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1971 Pakistan Military Officer's Revolt, also known as the Majors and Colonels Revolt, refers to the deposition of the Yahya Khan Regime in Pakistan by Brigadier F.B. Ali, Brigadier Iqbal Mehdi Shah, Colonel Aleem Afridi, Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal, Lt Col Khursheed and other officers. Their action overthrew the government, transferring power to the elected civilian representatives. The revolt succeeded as General Yahya Khan and his government resigned, with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto then taking power as President of Pakistan. [1] [2] [3]
1971 Pakistan Mutiny | |||||||
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Part of Military coups in Pakistan,Bangladesh Liberation War,Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 and Military history of Pakistan | |||||||
The officers of the 9th Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment on 23 March 1974 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Government of Pakistan | Pakistan Air Force | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
President Yahya Khan General Abdul Hamid Khan Maj. Gen."Bachoo" Karim | Brig. F.B Ali Brig. Iqbal Mehdi Shah Colonel Aleem Afridi Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal Lt Col Khursheed Abdur Rahim Khan General Gul Hassan Khan |
In March 1971, The Military Junta in Pakistan Started Operation Searchlight which was a Plan to Genocide the Bengali People. The Plan to Separate West Pakistan and East Pakistan had been in plans since 1962 when then Dictator Ayub Khan had requested assistance of West Pakistani Politician Wali Khan to ensure a breakup of Pakistan into Two Parts but he refused and insisted to work against him with all means and all allies. Ayub Khan also offered an Independent Bangladesh to Muhammad Ibrahim who was the Minister of Law in Pakistan and a Bengali. Ayub removed Muhammad Ibrahim because Ibrahim had refused to help his plan to divide Pakistan and replaced him with Justice Munir who was supportive of Ayub in his attempt to breakup Pakistan. [4] [5] [6]
Prior to Operation Searchlight, The Pakistani Military had raged a merciless campaign of terror and murder in Baluchistan with civilians murdered and woman raped while PAF Aircraft used to bomb Baloch Villages and huts.Had Punishment been given to the butcher of Baluchistan then Operation Searchlight may have been avoided. [7]
During Operation Searchlight , Hundred of Thousands of Bengalis were murdered while tens of thousands of Bengali woman were raped and Bengali Nationalists retributed in equal amounts of violence on the Bihari Community which created the hate. Due to Operation Searchlight, the Bengali Police and Military Personnel mutined and thus the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War. [8]
Eventually India intervened due to Airstrikes on Its Military Airbases starting the 1971 Indo-Pak War, With Indian Forces and Bengali Mukti Bahini Fighters managed to break Pakistani Resistance and reach Outskirts of Dacca when a Surrender was Announced by East Pakistan Command.The Surrender caused entire West Pakistan into a shock as they had been fed with Propaganda that there Military was Winning in the War. [9]
On 17 December 1971 just one day after the surrender by Eastern Command, Brigadier F.B. Ali who was an Army Officer, wrote his resignation letter accepting his own responsibility for the loss of East Pakistan and expected that Yahya Khan and his advisors would follow suit and also resign. But the next day Ali had heard that Yahya was planning to create a new Constitution which infuriated Ali. Brigadier Ali determined that the loss of one war was enough and that it was imperative to get rid of the military junta of Yahya Khan. He picked up Brigadier Iqbal Mehdi Shah, Colonel Aleem Afridi, Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal, Lt Col Khursheed, and other officers and told them that they owed it to Pakistan to get rid of the discredited junta and hand over power to the elected civilian representatives. [1]
All officers present, agreed. However, there was a problem as Maj Gen Bashir "Ranghar", Major General R.D. Shamim, and Major General "Bachoo" Karim were in Gujranwala and had the authority to counter F.B. Ali's orders. [1]
On 19 December 1971, F.B. Ali arrested the three generals and seized command of Major General "Bachoo" Karim's 6th Armoured Division. Ali then sent Colonels Aleem Afridi and Agha Javed Iqbal to deliver a letter demanding Yahya Khan's resignation by 8 PM that night for being responsible for the loss of East Pakistan. The two Colonels took the letter to CGS Gul Hassan, who initially felt saddened by the defeat in the war and told them that he planned to leave the army. However, upon learning about the contents of the letter from the two Colonels, Gul Hassan's mood brightened, and he went to Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan. Gul Hassan told Colonel Aleem Afridi and Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal to sit in Major Javed Nasir's office. [1]
Earlier in the day, during an address by General Abdul Hamid Khan in Gujranwala, young officers, led by Brigadier Fazal-e-Rasiq Khan, unleashed a barrage of insults in English, Urdu, and Punjabi towards Abdul Hamid, Yahya Khan, and other superiors. They called them "bloody bastards," "debauches," and "drunkards," expressing their deep frustration. [1]
Abdul Hamid Khan was rushed out of the auditorium and sought advice from Major General A.O. Mitha who stated that he could deploy SSG troops to prevent a potential takeover by 6 Division but there were not enough troops. A.O. Mitha then reached out to Ali suggesting that Abdul Hamid Khan should take over from Yahya Khan. Ali refused stating that Abdul Hamid was too close to Yahya Khan and was just as responsible for the loss of East Pakistan. [1]
Meanwhile, the reports of near mutiny in Gujranwala prompted Gul Hassan Khan and Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan to go to Yahya Khan, telling him to resign. Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan had threatened to bring in the PAF to back the Mutiny while General Gul Hassan told Yahya that the Junior Brass of the Army were also not happy with Yahya. A Pakistan International Airlines flight was sent to fetch Bhutto from New York City, where he was presenting Pakistan's case before the United Nations Security Council on the East Pakistan Crisis. Bhutto returned home on 18 December 1971. On 20 December, he was taken to the President House in Rawalpindi, where he took over two positions from Yahya Khan, one as president and the other as the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator. [3] [10]
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan was a Pakistani military officer, who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army from 1966 to 1971. Along with Tikka Khan, he was considered the chief architect of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a Pakistani barrister, politician, and statesman. He served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth prime minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977. Bhutto founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and served as its chairman until his execution.
