fourteen gun salute was given at the cemetery as he was being lowered down to
rest. He was given a funeral with complete military honors, the kind he truly
deserved.
Cecil
Chaudhry was a brave, courageous and an illustrious man, who was bestowed with
numerous honors, from Gallantry Awards to equally high peace time citations.
During his twenty eight year service in the Pakistan Air Force, he achieved the
highest level of professionalism and went on to be one of the highest decorated
officers of the Pakistan Air Force. He commanded the most prestigious fighter
squadrons and set up some of the most influential fighter training schools of
the Pakistan Air Force.
He
fought the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 with great valor, for which he was
awarded by the President of Pakistan the Sitara-e-Jurat (Star of Courage) one
of the highest military awards of Pakistan, which is awarded for gallantry services during
combat and the Sitara-e-Basalat (Star of Good Conduct) for distinguished acts
of gallantry, valor or courage while performing duty.
Group
Captain Cecil Chaudhry excelled in everything he chose to do.
He
received enormous recognition for his phenomenal contributions towards the
rights and empowerment of religious minorities in Pakistan. He was truly the
voice of the voiceless; he fought for the rights of the underprivileged,
the downtrodden and the marginalized communities regardless of
cast, creed or religion. Cecil Chaudhry believed in Humanity and often
said “By faith I’m a Christian but my religion is humanity” In one of his
interviews he said “I have never talked in terms
of only my community being persecuted. I consider all of the 170
million people of this country as my community, and believe that 90 per cent of
them are being persecuted at the hands of the powerful; as such, I am
involved in the struggle for everyone’s rights.”
On another occasion he
is known to have said “I have fought two wars for this country, but am willing
to fight 100 wars against extremism”
Cecil Chaudhry fought non-violently for the rights of the downtrodden, especially the Religious Minorities, with bravery and determination to bring about change for the better. He was a mentor and guide to Martyr Shahbaz Bhatti who in return was like a son to him. The assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti left him shattered and this was one of the very rare occasions on which he is known to have emotionally broken down. He was the first person to support and guide Shahbaz Bhatti in his struggle for religious freedom and together, they struggled for 27 long years. Cecil Chaudhry founded the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), which was headed by Shahbaz Bhatti.
When the joint electorates system succumbed to one of the darkest chapters of Pakistan’s history, by the Military Dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, who imposed the Separate Electorate System upon the religious minorities against their will; under this undemocratic system, the religious minorities were not allowed vote outside their religious affiliations, hence severely disenfranchising the non-Muslims citizens of Pakistan.
Cecil
Chaudhry termed this as “religious apartheid” which promoted intolerance and
served the purpose of ‘divide and rule’. He along with Martyr Shahbaz
Bhatti launched and led a campaign for the restoration of joint
electorates. In 1999-2001, he called for a boycott
of the local elections by the religious minorities,
which was overwhelmingly successful; it took them fourteen long
years to have the joint electorates restored. A landmark achievement
indeed!
Cecil
Chaudhry spoke out both locally and internationally against Pakistan’s
notorious blasphemy laws and vowed to fight for the repeal of these laws,
saying, “We are ready to lay down our lives for this cause”. It was not
an empty promise, for he knew the cost. He had faced several attempts on
his life, in addition to fabricated charges of even treason in 1995. He and his
family faced death threats on a number of occasions but nothing deterred
Cecil’s resolve to fight for justice in the most dangerous of circumstances.
Group
Captain Cecil Chaudhry refused numerous government portfolios; leaders of
mainstream political parties would invite him to join their party but he never
accepted any of these, always stating that he could be so much more effective
on his own than from any government or political party platform.
In
the field of education, his services were second to none. Despite numerous
lucrative offers by various organizations and Governments he chose to educate
Pakistani children; to groom the leaders of tomorrow. He served as Principal St
Anthony’s High School Lahore for fifteen years and served as Principal St
Mary’s Academy Rawalpindi for four years. Both institutions excelled under his
care and guidance, for the first time in the history of these Institutions
students attained top academic positions in examinations both locally and
internationally.
He
served on the Board of Governors of various Institutions such as the Forman
Christian College Lahore, the Punjab Education Foundation and numerous others.
