Me: “ First of all I would like to thank you for this and that it is a great honor to be able to take your interview Major Iqbal Najmi, Sir can you tell us about how and when you joined the army?”
Major Iqbal: “I joined army in 1978 as a cadet and stayed a cadet for the following year, but I was then relegated, I was not being commissioned due to some reasons but after another six months I was commissioned into a 22 cavalry, I was commissioned here because General Zia-ul-Haq was also in the 22 cavalry, I was a proud man, this was because I had passed 7th in my course.”
Me: “You were in the Siachen War, can you give us a few highlights of the war and what was your role in it?”
Major Iqbal: “ I was not been commissioned at the war site first, but then Me and a group of soldiers were ordered to camp at Mount Eagle, the highest peak in the Siachen War ground. It was around 22000 feet above sea level and was around negative sixty cold. We were sent there to have a bird’s eye view of everything, but on reaching there I suffered severe nausea and started vomiting. Due to which I had to be brought down and the only method was to drag me down wrapped up in a comforter. While I was been dragged down I slipped and fell into a cavern. It was here that I suffered this frost bite. It took me three months to be able to stand up on my feet. General Zia had com personally to meet me at the base and asked me if I needed something. I asked him if I could be moved to my cavalry but due to my poor health I was asked to rest.
Me: “After you suffered the injury did you leave the army or u continued to give yours services to the forces?”
Major Iqbal: “After a few months of well attained rest I was asked to join the intelligence were I served for a couple of years and then attained retirement from the army”
Me: “After retirement was there any special offers that the army had bestowed for you?”
Major Iqbal: “Yes, obviously right after retirement I was offered Rs1587 pension which continued for about two months and then I was offered a job which I serviced for about ten years. They not only offered me medical assistance but medical facilities for my family were completely free in the civil hospitals.
Me: “Currently you have moved to America , why did you have to leave Pakistan
Major Iqbal: “ Well we moved in search of a better living and a better future for our children but in reaching there I was become a victim of this very rare disease that happens to a very few in a million in America because of which my neck has tilted towards the left, the doctors there were not able to treat me so I have come back here and a local doctor has been treating me and my health seems to be improving. I suffered this because my body because of what it had to go through around thirty years ago in the Siachen War has become very vulnerable.
Me: “Thank you sir for this extra ordinary interview and truly you are one of the heroes that Pakistan
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