Muhammad Mahmood Alam: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Pakistani military leader}}

|honorific prefix = Air Commodore

|name= Muhammad Mahmood Alam <br /> [[Sitara-e-Jurat|SJ]]

|native_name = {{Nastaliq|محمد محمود عالم}}  

|native_name_lang = urdu

|birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1935|7|6}}

|birth_place= [[Calcutta]], [[British Raj|British India]]

|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|2013|3|18|1935|7|6}}

|death_place= [[Karachi]], Pakistan

|image= MM alam in 2010.jpg

|alt=

|caption= Muhammad Mahmood Alam in 2010

|nickname=MM Alam, Little Dragon

|allegiance={{PAK}}

|serviceyears=1960–1982

|branch={{Air force|Pakistan}}

|rank=[[File:US-O7 insignia.svg|20px]] [[Air commodore]]

|commands=

|unit=[[List of Pakistan Air Force Squadrons|No. 11 Squadron Arrows]] (1965)<ref name=PAF>{{cite web|url=http://www.paf.gov.pk/mmalam.html|title=Events&nbsp;– M M Alam's F-86|publisher=Pakistan Air Force (official website)|access-date=5 March 2010|location=Pakistan}}</ref><br />[[List of Pakistan Air Force Squadrons|No. 5 Squadron Falcons]]

|battles= [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]<br />[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]<br />[[Soviet–Afghan War]]

|awards= [[Sitara-e-Jurat]] and [[Medal bar|Bar]]<ref name="Fiza'ya: psyche of the Pakistan Air Force">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_JS4AAAAIAAJ |title=Fiza'ya: psyche of the Pakistan Air Force |last1=Singh |first1=Pushpindar |last2=Rikhye |first2=Ravi |last3=Steinemann |first3=Peter |publisher=Society for Aerospace Studies |year=1991 |isbn=9788170020387 |pages=28, 31}}</ref>

|laterwork=  

Air Commodore '''Muhammad Mahmood Alam''' {{Small|[[Sitara-e-Jurat|SJ]]}} ({{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|محمد محمود عالم}}}}; 6 July 1935&nbsp;– 18 March 2013) was<ref>''Dawn'' Newspaper, [http://dawn.com/2013/03/18/m-m-alam-passes-away-in-karachi/];</ref> a Pakistani fighter pilot officially credited by the [[Pakistan Air Force]] for having downed five [[Indian Air Force]] [[Hawker Hunter]] aircraft in 1 minute during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]] on 7 September 1965.<ref name="Werrell">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDLVTNpmqCQC |title=Sabres Over MiG Alley: The F-86 and the Battle for Air Superiority in Korea |last=Werrell |first=Kenneth P.  |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2005 |isbn=9781591149330 |edition=illustrated |page=233}}</ref> These claims, however, have been widely contested by Indian Air Force and retired PAF Air Commodore Sajad S. Haider since the [[gun camera]] footage was never made public.

 

He was a [[North American F-86 Sabre|F-86 Sabre]] [[flying ace]] as per Pakistan Air Force records. He was awarded the [[Sitara-e-Jurat]], the nation's third highest military award with Bar for his actions.

