Idris Hasan Latif

Air Chief Marshal IAF (1923–2018)

Idris Hasan Latif, PVSM (9 June 1923 – 30 April 2018) was a former air officer in the Indian Air Force. He served as the 10th Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from 1978 to 1981. After retiring from the air force, he served as 11th Governor of Maharashtra from 1982 to 1985. Born in an affluent family in Hyderabad, he joined the Indian Air Force Volunteer Reserve (IAFVR) during World War II. After joining the Coastal Flight at Karachi, he spent a year in the United Kingdom with the Royal Air Force. As part of the No. 3 Squadron IAF, he served in the Burma campaign. After the partition of India, he chose to stay with the IAF. He commanded the No. 4 Squadron IAF and led the squadron in the fly past during the first Republic Day parade in 1950. He commanded a squadron at the Joint Services Wing, the precursor to the National Defence Academy. As a Wing Commander, he advised the Indonesian Air Force and helped them induct jet fighters in 1955. After attending the Defence Services Staff College in 1957, he served as the Senior Air Staff and Administrative Officer of the Maintenance Command. Promoted to Group Captain, he served as the Station Commander in Hyderabad, commanding the airbases at Begumpet and Hakimpet. Latif served as the Air Attaché at the Embassy of India, Washington, D. C. from 1961 to 1965. From 1965 to 1966, Latif served as the Air Defence Commander and the Senior Air Staff Officer of the Eastern Air Command. In 1967, he attended the National Defence College. He subsequently commanded the Lohegaon airbase from 1968 to 1970. In August 1970, he was promoted to Air Vice Marshal and took over as the first ACAS (Plans) at Air HQ. He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 1971. He served in this appointment during the Indo Pakistani War of 1971. In the rank of Air Marshal, from 1974 to 1978, he served as the Air Officer in Charge Administration at Air HQ and Air Officer Commanding in Chief (AOC in C) of the Central Air Command and the Maintenance Command. In 1977, Latif was posted as Vice Chief of Air Staff and took over as Chief of Air Staff on 1 September 1978. After retirement from military service, Latif served as the Governor of Maharashtra from 1982 to 1985. He also held additional charge as Administrator of Goa, Daman and Diu and Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. From 1985 to 1988, he served as the Indian ambassador to France.

Latif was born on 9 June 1923 in the princely state of Hyderabad into an educated and affluent Sulaymani Bohra Muslim family, a large family of seven siblings. His father, Hasan Latif, was a civil engineer who had studied at King's College London and in Heidelberg. After joining the engineering department of the Nizam's government as an assistant engineer, he rose to become the chief engineer of Hyderabad State. His mother, Leila Hydari was the niece and adoptive daughter of Akbar Hydari, former Prime Minister of Hyderabad. His maternal great grandmother's brother was the barrister Badruddin Tyabji. He spent his early years in Warangal, where his father was posted, and later moved to Khairtabad in Hyderabad. He attended the St. George's Grammar School and the Madrasa i Aliya. All the siblings loved horse riding, having been trained at a Hyderabad State Forces training institution at Masab Tank. After his matriculation, he attended the Nizam College. His ambition was to join the Hyderabad Forest Service; however, after seeing World War II recruitment posters, he decided to join the Air Force. After being interviewed by the British Resident at the Residency House (now Rashtrapati Nilayam) in Bolarum, Latif was selected to join the Indian Air Force volunteer Reserve (IAFVR). He was sent to the Madras Flying Club to complete 25 hours of flying on the de Havilland Tiger Moth. He was then trained at the Initial Training Wing at Walton, Lahore and at the No.1 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Begumpet. Subsequently, he attended the Advanced Flying School at Ambala where he flew the Hawker Hart and Audax.

Latif was commissioned into the Indian Air Force on 26 January 1942 as an acting Pilot Officer. He joined the No. 6 Coastal Flight based out of RAF Drigh Road. Flying the Westland Wapiti and Audax, he conducted anti submarine patrols off Karachi. In 1943, Latif promoted to the rank of Flying Officer and posted to the No. 3 Squadron IAF, commanded by Squadron Leader DAR Nanda, based at RAF Station Kohat. The airbase was commanded by Wing Commander (later Air Marshal & CAS) Subroto Mukerjee, the first Indian officer to command an airbase. He flew operational missions in the North West Frontier Province, periodically flying to the advance base at Miramshah. Later in the year, he was among the few Indian pilots to be seconded to the Royal Air Force (RAF). He was trained on the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire along with the operational squadrons of the RAF. He returned to India in May 1944 and joined the No. 3 Squadron, flying the Hawker Hurricane during the Burma campaign on the Arakan Front during World War II where he distinguished himself. After the year long staff course, he was appointed Senior Air & Administration Staff Officer (SAASO) of the Maintenance Command, which was commanded by the legendary Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh, at Kanpur. In June 1959, Latif was promoted to the acting rank of Group Captain and appointed Station Commander in Hyderabad commanding Hakimpet Air Force Station and Begumpet Air Force Station. The Transport Training Wing (TTW) equipped with English Electric Canberras and the Navigation and Signals School (N&SS) equipped with Dakotas were based at Begumpet while the Fighter training Wing was based at Hakimpet. In January 1968, he took over as the Air Officer Commanding Jammu and Kashmir at Udhampur Air Force Station where he served a very short stint. In March, he took over as Air Officer Commanding Air Force Station Lohegaon in Pune. He had a varied inventory of fighters, bombers, four engined
transport aircraft and Consolidated B 24 Liberator of World War II vintage at the airbase. He was promoted to substantive Air Vice Marshal on 1 April 1971. After a short stint, he was promoted substantive Air Marshal and appointed Air Officer Commanding in Chief (AOC in C) Central Air Command in Allahabad. As the AOC in C, he led the Air Force relief operations during the Patna floods in 1975. The floods were the worst that hit Patna. The Central Air Command, under Latif, flew as many as 20 helicopter sorties per day carrying out humanitarian tasks.

In May 1978, the Government of India appointed Latif the next Chief of Air Staff. He took command of the IAF from Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar on 31 August 1978. He oversaw the induction of the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 23 and the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 25 into the IAF. Under him, the SEPECAT Jaguar was procured by the IAF, among the largest defence acquisitions of the country. He also flew the aircraft at one of the frontline air bases after its delivery to the IAF. With the retirement of General Om Prakash Malhotra in May 1981, Latif took over as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. Just before retiring from the Air Force, he flew the MiG 25, which was then just assembled from a semi knocked down condition by IAF personnel.

After retirement from active military service, Latif was appointed Governor of Maharashtra, on 6 March 1982. He also had the additional charge as the Administrator of Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu and the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on two occasions, serving from August 1982 to February 1983 and from July 1984 to September 1984. He completed his tenure as Governor of Maharashtra on 16 April 1985. In March 1985, Latif was appointed India's Ambassador to France. He carried the rank of Minister of State in this appointment. He served as the Ambassador till August 1988.

He was married to Bilkees Latif, a noted social worker, and daughter of Ali Yavar Jung. The couple had three children, a daughter – Mariam and two sons – Asad and Asgar. For her work in the Dharavi slum of Mumbai, Bilkees was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009. She also penned multiple books including the biography of her husband, The Ladder of His Life (Biography of Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif, PVSM), which was published in 2013. She died in 2017, a year before her husband's death in 2018. Latif's health started deteriorating after the death of Bilkees. He was ailing for some time before dying at a private hospital on 30 April 2018, at the age of 95.