From trenches to campus

But everyone agrees that Lt Gen Zaki is a man of great honesty and honour.Zaki was commissioned in the 19th battalion MLI, from the 16th course of the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun. He entered IMA from the 7th course Joint Services Wing, the predecessor of today8217;s National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla.

For the Zaki family from Hyderabad, the military is a clan vocation. His brother is in the Army and his sister was married to Lt Gen Jameel Mahmud, formerly the Eastern Army Commander. Zaki8217;s son is also in the Armyin the same regiment as his father.

One incident is truly reflective of Zaki. He was an ADC to the President when signs of a war over the Himalayas were looming large. He sought an interview with the President in order to cut short his tenure and rejoin the battalion. 8220;His dedication is awe-inspiring,8221; remarked an officer from his regiment. 8220;The responsibility with which he took the military profession is unmatched.8221;

In Army-speak is called o-g8217;, lifted from the colour of the uniform, but a phrase used for those who are proper and punctilious. As an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College DSSC, Wellington, he would not allow his brother, then a student there, to visit him.

He was only allowed to call-on8217; while complying with all the military conventionsonce a month, and that too for precisely forty-five minutes. Sunday at the DSSC was a day of outing, films and picnics. But Zaki would take his young son, hoisting a backpack, on a trek.

The opinion held of him as reserved, a man of few words, is disputed by his regimental officers. While admitting that he certainly was not the back-slapper kind, the Maratha officers recollect him as warm, selfless and strictly disciplined. An unsolicited kindness to his junior colleagues is another quality remembered by various officers.

All, however, regard him as a man unshakable in his convictions. 8220;He would not hesitate to express his views; a typical no-nonsense officer,8221; said a regimental officer.

If Zaki believed in something strongly enough, he would certainly state his opinion, a quality that is now increasingly rare among officers. And unlike most of the officer class, Zaki remained a devout follower of his faith, offering prayers regularly.

Insidious remarks emanating from motivated sides about his being sarkari musalman8217; don8217;t do justice to a deeply religious and dedicated soldier.His career was to bring him many accolades and choice postings as well. As a Lieutenant General, he was back at his alma mater the IMA.

He had entered the IMA as a Gentleman Cadet, walked into Chetwode Hall as a commissioned officer, and then returned as the Commandant. He then went on to become the Director General, Military Training. His last appointment, as Corps Commander in Srinagar, was to prove to be his greatest challenge yet.

The insurgency was by then full-blown, cries of azaadi rang out of every corner, gun-totting militants roamed the streets and towns were being declared as liberated zones. The drawing room talk was of handing over Kashmir to Pakistan.

And in this mayhem, Zaki would walk every day from home to his office at the Corps Headquarters, declaring that it was good exercise. It is an image few have forgotten 8212; a soldier to the core.

India came to learn of Zaki at this critical juncture of the war over Kashmir, and it was hardly surprising that upon his retirement, the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir kept him on as the Security Advisor. It was the first time the Army was going to have to deal with a Security Advisor who till the other day had been its Corps Commander.

An uneasy situation, and one which is best avoided, for the chances of encroachments on the new Corps Commander8217;s functioning are numerous. However, there was not one moment when the such an exigency arose. The former, and the incumbent, Corps Commander went about their work; and towns began to be liberated from the barrels of AK-47s wielded by the insurgents.

The first Hazratbal crisis erupted during this tricky period. In the midst of the crucial negotiations, Zaki was seriously injured when his car was hit by a speeding truck. A long period of hospitalisation followed, which he handled in a quiet and restrained manner.

No self-pitying, the pride of a soldier in him would not have allowed that. Zaki quietly retired to his native Hyderabad, until the chaos at Jamia got too much for the Government of India.

Zaki, thus, takes on yet another challenge. But the difference this time is that it is not a group of dedicated soldiers that he is dealing with. He has been thrust into a situation where politics is the byword for all dealings. But Zaki8217;s record shows troublesome situations brought under control.