Alam was born on 6 July 1935 to a well-educated family of [[Calcutta]], British India. Born and raised in [[Bengal]], Alam was a fluent [[Bengali language|Bengali]] speaker, however his paternal line was of Urdu-speaking Bihari origin; having emigrated from [[Patna]] and settled in the [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] province of British India for a long time.<ref name="Nation">{{cite news|url=http://www.nation.com.pk/national/06-Sep-2013/knowing-mm-alam|title=Knowing MM Alam|work=The Nation|access-date=8 September 2014|date=6 September 2013}}</ref> The family migrated from Calcutta to eastern Bengal which became [[East Pakistan]], now Bangladesh following the formation of Pakistan in 1947.<ref name="Nation"/> It was in East Pakistan, where Alam completed his secondary education, graduating from the Government High School in [[Dhaka]] in 1951. He joined the then Royal Pakistani Air Force (now Pakistan Air Force) in 1952, being commissioned on 2 October 1953.<ref name="The News International">[http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-166043-Iconic-war-veteran-MM-Alam-passes-away Iconic war veteran MM Alam passes away], [[The News International]]. Retrieved on 19 March 2013.</ref> Alam's brothers are [[M. Shahid Alam]], an economist and a professor at [[Northeastern University, Boston|Northeastern University]],<ref>Institute for Policy Research & Development, [http://iprd.org.uk/?page_id=30 Advisory Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404101927/http://iprd.org.uk/?page_id=30 |date=4 April 2019 }}; [http://iprd.org.uk/?page_id=6291 Dr. M. Shahid Alam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404101918/http://iprd.org.uk/?page_id=6291 |date=4 April 2019 }}</ref><ref name=Aksan>Cihan Aksan, ''State of Nature'', [http://www.stateofnature.org/onIslam1.html On Islam: An Interview with M. Shahid Alam]</ref> and [[Mohammad Sajjad Alam|M. Sajjad Alam]], a particle physicist at [[SUNY Albany]].<ref>Department of Physics, [http://www.albany.edu/undergraduate_bulletin/department_physics.html M. Sajjad Alam].</ref>

His family moved to [[Pakistan]] in 1971, after the secession of [[East Pakistan]].<ref name="Nation"/> Being the eldest of his 11 siblings, Alam did not marry as he had to assume the responsibilities of the upbringing of his family.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Some of his younger brothers became distinguished in various academic careers.<ref name="The News International" />

During the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]], Alam scored an [[Flying ace#Ace in a day|"ace in a day"]] on 7 September 1965, with a total of 5 kills. His actions have placed him at the top of the hall of fame list at the [[Pakistan Air Force]] (PAF) Museum in Karachi. During the war, he was posted at [[Sargodha]].

According to the PAF, in a single sortie on 7 September 1965, Alam downed five aircraft with four in less than a minute, establishing a world record.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/september/alam.htm |title=Alam's Speed-shooting Classic |publisher=Defencejournal.com |last=Air Cdre M Kaiser Tufail |author-link=Air Cdre M Kaiser Tufail |access-date=15 November 2011}}</ref><ref name="Fricker">{{cite book|last=Fricker|first=John|title=Battle for Pakistan: the air war of 1965|year=1979|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPttAAAAMAAJ |pages=15–17 |isbn=9780711009295}}</ref><ref name="Polmar">{{cite book|last1=Polmar|first1=Norman|title=One hundred years of world military aircraft|url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_v6d0|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-59114-686-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_v6d0/page/354 354]|first2=Dana |last2=Bell|quote=Mohammed Mahmood Alam claimed five victories against Indian Air Force Hawker Hunters, four of them in less than one minute! Alam, who ended the conflict with 9 kills, became history's only jet "ace-in-a-day."}}</ref><ref name="Nordeen's Indo-Pak 1965 Conflict">{{cite book|last=O' Nordeen|first=Lon|title=Air Warfare in the Missile Age|url=https://archive.org/details/airwarfareinmiss00nord|url-access=registration|year=1985|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=978-0-87474-680-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/airwarfareinmiss00nord/page/84 84–87]}}</ref>  Regarding the last four, he stated: "Before we had completed more than about{{Sic|}} 270 degrees of turn, at around 12 degrees per second, all four Hunters had been shot down."<ref name="Fricker" /> In 1978, when he gave a speech at a Karachi university, he said that he saw a spiritual force coming from the sky.<ref name="Rakshak">[http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1965War/Chapter5.html 30 Seconds Over Sargodha – The Making of a Myth: 1965 Indo-Pak Air War, Chapter 5] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207194926/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1965War/Chapter5.html |date=7 February 2010 }}, [[Bharat Rakshak]]</ref>

