Tikka Khan

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Tikka KhanTemplate:Efn (10 February 1915 – 28 March 2002) was a Pakistani military officer who served as the first chief of the army staff from 1972 to 1976.<ref name="Pakistan Army">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Obituary">Template:Cite news</ref> He, along with Yahya Khan and Abdul Hamid Khan, is considered a chief architect of the 1971 Bengali genocide, occurring under his governorship over East Pakistan, for which he is referred to as the Butcher of Bengal in Bangladesh.Template:Efn

Gaining a commission in 1940 as an artillery officer in the British Indian Army to participate in World War II, he rose to command the 8th and 15th infantry divisions. In 1969, he was appointed as the commander of IV Corps while acting as martial law administrator in West Pakistan under President Yahya Khan. In 1971, he took over the command of army's Eastern Command in East Pakistan and was appointed as Governor of East Pakistan, where he oversaw the planning and the military deployments to execute the military operations to quell the liberation war efforts by the Awami League.<ref name="Hamid Mir">Template:Cite news</ref>

After commanding the II Corps in the war with India in 1971, Tikka Khan was promoted to four-star rank and appointed as the first chief of army staff of the Pakistan Army in 1972. As an army chief, Tikka Khan provided support to the Pakistan nuclear programme alongside bureaucrat Ghulam Ishaq Khan.<ref name="A.Q. Khan memoirs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Upon retirement from the military in 1976, he was subsequently appointed as National Security Advisor by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, only to be removed in 1977 as a result of enforced martial law. In the 1980s, he remained active as a political worker of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and emerged as its leader when appointed as Governor of Punjab after the general elections held in 1988. His tenure ended when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's government in 1990, and he was succeeded by Mian Muhammad Azhar. He retired from politics in 1990. He died on 28 March 2002 and was buried with full military honours in Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life and education

Tikka Khan was born on 10 February 1915<ref name="headstone" /> into a Punjabi family of the Janjua Rajput clan<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in the Jochha Mamdot village of Kahuta Tehsil, Rawalpindi District, Punjab, British India (now Punjab, Pakistan).<ref name="Yale University Press, Tripathi">Template:Cite book</ref>

After his education in Rawalpindi, he joined the Army Cadet College in Nowgong, Madhya Pradesh in 1933 and joined the British Indian Army as a sepoy in 1935; he gained his commission in the army from the Indian Military Academy on 22 December 1940.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar">Template:Cite book</ref>

During these early years, he was known to be a particularly good boxer.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Military career

World War II

He participated in World War II and fought with the 2nd Field Regiment, Regiment of Artillery in Libya against the Afrika Korps led by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in 1940.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> He was captured by German troops and held as a POW in Libya for more than a year.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> After successfully escaping, he saw military action in the Burma campaign against Japan in 1945 where he was wounded and hospitalised for some time.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> In 1946, he was posted in different parts of India such as Deolali, Mathura, and Kalyan.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" />

During the same time, he served as an instructor at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" />

New beginnings in Pakistan

After the efforts of Muslim League culminated in the partition of British India and the creation of Pakistan, Tikka Khan joined the Pakistan Army as a major in the Pakistan Army's Regiment of Artillery in 1947.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> His military career progressed well and he got accelerated promotions in the army.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> In 1949, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He worked hard to raise the Medium Regiment in the new army.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> In 1950–54, he was promoted to colonel and became the deputy director at the directorate of artillery in the GHQ.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" />

In 1955, he was promoted to brigadier.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> In 1962, he was promoted to major general and posted at the GHQ in Rawalpindi.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" />

Between the wars: 1965–1971

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In 1965, Major-General Tikka Khan was the GOC of the 8th Infantry Division that was positioned in Punjab, Pakistan.<ref name="Skyhorse Publishing, Inc." /> At that time, the 8th Infantry Division consisted of the 51st Paratrooper Brigade and the 52nd Infantry Brigade.<ref name="Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.">Template:Cite book</ref> In April 1965, the 8th Infantry Division intruded into the Rann of Kutch.<ref name="Vij Books India Pvt Ltd">Template:Cite book</ref> Hostilities broke out between India and Pakistan and Tikka Khan's 8th Division fought the Indian Army in the Battle of Rann of Kutch.<ref name="Hurst Publishers">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Motorbooks International">Template:Cite book</ref> During the war, Tikka Khan earned a reputation as a victor of Rann of Kutch and was credited widely by the Pakistani press for the victories, he gained over the Indian Army.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> He made a bold stand against the Indian Army's encirclement in the Sialkot sector in 1965.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> He later led the 15th Infantry Division in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" />

