Raashid Wali Janjua
It’s not the Ships and tanks and guns that matter, it’s the power of the human relations and ties that make you a warrior. — (Major General Dave Fraser)
THE title of Part IV of Spinoza”s Ethics is “Of
Human Bondage”, which means the power of hu
man emotions. It is this power that could move the mountains and wreak miracles. An inspiring story of human bondage unfolded in the doom and gloom of the pallid May sun in South Asia that has several lessons in comradeship, compassion, altruism and triumph of human spirit over a scourge that stalks our lands. The story had a saturnine ending but that does not detract from the lessons it inspired. This is a story of a totally selfless and self effacing leader of men who was a paragon of empathy and compassion, a veritable colossus amongst the men.
Lt Colonel Sher Muhammad’s death reminded one of a poignant lines of a Japanese poem, “Though on the sign it is written: ‘don’t pluck these blossoms’ —it is useless against the wind, which cannot read.” As a legendary officer from Army’s Corps of Engineers he was a product of Pakistan’s equivalent of Eton or Harrow ie the famed Military College Jhelum, that has produced a steady stream of leaders who like Longfellow’s heroes have proved their mettle in the life’s broad field of battle and in the bivouac of life, not as dumb driven cattle but heroes in the strife. As a person he was an epitome of selflessness and as an officer a personification of courage.
He could neither brook interference into his leadership domain nor genuflect to officiousness. His brushes with authority on matters of principle were legendary and inspirational. Unlike careerists he could stand for his principles and his subordinates like no one. He had no peer when it came to professional standards and was an authority on the civil engineering practices as part of Engineers Corps. He was a veritable oracle to whom one could go when one ran out of options or solutions. Whether it was going to first principles to calculate the detonation velocities of different forms of explosives or some unconventional minefield breaching drill, his diagnosis of the main problem was always a model of perfection. In one of the rarest cases of a Commanding Officer being summoned by a Corps Commander for a routine violation during a bridging camp Colonel Sher and Pervez Musharraf accosted each other.
It was a meeting of two contrasting yet very strong personalities and the fireworks flew right from the start when Musharraf reprobated him for an occurrence that was a handiwork of a negligent subordinate. Unbeknownst to then Lieutenant General Musharraf Lt Colonel Sher was a different kettle of fish than the ordinary mortals. After the brusque dismissal by Musharraf headed back to his unit while the staff went sniffing for his fate. When asked what to do with Sher Musharraf dismissed the issue with his characteristic flippancy evincing instead a desire to visit his unit. That was the calibre of the commander, cutting through the fog of anger to appreciate the calibre of subordinate commander. There was an apocryphal story about Lt Col Sher about gifting his car to a needy lower ranked subordinate. The NCO who had come on a routine visit to him asked for some assistance and while doing so cast a furtive glance upon car standing on the porch. The munificent Sher promptly handed over the keys of his car to needy individual who drove car away.
After retirement in the year 2000 Lt Colonel Sher founded a construction firm and quickly established a name amongst one of the most honest and quality conscious builders. The company founded by him despite a sterling professional reputation was known more for its philanthropy and ready help to needy. The above however is an apt backgrounder for the events that unfolded a few days before the Eid. He like several unsuspecting Covid-19 victims was taken ill a few days before Eid. He initially dismissed the symptoms preferring to tide over the illness through rest. When on the eve of the Eid he felt worse he was forced by the family to get himself admitted to a hospital. He was diagnosed positive with the virus and with the worsening of symptoms he was put on ventilator support.
While he lay fighting the virus his ex colleagues and juniors started a frenetic campaign to find an anti-viral. With the absence of any anti-viral till then the only option was to import the drug. One of his very well linked ex unit officers in US business and political circles tried sending an anti-viral through USA but there was no commercial flight available. The next option was to seek the permission of import from Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds as in South Asia Bangladesh was the only country manufacturing the anti-viral drug then. As every acquaintance pulled out all stops to make the anti-viral available the efforts hit another snag. The permission for import from Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) was mandatory and getting such an approval for one patient’s medicine was a difficult undertaking. All these approvals were however secured through personal efforts.
When the anti-viral’s permission was accorded and the plane chartered for delivery the Indian Civil Aviation’s over flight permission on a Saturday surfaced as a last minute snag. All that was resolved and the cooperation that was shown by respective government departments of the three countries appeared like a miracle. That was a reaffirmation of the triumph of human will to survive the scourge together. The anti-viral arrived through a chartered plane and was administered to the patient. The will of Allah Almighty however prevailed over all efforts and he breathed his last after a valiant struggle to regain his breath without ventilator support. There were lessons galore in this struggle. It was a reminder of human vulnerability as well as a will to survive. The cooperation with alacrity and celerity by the respective decision making bureaucracies of the three countries betokened a reaffirmation of the commitment to place humanity before the politics. It was also a short trailer of the limitless possibilities inherent in the collective endeavour to combat the natural calamities together in South Asia. And in the end it was a reminder of the power of human bondage inspired in the bosoms of all those who once came in contact with a spirit as noble as Sher.
— The writer, a Retired Brig, is a PhD scholar at NUST, Islamabad.