He
was a proud, dignified and daring man, who always held his head high, he
encountered and defied death on numerous occasions and in the end he fought the
battle of his life this time against lung cancer with dignity and courage.
He took it in his stride with a positive attitude. He refused to bow down
his head, even in the state of extreme pain. He fought cancer, an absolute
merciless disease, like a brave and courageous warrior right to his last
breath.
Then
one day with his loved ones by his side he bid this world farewell, he died the
way he lived strong, graceful and dignified; God decided that his work on earth
was done so on the wings of angels He carried him home; Heaven needed a Hero
too!
Group
Captain Cecil Chaudhry lives on forever, in our hearts, our thoughts and
our prayers.
I leave you with one last thought there is a Cecil Chaudhry
in every Pakistani, so let us bring him out in our spirits, so that others
may reap the harvest of Goodness!
Thank you and God bless!
What little I knew of Cecil Chaudhry
ReplyDeleteI was inspired by our great PAF Hero, Late Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, whom I had met with my cousin Late Group Captain Ghory on several occasions at his home. They both had a great resemblance and had similar habits and hilarious characters. I came across Cecil Chaudhry during the Indo-Pak War of 1971, near Zafarwal, in the Sialkot Sector, when he parachuted after being hit by ground fire. He was returning from a mission over Samba/Kathua area of the Indians and was probably hit by our own ground fire that took his aircraft as an Indian jet. I was going on reconnaissance near Zafarwal, when I saw a parachute coming down. I immediately sped towards it. On arrival I discovered Captain (Later Lt Gen) Ghulam Ahmed (GA) also there as he too had been speeding towards the falling parachute. Lo and behold, before I or GA, could get to him, the villagers had got hold of him and were about to beat him with sticks and fists. We got there at the nick of the time. We also took him initially as an Indian, till I saw closely recognized him and then got him freed from the angry villagers, who had taken him as an Indian Pilot. (Quite a coincidence I also rescued an Indian pilot the following day close to the same area. He was a Sikh Squadron Leader and swearing by saying,” they told me there were no ack acks there”. He too was taken by the villagers before I got to him and rescued him. I offered him a blanket and tea and made him feel comfortable and later dropped him at the Divisional Headquarters for onwards dispatch).
When I rescued Cecil, he was wearing coveralls and obviously on a December morning was shivering. I offered him my blanket that was always with me on the seat of my old “Willys” jeep. Later on I offered him and GA a hot cup of tea from my flask. GA, being an MP Officer, later escorted him to the Division Headquarters for arranging his transportation to his destination.
I met Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, few months before he passed away at the Saint Mary’s School, at Rawalpindi Cantonment, where I had gone to see him to get firsthand knowledge about my friend Major Shabir Sharif Shaheed, on him I was writing a book and have since completed. Both Major Shabir Sharif and Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry had been at the same School, Saint Anthony High School at Lahore. I was meeting Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry after almost four decades. I sat out of the Principals’ office waiting for his secretary to get me an audience. Apparently he took me as a parent who was waiting to see him for admission of a child. Having waited long and realizing that he may have taken me for a parent, I wrote on a piece of paper that I was there to meet him, not for admission but for a personal matter. I was allowed inside soon. On getting inside I realized he was taking a conference of teachers. He offered me a chair right opposite him while the teachers were sitting in rows towards the sides. Once he was free I offered him to recognize me, after some guessing, he said I looked familiar to him, I hinted as to what happened in December 1971, when he bailed out after being shot down. He concentrated hard and then said in Punjabi “Tou O ain” (meaning, are you the one?). He got up from his chair and came around and gave me a big hug, almost lifting me off feet, as he was a much taller person than me and then introduced me to his teachers and staff. Well he seemed delighted to meet me and so was I and we talked about our days
Colonel Azam Qadri- A military biographer and military historian
(Email: booksaremypassion49@yahoo.com)
I first met the legend when i was admitted in St.Anthony's High School back in 1998.....The very first day i decided to become a pilot like him and im going to risalpur this October..He was called "Flying Horse" among the students at my school..I still remember the last time i shook hands with him in school morning assembly....And finally i saw him lying in his coffin looking great as ever wearing a black three piece suit... No doubt Sir you were one of the great people this country has ever produced....
ReplyDeleteOMAR FAROOQ
UET LAHORE