His claims has been contested by the Indian Air Force, which denied losing five Hawker Hunter aircraft on the said day,<ref name="Nordeen's Indo-Pak 1965 Conflict"/> and others including retired [[Pakistan Air Force|PAF]] [[Air commodore|Air Commodore]] Sajad S. Haider.<ref name=avhist>''Pakistan's Sabre Ace'' by Jon Guttman, Aviation History, Sept 1998.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Flight_of_the_Falcon_Sajad_S_Haider|title=Flight of the Falcon- Demolishing Myths of Indo Pak Wars 1965-1971|last=Haider|first=Sajad S.|publisher=Vanguard Books Pvt Ltd.|year=2009|isbn=9789694025261|location=Lahore, Pakistan|pages=[https://archive.org/details/Flight_of_the_Falcon_Sajad_S_Haider/page/n4 69]|quote=<blockquote>It is tactically and mathematically very difficult to resurrect the incident in which all five Hunters in a hard turn were claimed to have been shot down in a 270-degree turn in 23 seconds.</blockquote>}}</ref> Also, the fact that no verifiable [[gun camera]] footage of his kills was ever made public by the Pakistani authorities, further discredits his claim.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowman|first=Martin W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jliqCwAAQBAJ&q=gun%20camera%20footage%20of%20Alam%20kill&pg=PT196|title=Cold War Jet Combat: Air-to-Air Jet Fighter Operations, 1950–1972|date=2016-01-30|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-7462-6|language=en}}</ref>

Alam was admitted to Pakistan Naval Station Shifa Hospital in Karachi where he died on 18 March 2013, aged 77.<ref>[http://dawn.com/2013/03/18/m-m-alam-passes-away-in-karachi/ M. M. Alam passes away in Karachi], Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved on 19 March 2013.</ref> He was being treated for respiratory problems for 18 months. Alam's funeral prayer was performed at the [[PAF Base Masroor]], where he served some of the significant years of his career. Alam was buried at the Shuhuda (Martyrs) Graveyard, located at PAF Masroor Airbase. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, Air Chief Marshal (Ret.) Farooq Feroz Khan, Sindh corps commander Lt. Gen Ijaz Chaudhry, Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Director-General Maj. Gen. Rizwan Akhter, Base Commander PAF Base Masroor Air Commodore Usaid ur Rehman, many war veterans of the 1965 war and Alam's closest colleagues attended the funeral. One of the younger brothers of the deceased, Zubair Alam, was also present.<ref name="The News International" />

[[M. M. Alam Road]], a major road in [[Lahore]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]] is named in honour of the [[ace in a day|flying ace]] of [[Pakistan Air Force]], Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam, running from Main Market to [[Gulberg, Lahore|Gulberg]]. The road runs parallel to famous Main Boulevard thus providing an alternate route and is a commercial hub with many restaurants, fashion boutiques, shopping malls, beauty saloons and décor stores. M.M. Alam Road hosts a variety of flamboyant restaurants in modern Lahore.<ref>{{cite web|last=Haq |first=Shahram |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/88625/urban-planning-M.M-Alam-road-to-be-heart-of-new-business-district/ |title=Urban planning: MM Alam Road to be heart of new business district&nbsp;– The Express Tribune |publisher=Tribune.com.pk |access-date=20 January 2012}}</ref> On 20 March 2014, on account of his first death anniversary, the PAF Airbase Mianwali was renamed after him as [[PAF Base M.M. Alam]].<ref name="Dawn: Renaming">{{cite news|title=Pakistan not sending troops to Bahrain or Saudi: PM|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1094412/pakistan-not-sending-troops-to-bahrain-or-saudi-pm|access-date=20 March 2014|newspaper=Dawn|date=20 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Desk |first=Web |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/685226/paf-honours-ace-pilot-mm-alam-renames-mianwali-air-base-after-him/ |title=PAF honours ace pilot MM Alam, renames Mianwali air base after him – The Express Tribune |publisher=Tribune.com.pk |date=27 February 2014 |access-date=21 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Imaduddin |url=http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/163520-paf-mianwali-base-renamed-as-mm-alam-airbase.html |title=PAF Mianwali Base renamed as M.M. Alam Airbase |publisher=Brecorder.com |access-date=21 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewstribe.com/2014/03/20/pm-nawaz-sharif-names-paf-base-mianwali-after-mm-alam/ |title=PM Nawaz Sharif names PAF base Mianwali after MM Alam |publisher=The News Tribe |access-date=21 March 2014}}</ref>

{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:1935 births]]