The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan, by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, through the merger of various leftist and progressive political groups in Pakistan. Commonly known as the NAP, it was a major opposition party to Pakistani military regimes for much of the late 1950s and mid-1960s. In 1967 the party split into two factions.
Lieutenant General Gul Hassan Khan known secretly as George, was a three-star rank Pakistan Army general and diplomat who served as the 6th and last Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, serving from 20 December 1971 until 3 March 1972, the shortest tenure. Gul Hassan resigned along with Abdur Rahim Khan after they refused Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's request to use their forces to end a police strike protesting for a pay increase against Bhutto's government.
Tikka Khan was a Pakistani military officer who served as the first chief of the army staff from 1972 to 1976. Along with Yahya Khan, he is considered a chief architect of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide which according to independent researchers led to the deaths of 300,000 to 500,000 people.
Major General Aboobaker Osman MithaHJ SQA TPk, popularized as A.O. Mitha, was a Pakistan Army general who is considered a legend in the Pakistan Army, and a "stay behind" conceptual founder of Special Services Group (SSG). With the help from the United States' Special Forces, he created the special forces unit in Cherat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 1956.
Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan was a three-star air officer who served as the last Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force under President Yahya Khan, from 1969 until 1972.
The Hamoodur Rahman Commission, was a judicial inquiry commission that assessed Pakistan's political–military involvement in East-Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. The commission was set up on 26 December 1971 by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto the then President of Pakistan and chaired under Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman.
1971 Dhaka University massacre refers to the massacre of students and faculty at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan by the Pakistan Army, at the beginning of what would become the Bangladesh Liberation War. In March 1971, the Pakistan Army Eastern Wing Commander Tikka Khan launched Operation Searchlight on the orders of dictator Yahya Khan to crush the Bengali nationalist movement. As part of the operation, the army launched an assault on the university campus. It is the deadliest university attack in history.
Military coups in Pakistan began in 1958 when military officer Muhammad Ayub Khan overthrew and exiled president Iskandar Ali Mirza. Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has spent several decades under military rule. After their respective terms in office, each of the past five prime ministers of Pakistan has faced convictions or imprisonment. This trend highlights a significant aspect of Pakistan's political landscape: the prevailing rule that the Pakistani military exercises influence wherever it deems necessary, often persisting despite potential repercussions. Throughout Pakistani history, the military has played a prominent role in governance, with periods where it has directly ruled the country.
Jalaluddin Abdur Rahim was a Pakistani communist and political philosopher who was known as one of the founding members of the Pakistan People's Party—a democratic socialist political party. Rahim was also the first Secretary-General of the Pakistan People's Party, served as the first minister of production. A Bengali civil servant, Rahim was a philosopher who politically guided Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, serving as his mentor, and had helped Bhutto navigate through the minefield of bureaucratic establishment when Ayub Khan had taken Bhutto into his cabinet. Rahim also guided Bhutto after Bhutto was deposed as Foreign Minister, critically guiding Bhutto to take down the once US-sponsored dictatorship of Ayub Khan.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army was the professional head of the Pakistan Army from 1947 to 1972. The C-in-C was directly responsible for commanding the army. It was an administrative position and the appointment holder had main operational command authority over the army.
Jochna O Jononir Golpo is a novel by Humayun Ahmed. The novel was published in February, 2004. The novel is based on the Liberation War of Bangladesh. In the novel, by means of an engrossing fictional story which skilfully incorporates various historical figures and many true incidents as well as the author's own personal experiences. The novel was translated into English as Liberation: Josna O Jononir Golpo by Roger Gwynn.
Attock conspiracy refers to a plot by Brig. Ali, Major Farouk Adam Khan, Squadron Leader Ghous, Colonel Aleem Afridi and Lt. Colonel Tariq Rafi against the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to overthrow the government and establish a revolutionary military junta. However Colonel Aleem Afridi played as double agent. He backed down and informed the government about the plot. The coup plotters were arrested,court martialed and jailed.