After President Ayub Khan handed over the presidency to his army chief General Yahya Khan in 1969, Tikka Khan was promoted to lieutenant general to command the IV Corps, stationed in Lahore.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> He was the martial law administrator of Punjab under President Yahya Khan who appointed him after replacing with Attiqur Rahman.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> His personality was well known in Pakistan as being tough and ruthless.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" /> In March 1971, Tikka Khan was sent to Dacca and left the post to Lieutenant General Bahadur Sher in March 1971.<ref name="Northern Book Centre, Sagar" />

Bangladesh Liberation and 1971 war

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The situation was very complex in both West and East Pakistan after the general elections held in 1970 where the Bengali nationalist Awami League won 160 of the 162 seats in East Pakistan, whereas the leftist-socialist Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won 81 seats out of 138 in West Pakistan.<ref name="Story Of Pakistan Fall of Dhaka 1971" /> By constitutional law, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League was supposed to be the candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Pakistan but Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of the Pakistan Peoples Party was not ready to accept his role as Leader of the Opposition and refused to sit in the National Assembly in this role.<ref name="Story Of Pakistan Fall of Dhaka 1971" />

Under pressure by Bhutto and the Pakistan Peoples Party, President Yahya Khan postponed the National Assembly session despite meeting with and inviting the Awami League to form the government on 7 March.<ref name="Story Of Pakistan Fall of Dhaka 1971" /> Sheikh Mujibur Rahman reacted by calling upon the Bengali people to launch an armed liberation movement against Pakistan at a mass rally.<ref name="Story Of Pakistan Fall of Dhaka 1971" /> Responding to this, President Yahya Khan accepted the resignation of Lieutenant General Yaqub Khan as governor of East Pakistan and commander of the army's Eastern Command in March 1971 and appointed Lieutenant General Tikka Khan as his successor. Tikka Khan arrived in Dacca the same month and took over the governorship. He assumed command of the Eastern Command on 7 March 1971. He has faced accusations of killing thousands of civilians.<ref name="Story Of Pakistan Fall of Dhaka 1971">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:User-generated source<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

{{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}Acting on the instructions of President Yahya Khan's administration, Lieutenant General Tikka Khan began preparations of "direct-wise military operation" against the Awami League on the evening of 25 March 1971.<ref name="Routledge, Dixit">Template:Cite book</ref> Tikka Khan's order to his soldiers was I want the land and not the people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tikka Khan took assistance from loyal Bengalis and Biharis for the operation and organized a paramilitary force called Razakars.Template:Citation needed He ordered the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, outlawed the Awami League, and ordered a midnight attack on the University of Dhaka.<ref name="Nation Books, Bhutto">Template:Cite book</ref> Tikka Khan was the architect and top planner of Operation Searchlight.<ref name="Hamid Mir" /> Thousands were killed in this operation, including academics and other members of civil society, and the country was plunged into a bloody civil war.<ref name="Nation Books, Bhutto" /> Fatima Bhutto called him "a soldier known for his eager use of force".<ref name="Nation Books, Bhutto" /> He became notorious as the "Butcher of Bengal."<ref name="APH Publishing, Ahmad">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In West Pakistan, domestic criticism and disapproval of Lieutenant General Tikka Khan grew to the point that President Yahya Khan replaced him with a civilian government led by a governor and a cabinet drawn from different political parties.<ref name="Columbia University Press, Elora">Template:Cite book</ref> Tikka Khan was recalled to Pakistan, relinquishing the Eastern Command to Lieutenant General Amir Khan Niazi,<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Pran Nath">Template:Cite book</ref> and given command of the II Corps based in Multan, Punjab.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Palit">Template:Cite book</ref> He commanded the II Corps during the 1971 war with India.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Palit" /> Indian Major General D. K. Palit has questioned the wisdom of Tikka Khan's tactics used in the Battle of Chhamb in December, citing high II Corps casualties incurred during Pakistani frontal attacks.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Palit" />

Chief of Army staff

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In 1972, President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto removed Lieutenant General Gul Hassan Khan from his position as commander-in-chief of the army<ref name="Oxford University Press, Jeffrelot">Template:Cite book</ref> and replaced him with Tikka Khan.<ref name="Routledge, Ravi">Template:Cite book</ref> Tikka Khan was a highly unpopular choice in military circles for the chief of army staff because it was felt strongly that he was professionally unprepared for the assignment.<ref name="Routledge, Abbas">Template:Cite book</ref> On the other hand, Tikka Khan was steadfastly loyal to Bhutto.<ref name="Oxford University Press, Jeffrelot" /> In 1972, he supported the militarisation of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission by supporting Munir Ahmad Khan to take over the commission's chairmanship and the directorship of the clandestine atomic bomb programme.<ref name="Transaction Publishers">Template:Cite book</ref> He was implicated in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission's Template:Citation needed report on the 1971 war with India over East Pakistan, but much of the report remains classified.

