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Pakistan before 90s

The Pakistan cricket team’s famous pace duo, Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz, at a nightclub in Melbourne in 1981
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On September 05, 1986, a Pan American Boeing 747-121 (Pan Am Flight 73) was hijacked by four armed Palestinian while at the ground at Karachi airport. The aircraft with 360 passengers (14 different nationals mostly Indians, Germans, Americans, Canadians, Italians, British and Pakistanis) had arrived from Mumbai and was heading to New York, USA. It had stopped at Karachi to refuel and pickup more passengers.

The incident began as passengers boarded the Frankfurt-bound aircraft in Karachi.The hijackers stormed up the stairways into the plane, fired shots from an automatic weapon, and seized control of the aircraft. Flight attendants were able to alert the cockpit crew using intercom, allowing the pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer to flee through an overhead hatch in the cockpit.

Pakistani authorities decided upon a commando style raid on the plane and they sent its SSG division led by Brig. Tariq Mehmood Shaheed (Man of Steel). It was almost fifteen minutes later that the Pakistani commandos arrived at the scene and stormed the plane. In the resulting shootout, the SSG members killed one of the terrorists immediately and captured two others in a short time. The last hijacker tried to escape with the passengers but was apprehended as well.

Twenty of the passengers were killed during the hijacking, of which 12 were from India and the rest were from United States, Pakistan and Mexico. All the hijackers were arrested and sentenced to death in Pakistan. However, the sentences were later commuted to life in prison against the wishes of India and the United States.

Right Top: Neerja Bhanot (Aged 22) was a flight attendant for Pan Am, from India, was Killed while saving passengers from terrorists on board the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73. Neerja Bhanot assisted a number of passengers to escape from the flight, then she laid down her life shielding three children from the bullets fired by the terrorists. She was awarded with "Ashok Chakra" India's most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time.

Choudhry Bashir Ahmad was on duty on on 5th sep 1986 when this bloody tragic
Incident happened . It was morning time when Palestinian terrorists stormed Pan Am in ASF uniforms and ASF Jeep. Pam Am operation staff requested to me to act as translator , as I knew Arabic and could interprete. 1st thing hijackers demanded was the cockpit crew (capt f/o and f/e) who left aircraft to take them to their next destination in Middle East .ssg commandos didn't storm aircraft till sunset. After sunset when lights were switched off the Bay where Pan Am was parked. Hijacker got panicked and asked all passengers to stand in the middle path of aircraft and after doing so, they started indiscriminate firing by automatic weapons. After hearing firing from inside the aircraft , commandos also started firing and stormed aircraft. Me and a Saudi manager Mr Naseem were right near the stairs of PanAm
Dead bodies and injured were being brought from aircraft . In very very bad condition every body was torn with bulits from many places .i can't forget it. It was horrible scene. Hijackers were arrested while running with passengers and one was arrested from lounge on pointation of other passengers
 
In memoriam: Moin Akhtar — the legend lives on
ZOYA ANWER

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"He was truly an icon, a legend," says Actor Samina Peerzada
Today marks the fourth death anniversary of the multifaceted actor and comedian Moin Akhtar, whose roles still resonate deeply with people.

Born on December 24, 1950 Moin Akhtar entered the entertainment industry in 1966 when his parody act of popular actor Muhammad Ali brought him into the limelight.

After this there was no stopping Akhtar. His long-standing double act with writer Anwar Maqsood made him an icon, and when Bushra Ansari joined them the resulting comedy was matchless.

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Moin Akhtar acts in a play.— Courtesy photo
Talking to Dawn.com, actor and present Napa Programmes Director Arshad Mehmood said of Moin Akhtar:

“I knew him since a long time and this would be enough to say that he was indeed a huge artist but he was not just a great artist, he was a far greater human being.”

Acclaimed actor Samina Peerzada also shared her memories with the late comedian:

“I have worked with Moin in both theatre and TV and I had an amazing time with him. He was truly an icon, a legend. There was nobody like him and there will be no one like him. I truly miss him,” she said.

"He was an extremely funny and he would always have a prank up his sleeve.Ullu bohat banatay thay, and he would pull it in such a serious way that anyone would fall for it," she added.

In an earlier interview with Dawn.com, Anwar Maqsood remembered him as the ‘best star in a night sky’:

“I have never seen such a professional yet such a careless person in my life,” he said.

Reminiscing about him, the writer known for his powerful satire had said that no actor could have done what Moin did for him.

“There are many good actors in India and Pakistan. But I couldn’t find an actor like Moin, neither in Pakistan nor in India.”

Veteran actor Qazi Wajid also echoed similar thoughts in the same interview. For him, Moin Akhtar was an extremely humble man who never addressed him by taking his name. As for his skills, Qazi Wajid said: “He was a master performer.”


His adaptability was undoubtedly his greatest strength: from speaking fluent Urdu to English, Bengali, Hindi, Pashto, Sindhi or Punjabi, Moin Akhtar could become anyone he willed: he was a perfect behroopiya, an impersonator.

His acts were not only lauded in Pakistan but he was admired in India as well by the likes of Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan.

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Moin Akhtar with Dilip Kumar.— Photo courtesy: pak101
He is famous for his impeccable performance in shows like 'Rozi', 'Half-Plate', and 'Family 93'. His theatre performance with Omer Sharif in ‘Bakra Qiston Par’ and ‘Buddha Ghar Pe Hai’ is also remembered as one of the best stage-shows, as the genre has seen a decline in recent years.

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Moin Akhtar with actor Zeba Shehnaz—Courtesy photo
He was last seen making others chuckle in the popular show Loose-Talkwhich saw faux interviews of Moin Akhtar by Anwar Maqsood as he pulled on innumerable roles ranging from a labourer, politician, transvestite and even a dictator. It was Loose-Talk which made sure that the newer generation knew the art of being Moin Akhtar.

Along with many accolades, he was conferred the Pride of Performance in 2012.

Following a cardiac arrest, Moin Akhtar passed away on April 22 2011 in his hometown, Karachi.

source: In memoriam: Moin Akhtar — the legend lives on - Pakistan - DAWN.COM
 
Glorious old Pakistan since Zia came to power we keep going down than we never can recover my sister tells me Karachi was a city to see at that time
 
Zia.. why were you ever born?

The Great Polarizer of our Society!... He divided our society into shia/sunni... he created mqm to kick ppp... jihadists and shit.... pml corrupt leaders..... now our society is so much divided its difficult to see it united and vibrant again

First of all thanx to all the pic posters.

Now to tell you a short stroy Mr. PurpleButcher
It was around 80-81 my father was posted at Quetta, that Zia ul Haq was addressing Staff College and narrated a story where he was trapped in a burning tank and some on pulled him out, when he got to this part suddenly a voice rang out " Who was that Bast---?"
There was a hush silence but luckily no one ratted on the guy and we never found him out otherwise he was a goner for sure
 
Pakistan retained that British charm in part due to jinnah and in part due to his military successors and while that helped them a lot in th 70's and 80's it also laid down the seeds for religious fanaticism.
The problems in Afghanistan and middle east didn't help either and while pak should focus on getting slowly back on track these glory days of western interest and high tourism are still very far away .

But as an Indian I do admit that these pics paint a more modern picture to that what we saw in India during the 70's
 

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