Mumbai: Former Chief of Air Staff and former Maharashtra Governor Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif passed away in Hyderabad on Monday after a brief illness. He was 94.
Family sources said Latif has been ailing for quite some time. His health reportedly began deteriorating soon after the death of his wife Bilkis Idris Latif in October 2017. Latif's death brings an end to a glorious era of the air force history of pre- and post-Independent India.
Idris Hasan Latif had spurned the offer to join Pakistan Air Force after partition. He was later appointed as the Chief of Air Staff Indian Air Force on 31 August 1978 and remained in the saddle till 1981 when he retired. He subsequently served as the Indian Ambassador to France and the Governor of Maharashta.
Born in June 1923 in Hyderabad, Latif was commissioned in Royal Indian Air Force in 1942. On completion of his training at Ambala, he was posted to the No.2 Coastal Defence Flight in Karachi, where he flew vintage biplane aircrafts like the Wapiti, Audaxes and Harts, on Anti-Submarine flights over the Arabian Sea.
During 1943-44, he was one of the few Indian pilots to be seconded to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. There he underwent training on more contemporary aircraft like the Hurricane and Spitfire, with the Operational squadrons of the RAF. He returned to India in 1944 and took part in the Burma campaign, flying the Hawker Hurricane for No.3 Squadron. This involved flying interdiction sorties against ground targets.
After the campaign, Latif was posted to Madras, but soon he joined No.9 Squadron in Burma, again flying the Hawker Hurricane. Under the command of Sqn. Ldr. Asghar Khan, he was good friends with both his CO and another flamboyant pilot, Flt. Lt. Noor Khan. Both the pilots went on to become Chiefs of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force.
After the war, Latif on, promotion to the Squadron Leader, became the Commanding Officer of No.4 Oorials, flying the Hawker Tempest. He led the first fly past over New Delhi, after India turned a republic in 1950.
When partition brought about the division of the Indian armed forces, Latif as a Muslim officer was faced with the choice of joining both India or Pakistan, according to the official website of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
“Even though both Asghar as well as Noor Khan called him up to persuade Latif to join them in the fledgling Pakistan Air Force, Latif made it clear that for him, religion and country were not interlinked. It was no surprise that Latif made his way to become the first Muslim Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force,” the IAF website states.
Air Marshal Asghar Khan later rose to become the Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force and he passed away in January this year in Islamabad.
During the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, Latif was the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans) in the rank of Air Vice Marshal, and carried out the onerous tasks of making first line assessment of frontline combat squadrons and the modernisation plans of the air force.
As the Chief of Air Staff, Latif was involved fully in the re-equipment and modernisation plans of the air force. He was instrumental in seeking government approval for the procurement of the Jaguar strike aircraft, a proposal which was lying dormant for over 8 years.
Idris also held negotiations with the Russians and saw the induction of the MiG-23 and later, the MiG-25 aircraft into the IAF. One of the last acts before retirement was to fly in the trisonic MiG-25, which was then just assembled from a semi-knocked down condition by the Air Force personnel., according to the India Air Force website.
Idris was also the only Air Force officer associated with three different air forces and participated in several battles including the World War II. He was associated with the Royal Indian Air Force, Royal Air Force and Indian Air Force. Latif is the only Muslim to have served as the head of any of the three wings of the Indian armed forces. He also trained pilots of the Indonesian Air Force.
Latif's father Hasan was the chief engineer in the Nizam's Hyderabad state. He himself was the product of Nizam's College in Hyderabad. He was just 19 when he was commissioned into the air force in 1942. He joined the air force at 18 in 1941. He underwent training at Ambala.
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