Nuah Village (Jhunjhunu District) , RAJASTHAN :
Jaipur :
A decorated soldier of the 1965 Indo-Pak war who rose to become a union minister, Capt Ayub Khan was laid to rest at his village Nuah in Jhunjhunu district with full military honours on Friday. He was born in 1932 in a Kayamkhani Muslim family of soldiers. His grandfather and father too served the Indian Army and now his cousins and their sons are continuing the family tradition.
Capt Ayub, the state’s first Muslim to win a Lok Sabha election and twice be a Congress MP from Jhunjhunu, was also a recipient of the Vir Chakra from President Dr S Radhakrishnan for destroying four Pakistani Patton tanks and capturing one in the Sialkot sector of J&K. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had hugged the brave soldier and remarked, “I never met the Pakistani President Gen Ayub Khan but I’m proud to meet the Indian Ayub.”
In the 1965 war, Ayub was posted in the Sialkot sector that was under Lt-General P O Dunn. The 26th Infantry Division was ordered to capture Sialkot. The 18th Cavalry’s Bravo squadron, led by Risaldar Ayub Khan, was ordered to clear the Sialkot Road from Pakistan’s occupancy. The squadron moved upfront facing enemy fire. On September 9, the squadron confronted a large column of Pakistani forces with Patton tanks.
The Pakistani tanks attempted to encircle Indian troops, so the squadron commander ordered his troops to turn about and check the enemy encirclement. Ayub moved back and headed to close up with the enemy tanks that were threatening to cut off Indian troops from the rear. Ayub led from the front and destroyed four tanks before Pakistan could realize that an Indian troop had turned back to attack it.
In 1983, Ayub retired from the army and was granted the rank of Honorary Captain. Later, he joined politics and became a union minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. Ayub Khan chose to wear white kurta-pyjama and sported the black army cap of the 18th cavalry, minus the crest. At 84, Capt Ayub used to sit at home and enjoy life with his family. He was no longer active in politics, as he hated the present day caste-based politics.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Jaipur / by Prakash Bhandari / TNN / September 17th, 2016