Sharbat Ali Changezi
Sharbat Ali Changezi is a retired three-star rank air officer of the Pakistan Air Force and former fighter pilot.
In 1955, Changezi notably refused to meet the Afghan Monarch Zahir Shah, while he was on visit to Pakistan, because of the ill-treatment meted out to the Hazara people in Afghanistan.
Early life and family
Sharbat Ali Changezi was born on 10 March 1932 in Quetta. His father, Haji Ahmed Ali, was the chief of the Behsudi (Hazara tribe) in Quetta and died in April 1976.Sharbat's brother, Shoukat Ali Changezi, who is 20 years younger, started his bodybuilding career at a small club in a run-down building in Quetta City. His dedication to the sport, along with the support from committed but uncertified elders, helped him advance. This support enabled him to move to Norway, where he fully realized his potential. Shortly after his arrival, he gained international recognition in bodybuilding, winning titles such as Mr. Oslo and Mr. Norway twice. He is now a prominent figure in the bodybuilding community in Scandinavia.
Sharbat's sister, Professor Fatima Changezi, was the first among Hazara women to graduate from college. She became a teacher at the Government Girls College, Quetta where she taught Farsi.
In 1976, Sharbat recalled, "My sister Fatima Changezi was the first Hazara girl who went to a college, immediately there after the late Shaikh Al-Haj Ali Nazar, a religious scholar, vituperated from the pulpit against my father, the late Haji Ahmed Ali Khan, for sending his daughter to college. This put an end to my sister's further studies. After a few years, however, the then Major Barkat Ali spoke to my father and both of them resolved to send their daughters to college. Fatima Changezi is today a lecturer in Persian in the education department of Baluchistan. Colonel Barkat Ali's daughter is doing her doctorate in Persian in Tehran. It is interesting to note that Al-Haj Shaikh Ali Nazar, himself sent his daughter to school after about 20 years."