Remembering Saiful Azam: Bangladeshi ‘Eagle’ who lives on in the hearts of Palestinians

Some years back, I went for a fitting of a navy blue double breasted jacket I had commissioned. 

The design was inspired by one Leonardo DiCaprio's outfit from The Aviator (2004), inspired by Howard Robard Hughes, the American aerospace engineer, businessman, filmmaker, investor, philanthropist, and pilot 

Sadly, the cutting master couldn't capture the essence of eloquence and eccentricity of Howard Hughes, prompting me to show an actual picture of the man. 

Also there for a fitting trial at the atelier was a septuagenarian gentleman. He came close to me and said, "Did you mention Howard Hughes?"

"Yes. Are you a fan of his too?" I replied.

"I like flying, young man," the well-dressed man said.

We went on to have a succinct chat. The gentleman said he used to be a fighter jet pilot. Before leaving he gave me his card. I looked him up on the internet, and found that it was none other than Saiful Azam Suja – then one of the last "Living Eagles."

Saiful Azam is a legendary figure in the history of aviation. 

He served as a fighter pilot with the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from 1960- 1971 and with Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) 1971- 1979. 

He flew for four air forces - Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq and Bangladesh. He holds the record for shooting down more Israeli's aircraft than any other - total four aircraft – during the six day war when he fought during the Arab-Israeli war. 

Despite the defeat, he has been remembered by the Palestinians for his unparalleled bravery and unique fighting skills.

Birth of a hero

In the war of 1967, Saiful Azam was fighting against the Israelis in western Iraq. 

Israel took control of Gaza and Sinai just five days after the start of the war. 

On 5 June, Israeli air forces destroyed two-thirds of the Syrian air force. 

Without much resistance, Israel captured Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. 

The Golan Heights was also occupied. No country in the Middle East could create such resistance in front of them.

At that time, Saiful Azam went to Jordan and became the bane of the Israelis.

On 6 June, the Israeli forces destroyed the Egyptian air force in a heavy attack from the sky. 

On the same day, four Israeli supersonic Desault Super Mystere fighter jets descended on the Mafraq Air Base in Jordan. Their goal was to wipe out Jordan's small air force.

At that time, the Arabs did not have an equivalent aircraft to compete against the Israeli jets. 

However, Saiful Azam flew the Hawker Hunter fighter plane from Mafraq air base to face the Israeli attack.

With that, Saiful Azam dodged and weaved in a dog fight, destroying two fast Israeli supersonic jets. 

His unerring hit brought down an Israeli Dassault Super Mystere. In another blow, another plane crashed into the Israeli border.

The next day, the Israelis were defeated by the Iraqi air force.

The war, however, wasn't done. It was just an opening salvo of sorts.

On 7 June, the responsibility of protecting Iraq's H-3 and Al-Walid bases fell on the Iraqi air force. 

Saiful Azam, once again stepped up, being appointed as the captain of that team. 

Israel attacked with four Vulture bombers and two Mirage 33 fighter jets.

One of the Mirage 3C planes was piloted by Israeli Captain Gideon Dror. He shot down two Iraqi planes. Azam's wingman was killed by Dror.

In pursuit of retaliation, Azam went hot on the heels of Dror, finally managing to shoot down the plane.

Dror was captured as a prisoner of war. It was a prized capture indeed, the return of whom was in exchange for thousands of soldiers from Jordan and Iraq.  

Recognitions that followed

Saiful Azam was awarded special honours by the governments of Iraq and Jordan as a reward for such extraordinary bravery. 

He also found a home in the hearts of the Palestinians for his contributions. 

Saiful Azam created a unique record within the first 72 hours of the Arab-Israeli war. 

He is the only person in history to shoot down a record number of four Israeli jets. For this, he was awarded the "Naat al-Sujah" military award.

In 2001, Saiful Azam was recognised by the United States Air Force as one of the world's 22 Living Eagles in recognition of his unique achievements on the battlefield.

"Saiful Azam loved Palestine and fought for Jerusalem," wrote Palestinian professor Naji Shawkri on Twitter after the death of Saiful Azam in 2020.

Renowned Palestinian journalist Tamer Al-Mishal also praised Saiful Azam and called him "The Eagle of the Air".

Saiful Azam was born in 1941, in Khagarbaria of Pabna district. He spent some of his childhood in Kolkata. During the Partition of 1947, his family returned to Bangladesh, then East Pakistan. He studied secondary school there. 

At the age of 14, he was sent to West Pakistan for higher secondary education. In 1958, he was admitted to Pakistan Air Force Cadet College. 

After two years, he completed the pilot officer course. In the same year he was commissioned as a General Duty Pilot and joined the Pakistan Air Force.

He first got the opportunity to show his fighting skills in the 1965 Indo-Pak war. The Indian Folland Gnat aircraft became his first hit. Indian flight officer Vijay Mayadev was captured as a prisoner of war from the downed aircraft.

The main fighter aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force was the US-made F-86 Sabre. The Folland Gnat fighter jets from the UK were known as "Sabre Killer".  Saiful Azam was awarded Sitara-e-Jurat, Pakistan's third highest military award, in recognition of this achievement.

After the independence of Bangladesh, he took charge of training the new members of the newly-formed air force of the country. He retired as a Group Captain from the Bangladesh Air Force in 1979.

After his retirement, Saiful Azam served as the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) twice from 1982 to 1984 and from 1987 to 1988. Apart from this, he was also the managing director of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation. 

Saiful Azam was elected Member of Parliament from Pabna-3 Constituency in 1991-96. After that, he served as the managing director of his own business company, Natasha Trading Agency. 

He died of old age in 2020.