Officers who General Zia superseded Thanks to ZA Bhutto and his Supreme Sycophancy

Thursday, December 14, 2017

General Zia-ul-Haq's senior officers

Friday, February 15, 2013

General Zia-ul-Haq's senior officers

February 15, 2013

Someone asked about senior officers who were superseded when General Zia ul Haq was selected army chief in 1976. A broader question of selection to higher ranks was also came into discussion. Three years ago, I replied to a similar question for those interested in history of Pakistan which is below.

Another question was related to large scale shuffle of senior officers when Zia became Chief. In view of supersession of a number of Lieutenant Generals, Zia was able to embark on a large scale reshuffle that was unprecedented in Pakistan army. In 1976, he promoted five Major Generals to Lieutenant General rank. Interestingly, with the exception of one all others were staff officers at General Head Quarters (GHQ). Faiz Ali Chisti was Military Secretary and after promotion given command of X Rawalpindi Corps. Iqbal Khan was CGS and after promotion given command of IV Lahore Corps. Sawar Khan was Adjutant General and after promotion given command of XI Peshawar Corp. Ghulam Hassan was Director General of Military Training and after promotion given command of I Mangla Corps. Jahanzeb 'Bobby' Arbab's case was unique. His promotion was held up due to inquiry into his conduct in East Pakistan. He was commanding a Division at the rank of Brigadier in officiating capacity. In February 1976, he was promoted to Major General rank and in March 1976 promoted to Lieutenant General rank and given command of V Karachi Corps. Zia also brought Lieutenant General Rahimudin Khan as Multan Corps Commander.

In this large scale reshuffle, a number of Major Generals were superseded and the list includes Tajjamul Hussain (he was arrested in 1980 on charges of attempting a coup and sentenced to prison terms), Akhtar Abdur Rahman (his is a unique case as he was superseded from the Colonel rank and above but didn't loose his heart. He served as DGISI for a long time and ended his career as a four star general and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. He died in the plane crash along with Zia ul Haq. He probably had the last laugh), Wajahat Hussain, Amir Hamza, Jamal Said Mian, Mateen, Chaudhry Abdul Rahman and Fazal e Raziq (brother of Zia's close confidant Lieutenant General Fazl e Haq. Later assassinated).

Enjoy

Hamid

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April 9, 2010

Dear All;

Someone asked my two cent worth opinion about senior generals at the time of selection of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq as army chief in 1976 as it created some controversy. My response summarized below.

Regards,

Hamid

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General Zia-ul-Haq's Senior Officers

As a general rule, most officers promoted to senior ranks are equivalent in the sense that they have served at command, staff and instructional appointments. Every army including Pakistan army is essentially a large bureaucracy and it encourages conformity to institutional ethos. In this regard, most senior officers look alike professionally. Overall, Pakistan army has followed this model. Occasionally, some very good officers have been shunted out because they irritated a senior or some below average officers got promotion to senior ranks because army chief wanted it that way or the 'clan' supporting them was strong enough to push their case (in one case, a Major General under whose command Siachin was lost got third star and in another case an officer who was removed from his command of the battalion and demoted to Major was saved by his clan and he ended up as a three star).

Army officers are also human beings therefore every officer has his strengths and weaknesses. Desirable professional attributes of officers may be different in case of junior and senior officers. The job of senior officer is higher direction of war. As an outside observer, one need to be careful as other officer's opinion about their comrades in arms is very subjective in nature. In addition, it is important to keep in mind relationship of the person judging the officer (family member, course mate, battalion mate, junior, senior etc.) as this will affect the judgment. For example, if a senior officer has saved my career, I'll judge him as great guy even if he is a poor officer. On the other hand, the officer who gave me a poor Annual Confidential Report (ACR) will be devil incarnate in my eyes regardless of his professionalism. Personal and professional conflicts among officers also need to be put in perspective in this regard. Memoirs of senior officers (majority of them were involved in lot of controversies and it is their attempt to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing. This is their right but that can not be accepted as history) should be read very carefully and unless one is aware of the background and the controversies of the author, one may be lost in the jungle.

It is an accepted norm that appointing authority has the discretion to choose anyone from top four to five contenders for the chief position. This happens all over the world every day. One can always find a fault or enough credentials in any officer and that debate is subjective in nature. Probably Bhutto thought that strictly apolitical and a more humble officer like Zia ul Haq will make his job of handling army easy. Some may feel that by choosing a junior officer will keep that officer obliged to the appointing authority which may not be correct. It has been done before when Ghulam Ishaque Khan chose General Abdul Waheed Kakar and Bhutto chose Zafar Chaudry and Zulfiqar Ali Khan and General Mussharraf chose Mushaf Ali Mir as air force chiefs. So far all the evidence (Zia's career as army chief under Bhutto, his attitude during agitation against Bhutto and even his behavior in the first few months after the overthrow of Bhutto) suggests that 1977 coup was an institutional decision of the army. No matter who happened to be the chief, Bhutto would have been removed once army as an institution made the decision.

One thing should be clear that we are trying to reinterpret the career of an officer with the hindsight because we may disagree with some of the political decisions of the officer as head of the sate. This fact can cloud our judgment. In my view, political decisions of military leaders should be discussed on their own merits or deficiencies and trying to re-interpret their careers will be confusing. If an officer made a blunder on the political field as head of the state, it should be criticized as such. Even if the officer had a stellar military record, it will not absolve him of political mistakes.

After this introduction, we come to the career of those who were senior to General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq when he was selected army chief in March 1976. There were six officers senior to him; Lt. Generals Muhammad Sharif, Aftab Ahmad Khan, Akbar Khan, Azmat Baksh Awan, Ghulam Jilani and Abdul Majid Malik. Some put Lt. General Agha Ibrahim Akram also senior to Zia but I'm not sure about it. Akram was a PIFFER, served at normal appointments including Military Deputy to CENTO. He retired in 1978 and Zia appointed him ambassador to Spain. He was more interested in military history and wrote some books about early battles of Muslim conquest although I haven't read any of his work.

