I’m going to try saying this as fairly and uncontroversially as possible. Both out of respect to the former members of this forum and also to the Indian members of this forum. I also don’t want to share any of my personal opinions on this subject. I come here for recreation. Not to get into conflicts. We already have enough of those in our lives, back home. So I’ll just write facts without making any personal opinions.
I also served in the Indo-Pak war in ‘71 and I met the Major more than a few times over the years, especially when I was the DFO of the Sundarbans until ‘89. I first met him in ‘72, so I can’t comment on his life in India before the war (when he claims that he used to be a professional hunter). Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s partially true, maybe all of it was a lie. I do know that he became a highly decorated officer and received three military awards for his wartime actions of extreme valor. He got shot in the face during the war and lost part of his tongue. I didn’t serve with him, so I can’t actually vouch for what happened. But by all accounts, he got wounded while trying to save his men.
I can vouch that (based on what I saw) he’s a great shot and a very competent hunter (of deer, boars, birds and leopards). He gave me advice regarding leopard hunting, which I later put to very good use on my African safaris. So I know that at the very least, he at least shot a lot of leopards in India.
I don’t know if the photos he posted here are all his own photos. So I can’t comment on that. But what I’ll say is that if a person is once caught trying to pass off another man’s hunting accomplishments on his own, then it’s understandable why some people might call into question ALL of his claims.
I can’t vouch for his skills in tiger hunting. In ‘89, he was originally one of the thirty men who accompanied a Brigadier General to hunt down a man eating Royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarbans. I loaned them our forest department launch and also forest department employees and guides, to make their expedition easier. They made two expeditions into the Sundarbans to hunt down that man eater … each time staying for ten days. They didn’t succeed and eventually I had to go back there and try my hand at it (because I had already managed to previously shoot and kill two man eating Sundarban tigers). I succeeded in killing him with my 7x57mm Mauser, and this was the last of the only four man eating Royal Bengal tigers to be legally hunted in that country after ‘71. But I wouldn’t question the Major’s credibility because of his failure to hunt down that tiger. Without going too much off topic, the reason they failed to hunt down that man eater was because they were using techniques employed for hunting Indian tigers (which would make sense, because the Major claimed to be a professional hunter in India). The techniques were useless when hunting a tiger in the Sundarbans. The Major is responsible for something very terrible occurring during that hunt, but more on that later.
The Major and I initially had a very abrasive relationship, because he was physically and verbally abusive towards my staff … something which I had zero tolerance for. He was also initially very condescending towards me because my mother is Pakistani. Later, we buried the hatchet years later even though we never became buddies. There are some things the Major and I never saw eye to eye on.
He was always very outspoken about some of his actions during the war (which while perfectly justified and necessary, are not things one gloats about) and I always thought that these are the sort of things which one should never talk about after they’re over. People do horrible things to win a war, but after it’s over you keep quiet about it and move on with your life. The way he talked about his wartime actions (some in particular) also caused a lot of problems in his personal life (don’t ask because I won’t go there).
By the time I joined these forums, Major already stopped posting here. But I read a few of his articles and I have mixed feelings about them. They were very thrilling (and whatever he claims DOES corroborate with what I know about the pre ‘72 hunting scene in India), but he was constantly criticizing India and even wrote about some of his wartime actions on these forums. I understand his sentiment. Imagine living in a hunting haven and then going to a war and getting disfigured. After coming back, you realize that the thing which meant the world to you (hunting) is now gone. I get it. But if someone constantly writes negative things about a country in his articles ON AN OPEN FORUM ON THE INTERNET, it’s only predictable that eventually people would start getting pissed off and start harassing him here (whether or not his claims were true is besides the point). I served in a war and when I was the DFO of the Sundarbans, I made several campaigns against pirates/drug smugglers/poachers to eradicate them from the area (as per government orders). But I keep quiet about that part of my life. I came on these forums to enjoy discussing hunting and firearms. I don’t want to talk about killing people. I don’t even talk about that with my parents or children.
The Major is ironically the reason why ”Kill-Orders” for man eating Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans stopped being issued by the Ministry of Forests after 1989. When he and the Brigadier General went to the Sundarbans to hunt down the Man Eater of Atharobeki, they massacred 5 Royal Bengal tigers… none of whom were the man eater in question. 1 male tiger, 3 tigresses (1 of whom was pregnant) & 1 sub-grown cub. The news eventually got leaked to the media (because of the Major's "Boasts") and the stupid anti hunting masses publicly rioted outside the Ministry of Forests until Chief Conservator of Forests Noor Uz Zaman publicly declared never to issue another ”Kill-Order” ever again after the Man Eater of Atharobeki would be dispatched. Then, I had to step in and got the man eater on the existing “Kill Order”.
You can read an edited version of the story here (with the sensitive parts omitted out).
Hey, gents. A couple of months back, I shared an account of the hunt for the second of the 3 man eating Royal Bengal tigers which I had shot (1988), back when I used to be the DFO (Divisional Forest Officer) of the Sundarban mangrove forests. As I mentioned previously, I’m working with an...
www.africahunting.com
. It’s so nice to get the real truth from someone who lived it. Your style is honest and brutal but what in life isn’t? Glad your partner survived, many don’t. Thank you. Jacques
