What did Adnan Sami's father do in 1965 India-Pakistan war?

The Narendra Modi government's decision to confer singer Adnan Sami, who was born a Pakistani, with the Padma Shri has triggered a controversy. But unlike past controversies that erupt when the government gives an award, the opposition to Adnan Sami getting the award seems to have little to do with the singer himself.

The outrage has more to do with the actions of Arshad Sami Khan, Adnan Sami's father, who was a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force, in the 1965 war, six years before Adnan was born.

Several critics of the Modi government's decision pointed out that a son of a Pakistan Air Force pilot who fought against India had been given a state award. Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill on Sunday took to Twitter to ask the Modi government, "Why Indian Soldier like Mohd Sannaullah is declared foreigner via NRC & Son of Pakistan Air Force Pilot is given Padma Shri". Shergill also asked whether praising the government was a criterion to win an award, referring to Adnan Sami's support for various government policies.

The mudslinging has raised curiosity on what exactly Arshad Sami Khan did during the 1965 war. Some on Twitter claimed Arshad Sami Khan had shot down many Indian Air Force aircraft in 1965.

The official entry on the Pakistan Air Force Museum website on Arshad Sami Khan notes, "he flew the maximum combat missions during the war with India". Describing his professional attributes, the PAF museum notes, "His enthusiasm and aggressive spirit was of the highest order and was responsible to ignite the spirit of competition amongst other pilots in its most effective form. He led formations in the battle area with exemplary determination and brought back excellent results."

And finally, the entry describes Arshad Sami Khan's purported achievements in the 1965 War. "He has been credited with one aircraft,15 tanks and 22 vehicles destroyed and 8 tanks and 19 vehicles damaged and 2 heavy guns destroyed," the entry notes. Arshad Sami Khan was awarded the Sitara-i-Juraat, Pakistan's third-highest gallantry award, by Field Marshal Ayub Khan for his role in the 1965 war.

According to an article in 2000 in Defence Journal, a website covering the Pakistani military, Arshad Sami Khan was part of a Pakistan Air Force strike formation that attacked the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot on September 6, 1965. The Pakistan Air Force formation was flying F-86 Sabre fighters, supplied by the US. The Pakistan Air Force claimed its F-86 fighters, armed with rockets and bombs, destroyed "seven MiG-21s, five Mysteres and one Fairchild C-119 (a transport aircraft)" on the ground. The Indian Air Force, however, claims only two MiG-21s were destroyed in the raid on Pathankot.

Arshad Sami Khan later served as an aide to three Pakistani presidents and even became a diplomat. In 2008, he released a book, Three Presidents and an Aide: Life, Power and Politics, on his experience in the Pakistan Air Force and time as a presidential aide.

In the book, Arshad Sami Khan talks of his views on the conduct of the Pakistan Air Force. In the book, Arshad Sami Khan claims he had flown the most number of combat hours in the entire Pakistan Air Force, "61 hours and 15 minutes", in the 1965 war. He faulted the Pakistan Air Force for using the F-86 fighters again in the 1971 war to attack Indian Air Force bases, noting that they had poor bomb load.

In the book, Arshad Sami Khan notes "Since the 1965 war, India had equipped its armed forces with more modern weaponry than Pakistan had" and while the Pakistan military did very well on the western front in the 1971 war, on the eastern front, the Indian Air Force and Army "kept playing havoc".

Arshad Sami Khan died in 2009 of cancer at the age of 67.