In 1974, Tikka Khan led the counterinsurgency military operation in Balochistan and successfully crushed Baloch independence movement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1976, he provided his support to Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Bhutto to expand the clandestine nuclear weapons programme.<ref name="A.Q. Khan memoirs" /> The same year, Tikka Khan was preparing to retire from the military, and evaluated the eight serving lieutenant generals who were his potential successors as chief of army staff. When asked by Bhutto for his opinion on Lieutenant General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Tikka Khan did not recommend him. Tikka Khan later remarked, "I thought he was dull. In any case, he was the most junior of all the eight lieutenant generals."<ref name="Penguin Books India">Template:Cite book</ref> However Bhutto by-passed his recommendations, approved Lieutenant General Zia-ul-Haq to four-star rank, and appointed him as army chief.<ref name="Penguin Books India" /> Upon retirement from the army, Khan joined the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Political career

National Security Advisor to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

File:Mujahid Tareen with Tikka Khan.jpg

Khan with Mujahid Tareen(middle) in 1974

Tikka Khan was appointed National Security Advisor in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, his tenure was short and ended when martial law was imposed by army chief General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1977. General Zia ordered the military police to arrest both Bhutto and General Tikka Khan and placed them under house arrest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bhutto was executed in 1979, after which General Tikka Khan emerged as one of the leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), becoming its secretary general.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield">Template:Cite book</ref>

Jail under Zia-ul-Haq

In 1980–88, Tikka Khan faced imprisonment numerous times for his political activities until President Zia-ul-Haq died in August 1988 in an aircraft explosion over Bahawalpur.Template:Citation needed In spite of Tikka's leadership position within the political opposition, many of his army protégés such as Sawar Khan, Iqbal Khan and Rahimuddin Khan were promoted to four-star rank and remained on deferential terms with him.Template:Citation needed In the 1988 general election, Tikka Khan ran unsuccessfully for a seat representing Rawalpindi.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield" />

Governor of Punjab under Benazir Bhutto

He was appointed as the Governor of Punjab by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 1988.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield" /> His governorship ended when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in August 1990, after which Tikka Khan retired from active politics.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield" />

Later life and death

File:Gen Tikka Khan (Deathstone).jpg

Tikka Khan's grave at Army graveyard, Rawalpindi

Throughout the 1990s, he battled with illness and was hospitalised in CMH Rawalpindi for several years. He refused many television interviews on the subject of the controversial events of 1971 and died on 28 March 2002.<ref name="Tribune India, 2002">Template:Cite news</ref> He was survived by three sons and two daughters.<ref name="Dawn 2002">Template:Cite news</ref>

He was laid to rest with military honours in the Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi.<ref name="Dawn 2002" /> Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Aziz Khan attended his funeral, accompanied by the Army Chief of Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and other senior military and civil officials.<ref name="Dawn 2002" /> Former prime minister and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto paid Tikka Khan tribute in a message to his son Colonel Khalid Masud; she described the Colonel's father as one who "rose to the highest offices of this country due to his hard work and respect for the rule of law".<ref name="Dawn 2002" />

Awards and decorations

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Hilal-e-Jurat (Crescent of Courage) 1971 War		Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam (HQA)
Sitara-e-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan) (SPk)	Tamgha-e-Diffa (General Service Medal) 1. Rann of Kutch Clasp	Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War (War Star 1965)	Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971)
Tamgha-e-Jang 1965 War (War Medal 1965)	Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War (War Medal 1971)	Pakistan Tamgha (Pakistan Medal) 1947	Tamgha-e-Jamhuria (Republic Commemoration Medal) 1956
Order of the Crown (Pahlavi Iran)	1939-1945 Star	Africa Star	Burma Star
Italy Star	War Medal 1939-1945	India Service Medal 1939–1945	Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953)

Foreign decorations

Foreign Awards
Template:Flag	Order of the Crown	Template:Ribbon devices
Template:Flag	1939-1945 Star	Template:Ribbon devices
Template:Flag	Africa Star	Template:Ribbon devices
Template:Flag	Burma Star	Template:Ribbon devices
Template:Flag	Italy Star 1945	Template:Ribbon devices
Template:Flag	War Medal 1939-1945	Template:Ribbon devices
Template:Flag	India Service Medal 1939–1945	Template:Ribbon devices
Template:Flag	Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal	Template:Ribbon devices

Notes

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References

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External links

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