This is a very well written book about some of the historical events surrounding the birth of Pakistan entitled: "Privileged Witness: A patriot's journey through partition and the independence of Pakistan" by Air Commodore (late) Mohammed Khan Janjua and edited by his daughter, Shahidah Janjua. Although, it is a personal narrative by the most senior officer of the Pakistan Air Force at the time, it provides very invaluable insight into the role of British imperialism (Colonialism) and how it continued to exert external (corrupting) influences over both Pakistan and India and their collusion in the annexation of Kashmir. Chapter 8 from pages 191-271 is devoted to Kashmir and M. K. Janjua refers to Akbar Khan "who wrote about 30 pages in a small notebook in Lahore Central prison, on his experiences in Kashmir. I do not know if they were published. In his 'book' one single sentence appeared about the air-force. The words were to the effect that "Janjua provided equipment enough for a brigade" But men of Pakistan Air force did more than that. I presume it is the same ex-Major General Khan, whose book: "Raiders in Kashmir. Story of Kashmir war (1947-48) was published in Karachi around 1970 and I came across the book over 25 years ago and also appeared in the bibliography of another very important and compelling book by Alastair Lamb: "Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy 1846-1990", written at a crucial period during the 1990s uprising in Kashmir.
However, in this book M..K. Janjua's own personal account sheds some light on how (he) the Pakistan's first air chief stood up to his political masters and as a consequence suffered through false accusations of being involved in a communist conspiracy known as the infamous 1951 Rawalpindi Case. The chapter devoted to the Kashmir is excellent and The famous Pakistani poet, late Faiz Ahmed Faiz was also accused of being part of the 'conspiracy' and was sentenced along with late M. K. Janjua. Eventually, other events in Pakistan on October 16, 1951 conspired in favour of the M.K. Janjua and his fellow prisoners when Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's first Prime Minister, was assassinated while addressing a public meeting in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. The mystery surrounding the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan was cleared up in April 2015, after some United States (US) documents declassified a few years ago revealed that two people killed the murderer of Liaquat Ali Khan at the spot while the crowd also massacred the two persons in order to leave no sign of the conspiracy. The main reason for his (Liaquat Ali Khan) murder was that the US wanted to get contracts of oil resources in Iran. Pakistan and Iran enjoyed cordial ties and Afghanistan used to be an enemy of Pakistan during 1950-51. The neighbouring Afghanistan was the only country that did not accept Pakistan at that time. These recent revelations reveal that the `communist threat' that Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was afraid of during the 1951 Rawalpindi Conspiracy case was a smoke-screen by whoever wanted to divert his attention away from them and the hidden agenda was to pursue the external (US) vested interests of wanting to get their hands on Iran's oil through Pakistani influence and Pakistan's Liaquat Ali Khan paid it with his life and M.K. Janjua and his fellow conspirators were all released soon afterwards. As the saying goes: "what goes around comes around".
A must read A must read narrative that gives a compelling account of genuine patriotism and unswaying individual ethics and principles during trying times of great crisis!
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![Privileged Witness by [Air Commodore MK Janjua, Shahidah Janjua]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/4138ex4PbmL._SY346_.jpg)