Tall, quick-witted, stern but also affectionate, evoking respect from family, peers, friends and those whom he commanded, our late father Lt Col (R) Raja Gul Bahar Kiani would fill any room with his physical presence. For him soldiering was a proud and patriotic profession, the other vocations were “just ok”.
Our father would mesmerize our friends for hours narrating anecdotes ranging from presenting the Guard of Honour to John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State in 1954; leading his B company of 6/8 Punjab in the First Republic Day Parade in 1956; as Security Officer to Governor General Ghulam Mohammad; and being witness to the grand welcome accorded to their “Gama” by his friends and neighbours as one of their own and his utter delight to be back as “Numero Uno”. The colonel’s eyes sparkled when he recalled being one of the commentators as Sutlej Rangers performed Khattak Dance at Fortress Stadium, Lahore, at the Ninth Annual Pakistani National Horse and Cattle Show in the presence of the US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who attended the torchlight festivities in 1962. Our father was in the company of Aslam Pervez and English Commentator Mrs. Ishrat Ghani, legends in their times. He was responsible for security in 1959 as President Ayub Khan addressed public meetings in East Pakistan in the presence of Zulfikar ali Bhutto. He received a pat from Governor of West Pakistan Nawab of Kalabagh as he led the recruits of the Sutlej Rangers at their passing out parade in 1962. A chance visit to CMH Abbottabad in 1966 by General Yahya Khan, a fellow Baloch in 1966 where the Colonel was convalescing, earned him the comment “you look fit and do not belong here”.
[quote]Officers' wives would scold their husbands to emulate him[/quote]
A son of the famous Gakkhar (Kiani) family of Pharwala Fort, Tehsil Kahuta, in whose ancestry he took exceptional pride (our grandfather was mentioned in the famous book ”Punjab Chiefs), Gul Bahar was commissioned in 1950 in the then 6/8 Punjab, later to become 13th Baloch Regiment (now 1st Sindh). The colonel’s first posting in the bunkers of Chokothi, Azad Kashmir and the ‘Spartan but dignified life’ which reinforced comradeship was etched in his memory. As a subaltern he could remember nearly all the names of his men in the battalion. He felt proud of his contribution as part of the Military Police’s 1960 anti-smuggling “Operation Close Doors”. He would give a hearty laugh reminiscing time spent in the company of General Mirza Aslam Baig and Hussain M Ershad (later the President of Bangladesh) during Military Police training many decades back in D.I. Khan. Both these personalities also shared with me the same sentiments. General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, former COAS, also shared with me his memorable meeting as a subaltern with our father in Sialkot. Sadly enough, only a few of his colleagues are now possibly living.
A field person, he preferred to walk or cycle to his office, even when posted in Quetta and Abbottabad. Officers’ wives would scold their husbands to emulate him as Colonel Kiani took his daily 90-minute brisk walk on Church Road Sialkot, an activity which kept him in excellent shape all his life. Suffering a mild heart attack in 1966 as a Training Adjutant, Baloch Centre, Abbotabad, Colonel Kiani bitterly regretted bidding farewell to active soldiering. He finally retired in 1975 at Sialkot aged 50 years. After retirement, he preferred spending time with his beloved wife, whom he had married while still a student at Gordon College, Rawalpindi. Azra, our mother, left him in 1994 after a long battle with Arthritis. The lonely colonel continued to lead an active and disciplined life at his Islamabad house. For decades, he took breakfast in the lounge outside his bedroom, surrounded by photos of a galaxy of Pakistani and foreign leaders in which he had been an active participant.
Escorting Mr John Foster Dulles, US Secy of State at a Guard of Honour in Karachi, 1953
During the last years of his life, he would confide with his sons at the futility of longevity; he had outlived his siblings, his childhood friends from Lahore and his colleagues from the army who had departed this world years ago. He was 90 then and probably one of the oldest living officers from the Baloch Regiment when he left this good earth on the 16th of June 2014 at CMH Rawalpindi in the presence of his sons, doctors, nurses and junior staff who had taken care of him in the brief period when he was hospitalized.
