Farooq Shaukat Lodi (‎; 17 June 1931 – 14 September 2004), better known as F.S. Lodi, was a Pakistani military officer who served as the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

in 1984, and later serving as the

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Zia administration The Parliament of Pakistan is the supreme legislative body of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is a bicameral federal legislature, composed of the President of Pakistan and two houses: the Senate and the National Assembly. The president, ...

in 1985.. Born and raised in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, Lodi served in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

where he saw actions against India in 1965 and 1971, and served in command and administrative position in the Pakistani military. After retiring from military, Lodi was known to be a prolific writer on military issues, particularly he wrote on topics relating to Pakistan Army.

Early life and education

He was born on 17 June 1931 in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Mandatory Iraq The Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration, or Mandatory Iraq (), was created in 1921, following the 1920 Iraqi Revolution against the proposed British Mandate of Mesopotamia, and enacted via the 1922 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty and a 1924 un ...

as Farooq Shaukat Khan Lodi to his father Sardar Mohammad Abdullah Khan Lodi, a British/ Imperial civil servant who was posted in

in the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

at the department of Finance. Farooq's mother was Jamila Khanum, a woman known to be of great beauty and high status in

. The family later returned to

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

and Farooq's father became the accountant general of the

Jammu and Kashmir state Jammu and Kashmir was a region formerly administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019, constituting the southern and southeastern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pakistan an ...

. Farooq did his schooling at St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Baramulla and obtained his FSC from the S. P. College in

Military career

He was first posted to the

East Bengal Regiment The East Bengal Regiment () is one of the two infantry regiments of the Bangladesh Army, the other being the Bangladesh Infantry Regiment. East Bengal Regiment was founded by Major Abdul Gani. History The East Bengal Regiment was formed on ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

where he later commanded an uncertain regiment. Prior to his promotion to the rank of colonel, he was sent to

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

by the Pakistan Army for further training. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he commanded a brigade in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

upon his promotion to the rank of

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

. After conflict ended between the two countries, he was appointed as an instructor with the second assignment as a chief instructor at the Command and Staff College. He again went to the UK for professional military training. Upon being promoted to the rank of Major General, he commanded a division in

Kharian Kharian ( Punjabi, ), is a city in Gujrat District, as well as the Gujrat Division of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is the headquarters of Kharian Tehsil (sub-district). As of 2023 Kharian is the second largest Tehsil in the Gujrat Div ...

. He later served as a divisional commander during the government of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. As a Major General, he was posted as Chief of General Staff from 1978 to March 1980. He was also assigned to command

IV Corps 4 Corps, 4th Corps, Fourth Corps, or IV Corps may refer to: France * 4th Army Corps (France) * IV Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * IV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperi ...

with his last promotion of lieutenant general, during which he also served as governor of Punjab.

Surviving a plane crash

After serving as a governor of Punjab, he was sent from

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

with his second appointment as

Governor of Balochistan The Governor of Balochistan is the head of the province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The post was established on 1 July 1970, after the dissolution of West Pakistan province and the end of One Unit. Under Pakistan's current parliamentary system, the ...

in 1984. However, his

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

aircraft crashed in a remote area and pilot Nadir Imtiaz Saigal and ADC died in the

aviation accident An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

and Lodi received minor injuries. He was admitted to a local hospital where the doctors gave him a unnecessary

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's Circulatory system, circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used ...

that infected him with

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and later

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

. The infectious disease damaged his liver and he was subsequently airlifted to the Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi where he recovered from disease, and he resumed his duties in Quetta.

Later life

After retiring from the services, he moved to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

on the request of his wife where he spent his last days and started teaching in a law college in Karachi, and used to wrote articles for newspapers, including ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'' newspaper and ''

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...

'' magazine. As a defence writer, he was among the others who outlined the use of the basic principles of the

nuclear doctrine of Pakistan The Nuclear doctrine of Pakistan is a theoretical concept of military strategy that promotes deterrence by guaranteeing an immediate " massive retaliation" to an aggressive attack against the state. Pakistan's foreign minister Shamshad Ahmad ha ...

Articles

*Lt. Gen. Sardar F. S. Lodi (Retd., Pakistan Army), ''Pakistan’s Nuclear Doctrine'', ''Pakistan Defence Journal'', 1999. *

Early life and education

Military career

Surviving a plane crash

Later life

Articles

References

Further reading