| Waleed Ehsanul Karim | |
|---|---|
Waleed Ehsanul Karim |
|
| Nickname | Waleed |
| Born | July 1944 Harbang, Chakaria, Cox's Bazar, British India |
| Died | 19 April 1965 Near Karachi |
| Allegiance | Pakistan |
| Years of service | 1961 - 1965 |
| Rank | Flying Officer (Lieutenant) |
| Unit | Pakistan Air Force |
| Commands held | 17th Squadron (the Tigers) |
| Battles/wars | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 |
| Awards | Sword of Honor |
Waleed Ehsanul Karim, Shaheed (Martyr) (Bengali: ওয়ালীদ এহসানুল করিম) was born in 1944 at Harbang, Chakaria, Cox's Bazar, British India to Captain Advocate Fazlul Karim and Nazmunnisa Chowdhurani. He was a Pakistan Air Force's fighter pilot and one of the youngest F-86 Sabre Jet pilot in the entire world. He had completed his Senior Cambridge from PAF Public School Sargodha (formerly PAF College Sargodha) in April 1961 (5th Entry, Sabre House) and joined the Pakistan Air Force in August 1961.
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He was commissioned in the PAF in June 1963. He was the Wing Under Officer (WUO). He was also selected for Sword of Honor but did not get it. In a debate in the academy he had mentioned the Language Movement of 1952 which compelled the government to establish Bengali at par with Urdu. He was later nominated as Pakistan Air Force Basketball team captain at Air Force Academy, Risalpur.
He was famous for his daring stunts with his F-86 Sabre. He took part in the Republic Day fly past at Rawalpindi on 23 March 1964. He died when his recently repaired aircraft (which was hit by anti-aircraft guns at Rann of Kutch in the morning sortie) developed engine trouble and plunged into the Arabian sea about 10–15 miles off the south coast of Karachi in the night of 19 April 1965 when he was returning from a reconnaissance mission over Gujarat.
He had participated at the Rann of Kutch battle by dropping smoke bombs in daytime to screen the infantry attacks. Neither his body, nor the aircraft was recovered. But a part of the rudder was later recovered from the same location after two months. At that time he was a fighter pilot of 17th Sqaudron (the Tigers) of the Pakistan Air Force. Air Marshal Azim Daudpota was his Squadron Leader at that time. Flight Lieutenant M. Matiur Rahman, Bir Sreshtho, Air Vice Marshal Momtaz Uddin Ahmed were his course mates in both Sargodha and Risalpur.