All these six officers were Colonels & Brigadiers in 1965 war and Brigadiers & Major Generals in 1971 war. I'm sure they performed to the best of their abilities in whatever position they served during these wars. Details of some will be in their individual profile. I'm not aware of any gallantry awards bestowed on any of them but one needs to remember that gallantry awards are usually awarded to junior officers and these officers were relatively senior to actually participate in fighting.

Lt. General Muhammad Sharif

He was from Punjab regiment group (I think originally commissioned in 2 Punjab group and on partition when 2 Punjab was allotted to India, 3 Punjab became his home). I could not locate him during 1965 war. He was Commandant of Staff College from 1968-70. In 1970, he was promoted Lt. General and sent to Turkey as Permanent representative to CENTO. During 1971 war, he came back and took command of 33 Division temporarily when Major General Naseer Ahmad was wounded. He handed the command to Major General Iqbal Khan. In 1972, he was appointed Multan Corps commander. In 1975, he handed over Multan Corps to his successor Lt. General Zia ul Haq. He was given fourth star and became Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC). I'm unable to locate him from 1975 when he handed Multan Corps to Lt. General Zia until his elevation to CJCSC in 1976. CJCSC post was created in February 1976, a month before appointment of Zia as Chief and it is possible that Sharif was appointed CJCSC at Lt. General rank and after a month given fourth star. This will still leave the remainder of 1975 period unaccounted for about Sharif's career. He retired after completing his tenure and faded away. He was a soldier from an old generation; apolitical and appropriate in his conduct. He was known as a decent fellow and was not involved in any kind of scandals. Most officers who interacted with him had genuine respect for him.

Lt. General Aftab Ahmad Khan

He was from 2 Punjab regimental group. He was commissioned in 1/2 Punjab and fought second world war with his battalion in Middle East theatre. During partition he served with Punjab Boundary Force. When 2 Punjab group was allotted to India, 1 Punjab group became his home. In 1948, he served with Zhob Militia for few years. He commanded 14/1 Punjab and 1/1 Punjab (now 1 Punjab). In 1965 war, he was brigade commander of 103 (? 114) Infantry Brigade of 10 Division. This brigade fought some sanguine battles for the defense of Lahore. India's main thrust from 67^th Infantry of 15 Division was halted by elements of this brigade. Indian 13 Punjab and 15 Dogra were mauled by troops of Aftab's brigade. I think later he commanded either 12 or 23 Division. He was head of a committee set up by General Head Quarters (GHQ) to review 1971 war and was also involved in screening of Prisoners of Wars (POWs) when they came back from Indian captivity. He served as Rawalpindi Corps commander (1974-March 1976) at Lt. General rank. Officer of old school with no baggage.

Lt. General Akbar Khan

I think he was from Punjab regiment. In 1965 war, he was brigade commander of 105^th Independent Infantry Brigade (1 Baloch, 4 Punjab & 10 Punjab) which was deployed in Suleimanki-Fazilka sector. In 1966, he was appointed DGISI by Ayub Khan and served at this position till 1971. In 1971 war, he was GOC of 12 Division. He served as Karachi Corps Commander at Lt. General rank from 1975-76. He was not involved in any major scandals despite powerful positions which would become hallmark of some of his successors.

Lt. General Azmat Baksh Awan

He had usual earlier career like other officers. During 1971 war, he was commandant of Staff College at Quetta (1970-72). He was Corps Commander Mangla (1974-76). When Zia appointed Lt. General Ghulam Hassan to Mangla Corps in March 1976, Awan was moved to National Defence College (NDC), now called National Defence University (NDU) as Commandant where he stayed till October 1978. Gentleman and officer of old school not engaged in any extracurricular activities.

Lt. General Ghulam Jilani

Jilani was a PIFFER (8FF) nick named 'Jil'. He was Chief of Staff (COS) of Eastern Command in 1970 at the rank of Brigadier. The threat was mainly in eastern wing therefore he was chosen to head ISI on his promotion to Major General rank. Interestingly, he served three governments (Yahya Khan, Bhutto & Zia) in this capacity. He had not commanded any division nor Corps and his career was mainly spent at ISI. Most likely, he kept his chief Zia informed about his own dealings with Bhutto during the crucial days of 1977; therefore he didn't loose Zia's confidence. Bhutto later claimed that it was Jilani who gave his opinion in favor of Zia for army chief post but it may be an afterthought on part of Bhutto. Jilani's skills were used by Zia for grooming the new political elite as counterweight to Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Jilani was duly rewarded by Zia as Secretary General of Defence and governor of Punjab. Jilani kept his hands clean despite his influential position as head of ISI. He didn't let any family member take undue advantage when he was governor of Punjab. His son was also in the army (in father's 8 FF) and retired as Major. Jilani never used his influence to advance his son's career.

Lt. General Abdul Majid Malik

He had normal early career. He was Peshawar Corps commander at the time of selection of Zia as army chief (April 75-March 76). After retirement, he joined Muslim League and served as Federal Minister. His long life is quite interesting where as a young Major he was hanging out with top brass in 1950s (he typed up the resignation letter of President Sikandar Mirza) and lived long enough to end his long military and political career on a note where in 2005, an election official rejected his nomination papers when he was contesting the election of district nazim of Chakwal. He is more famous for his post-retirement political career and military career was usual of any other officer.

Please note that all this information is from a variety of sources and may not be correct in some regards. If you find any error please let me know so that I can correct myself. I hope this information is helpful in your work.

Regards,

Hamid

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