Siddique Salik
Template:Short description Template:Use Pakistani English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person
Siddique Salik (Template:Langx) (6 September 1935 – 17 August 1988), was an officer in the Pakistan Army, combat artist, humorist, novelist, and a memoirist who served as 8th Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations from 1985 until his death in 1988 in the plane crash in Bahawalpur with then President.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Matinuddin">Template:Cite book</ref> In addition, he also authored two eyewitnessed books on the Bangladesh Liberation War which took place in erstwhile East-Pakistan, giving accounts of politics and the barbaric strategies used by the military.
Early lifeEdit
Education and military serviceEdit
Siddique Salik was born in a Manglia, a village, located in Kharian Tehsil of Gujrat District, Punjab, British India on 6 September 1935.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh">Template:Cite news</ref> He hailed from a Jat clan of Punjab and his family was traditionally Peasant who worked in a local farm.Template:Rp<ref name="Urdu Books Publishing co. Salik">Template:Cite book</ref> He was educated in Lahore, having attended the Islamia College in the Civil Lines in Lahore in 1955.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh"/>
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and later obtained master's degrees' in English literature and international relations from Islamia College in 1960.Template:Rp<ref name="Urdu Books Publishing co. Salik"/><ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh"/>
After college graduation, he taught British literature in various colleges in Lahore as visiting professor while working as an associate editor for the Associated Press.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh"/> In 1964, he joined the Pakistan Army when he gained commissioned as a captain in the Guides Cavalry of the Frontier Force.Template:Rp<ref name="Urdu Books Publishing co. Salik"/><ref name="اردو ﺁدب, Israr">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and joined the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) as a War correspondent.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh"/> In 1969, he was promoted as major while serving as military journalist in the ISPR.Template:Rp<ref name="Urdu Books Publishing co. Salik"/>
Personal lifeEdit
Brig. Salik was married and had three daughters and a son. His son, Sarmad Salik, is a political journalist who has worked for PTV News, for ARY News as director of current affairs, Head of Strategy & Planning at TRT World, Senior Analyst of a Show called Public Opinion on Public News TV and was the Managing Director at Indus News, the first international news channel in English from Pakistan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
War Appointment and military service in East PakistanEdit
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In 1970, Major Salik was posted in Dacca, and became the public relations officer in the ISPR East Pakistan of Eastern Command.Template:Rp<ref name="Oxford University Press, Ṣiddīqī">Template:Cite book</ref> Major Salik served as a military media correspondent but soon realized that the separate section of army had begun a successful mutiny and advised for the formation of truth and reconciliation commission to end the bloodshed, though his advises were not heeded.Template:Rp<ref name="Urdu Books Publishing co. Salik" />
He joined the senior military staff at the GHQ Dacca as a Public Relations Officer, working to release official statements made by the Eastern Command that was led by its Commander East, Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan, and later A.A.K. Niazi.Template:Rp<ref name="Urdu Books Publishing co. Salik" /> On 20 December 1971, he was taken as POW by the Indian Army when Commander Eastern Command Gen Niazi signed to concede the defeat and was flown to Calcutta to be imprisoned in the military barracks along with Niazi and Admiral Sharif .Template:Rp<ref name="Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.Cloughley">Template:Cite book</ref> While imprisoned, he was described by the Indian Army's officials as "intelligent, indefatigable, and admirable who was ignored by Niazi and others."Template:Rp<ref name="Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.Cloughley"/>
About the war prisoners, Major Salik reportedly maintained that most of the war prisoners were given to believe that in two-to-three months, they will be repatriated back to Pakistan via trains to Wagha checkpoint and ships to Karachi port.Template:Rp<ref name="Routledge, Datta"/> However, these hopes were dashed when the prisoners had to wait years to be repatriated to Pakistan.Template:Rp<ref name="Routledge, Datta">Template:Cite book</ref>
Witness to Surrender and Inter-Services Public RelationsEdit
Under the population transfer agreement signed between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Major Salik returned to Pakistan when he was repatriated by Indian Army to the Pakistan Army in 1973.Template:Rp<ref name="Lancer International">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Manas Publications, Gautam">Template:Cite book</ref> Major Salik testified against AAK Niazi during the interviewing process of the War Enquiry Commission.Template:Rp<ref name="Oxford University Press, Ṣiddīqī"/> Major Salik continued his military service and remained associate with the Inter-Services Public Relations, working on the public relations. During this time, he began working towards writing the memoirs and book that would recounts the events that led to the Surrender of Pakistan, which he titled as "Witness to Surrender."
In 1977, Major Salik was promoted as Lieutenant-Colonel and published his book despite reservation within the military in 1979.<ref name="Oxford University Press, Ṣiddīqī" /> The book has its significance and considered an eyewitness report on the committed genocide committed under the responsibility of Pakistani military and the Mukti Bahini (lit. Freedom Army), since the War Report was never declassified.Template:RpTemplate:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Lieutenant-Colonel Salik also published the Urdu version of the book, title as: ميں نے ڈھاكه ڈوبتے ديكھا (lit. Witness to Surrender) in 1986, which was a translation of his English text.<ref name="Urdu Books Publishing co. Salik" /> In his book, Salik presented a view of soldiers and sailors serving in the army and navy in a crucial period of insurgency and the politics that revolved around the Yahya administration, which eventually led to the independence of Bangladesh.<ref name="International Studies, Bahadur">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In 1979, Salik joined the army staff at the Army GHQ as public relations officer, and began working as speechwriter for President Zia-ul-Haq.Template:Rp<ref name="Ferozsons, Aijazuddin">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1981, he was promoted to colonel in the army, and during this time, he remained in charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, though he was not appointed minister.Template:Rp<ref name="Vanguard, Waseem">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1982, Salik was permanently appointed as Press secretary for President Zia at the Army GHQ. In 1985, he was promoted as brigadier, and was appointed Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations when his appointment was approved by then-vice army chief General K.M. Arif.<ref>Staff writer, Official promotion: : Col Siddique Salik, President's Press Secretary and the Acting Director, Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate, has been promoted to the rank of Brigadier. [Karachi, DAWN in English, 7 August 1985, pp.4]</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
During his tenure at Inter-Services Public Relations, he became widely known in the public circles in country when he acted as the principal source of information on Pakistani military deployment in response to the Indian Army's massive military exercise.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
On 17 August 1988, Brig Salik was among those who died in a mysterious plane crash while he was traveling with President Zia and American ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel; he was buried in his local village with full military honors.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh" />
Authorship, memoirs, and familyEdit
During his lifetime, Brig. Salik authored 9 books on military and politics; of which, six were written in Urdu and three were written in English.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1974, he wrote and published his first memoir, "Hamah Yārān̲ Dozak̲h̲", that recorded his life spent as war prisoner under the Indian Army.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh" /> His book and novels also included:
- {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (1974)
- Witness to Surrender (Template:ISBN, 1977)
- {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (1981)
- {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (1986)
- Pressure Cooker (1984)
- Wounded pride: the reminiscences of a Pakistani prisoner (1984)
- Emergency (1985)
- Salute: An autobiography (1986)
- State and Politics: A Case Study of Pakistan (1987)
His novel, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, is a contemporary satire which provides humor while discussing the political events in his country.<ref name="Dawn Newspaper, Parekh" />
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Zia-ul-Haq's Government Template:Inter-Services Public Relations Template:Authority control