Retired Major Geoffrey Langlands laid to rest in Lahore

Published January 7, 2019
Chitral region policemen pay tribute beside the coffin of former British officer and teacher Geoffrey Douglas at his funeral in Lahore. —AFP
Chitral region policemen pay tribute beside the coffin of former British officer and teacher Geoffrey Douglas at his funeral in Lahore. —AFP
Government officials, colleagues and students bury former British officer and teacher Geoffrey Douglas. —AFP
Government officials, colleagues and students bury former British officer and teacher Geoffrey Douglas. —AFP

The funeral of retired Major Geoffrey Douglas Langlands, an officer of the British Army who chose to stay in and serve Pakistan upon its independence, was offered in Lahore on Monday.

Policemen from the Chitral region, where Langlands had served as the principal of Sayurj Public School for quarter a century until retirement in 2012, paid homage to the educationist as he was laid to rest in Lahore.

Colleagues and students bury Geoffrey Douglas in Lahore. —AFP
Colleagues and students bury Geoffrey Douglas in Lahore. —AFP

Langlands had breathed his last after a brief illness at a local hospital in Lahore last week. He was over 101.

A teacher of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and many others, the noted Aitchison College teacher served the education sector for 75 years.

Editorial: A legendary teacher

The story of Geoffrey Langlands is one of human perseverance and dedication. He must have been blessed with a golden heart to have travelled the distance that he did, mind rooted in the finest traditions of his age, to influence countless lives along the way.

Colleagues and students carry the coffin of Geoffrey Douglas. —AFP
Colleagues and students carry the coffin of Geoffrey Douglas. —AFP

The revered Major nurtured generations of Aitchison College students, many of them destined to lead in their own right. After leaving the proud and tranquil school in Lahore, he still had enough left in him to take an assignment at Razmak Cadet College in North Waziristan. He then rounded it off with a long, deeply meaningful stint at a public school in Chitral, which was later named — fittingly — after him. His was a breathtaking journey that brought him in contact with students — and, through them, with their communities — from various, even contrasting, backgrounds.

He had lessons for all, including those who had the pluck and gumption to kidnap him and hold him hostage for a few days. He reportedly taught them how best to negotiate the steep climb while walking through the mountains. The Major was an incorrigible guide, who truly earned his rise and his salutes.

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