Lt.General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi,Commander of East Pakistan Army 1971

(PA – 477) Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi (1915 - February 2, 2004) was a Pakistani military commander infamous for surrendering to India with 93,000 men. He was in charge of Eastern contingent of the Pakistani Army during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, and after a short but intense campaign through what is now Bangladesh, he surrendered his forces to the Indian troops who had besieged Dacca. Image File history File links General_Niazi_Commander_East_Pakistan_Army. ... Image File history File links General_Niazi_Commander_East_Pakistan_Army. ... The Pakistan Army Number (PA) denotes the identity and seniority of Commissioned Officers of the Pakistan Army. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pakistan Army Coat of Arms Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistan Military responsible for land based military operations. ... (Redirected from 1971 Indo-Pakistani War) The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. ... Sadarghat, one of the main ports of Dhaka Dhaka (previously Dacca; Bangla: ঢাকা), population 9,000,022 (2001), is the capital of Bangladesh. ...

Early life

Born to a Pashtun family in the Punjab, Niazi enlisted in the British Indian Army as a junior officer, and fought well during World War II. During this conflict, the young Niazi would win a Military Cross and be given the nickname "Tiger" by his superior officer due to his prowess in battle against Japanese forces. His Military Cross was earned for actions along the border with Burma, in which he showed great leadership, judgement, quick-thinking, and calm under pressure. The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, ethnic Afghan, or Pathan) are an ethno-linguistic group consisting mainly of eastern Iranian stock living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan, and the North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ... The Punjab or Panjab   (Punjabi/Urdu: پنجاب) province of Pakistan is the countrys most populous region and is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. ... The Indian Army in the time of the British Raj (1857–1947) // Administrative Name The Indian Army is the name for the Indian Armed forces of that country; the meaning of that name changed over time: History The Indian Army was formed after the Indian Mutiny in 1857 by the... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Military Cross The Military Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army, and formerly also to officers of the armies of other Commonwealth countries, for distinguished and meritorious services in battle. ...

He would join the newly-formed Pakistani Army after independence in 1947 and quickly rose through the ranks, earning various awards including the Hilal-e-Jurat twice. He commanded 5 Punjab during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, 14 Para Brigade during operations in Kashmir and Sialkot, and martial law administrator of Karachi and Lahore.^[1] By 1971 he had reached the rank of Lieutenant-General. Pakistan Army Coat of Arms Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistan Military responsible for land based military operations. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Combatants India Pakistan Commanders Gen J N Chaudhuri, Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Gen Mohd Musa Casualties 3,264 killed[1] 8,623 wounded[1] (From July to ceasefire) 3,800[2] - 6,917 killed[3] (17 day period alone) The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, also... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... Sialkot (Urdu: سیالکوٹ ) is a city in the north of Pakistan situated at the feet of the snow-covered peaks of Kashmir and near the Chenab river. ... Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect (usually after a formal declaration) when a military authority takes control of the normal administration of justice. ... Karachi (Urdu: كراچى, Sindhi: ڪراچي) is the capital of the province of Sindh, and the most populated city in Pakistan, sometimes known as the City of Quaid (شہرِ قائد), after Muhammad Ali Jinnah the founder of Pakistan. ... Lahore (Urdu: لاہور) is the capital of the province of Punjab, and the second most populated city in Pakistan, sometimes known as the Gardens of the Mughals, after the significant rich heritage of the Mughal Empire. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. ...

East Pakistan

He was sent in that year to East Pakistan in April following a Pakistani military crack down on Bengali intellectuals. Niazi himself volunteered for the job of military commander of East Pakistan, when many other officers of Pakistan Army were cautious on the posting. The army leader in East Pakistan at that time, Tikka Khan, was thought to be behind the implementation of the crackdown. Despite this, the situation in the East was difficult, as Bengali forces in the Pakistani Army had gone into mutiny, large segments of the population were hostile, and an independence movement was gaining steam among the Bengalis. Despite this, Niazi was able to reaffirm Pakistani control over wide parts of East Pakistani territory, opening the window for a political solution to the turmoil - this would not come to fruition. East Pakistan was a former province of Pakistan which existed between 1955 and 1971. ... Tikka Khan (1915–2002) was Pakistans Chief of Army Staff from March 1972–March 1976). ... Mutiny is the crime of conspiring to disobey an order that a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) is legally obliged to obey. ...

General Niazi was one of the generals who lead the occupation of Bangladesh (then, East Pakistan). There is no evidence that Niazi really condemned the crackdown of 25 March 1971, dubbed Operation Searchlight ordered by Tikka Khan. It was only after returning to Pakistan as empty-handed prisoner of war did Niazi criticize Tikka and Rao Farman. Niazi himself admitted that he raised the Razakar forces, who were employed against the Mukti Bahini (guerilla forces) and were used to kill, terrorize people and destroy rural villages. His vows against the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini were notorious. The crackdown against the Bengalis had gone too far, and the result saw Pakistani forces involved in a guerrilla war with the Bengali Mukti Bahini, who were aided by India. This would lead to later Indian involvement in the conflict, and a full-scale invasion of East Pakistan by India, resulting in isolation for Niazi's forces, and with the absence of external aid, eventual surrender. East Pakistan was a former province of Pakistan which existed between 1955 and 1971. ... March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Operation Searchlight was a planned genocide carried out by the Pakistan Army to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971. ... Razakar is a Persian word which means volunteer. ... Liberation War commemoration poster Mukti Bahini (Bangla: মুক্তি বাহিনী) (Liberation Army), was a guerrilla force which fought against the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. ... Look up guerrilla in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Liberation War commemoration poster Mukti Bahini (Bangla: মুক্তি বাহিনী) (Liberation Army), was a guerrilla force which fought against the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. ...

Surrender

On December 16, 1971, General Niazi surrendered all Pakistani forces in East Pakistan to Indian General Jagjit Singh Aurora. Niazi along with a sizeable number of Pakistani soldiers were taken prisoner (upwards of 93,000). This was the largest number of POWs since WWII and included some government officials. Many would not be freed until two years later, with Niazi symbolically being the last prisoner of war to cross back to Pakistan. Such actions symbolized his reputation as a "soldier's general" but did not shield him from the scorn he faced upon his return to Pakistan, where he was made a scapegoat for the humiliating defeat to arch rivals India. December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Lt-Gen Jagjit Singh Arora (February 13, 1916 - May 3, 2005) was the Indian commander whose comprehensive defeat of Pakistan in 1971 led to the creation of Bangladesh. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... The scapegoat was a goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in Judaism during the times of the Temple in Jerusalem. ...

Niazi was stripped of his military rank, and the pension usually accorded to retired soldiers. The Hamoodur Rahman Commission report revealed that Niazi was guilty of several misconducts during his tenure as martial law administrator in East Pakistan. It confirmed that the General was indulging in pan (chewing tobacco) smuggling from East to West Pakistan and sexual excesses, including, possibly rape as stated by witnesses.^[2] In order to clear his name, Niazi sought a court martial, but it was never granted. The former general would try to take up politics in order to clear himself, but he was jailed in order to quell such actions. In 1998 he released The Betrayal of East Pakistan where he blamed Yahya Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for the separation of East Pakistan. Niazi lived out his life in Lahore, his wife predeceasing him. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Former Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman,Pakistan Supreme Court. ... Look up Pan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... on tobacco usage see Tobacco smoking Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS... A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (February 4, 1917 – August 10, 1980) was the President of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971, following the resignation of Ayub Khan. ... Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (January 5, 1928 - April 4, 1979) was a Pakistani politician who served as President, from 1971 to 1973, and as Prime Minister, from 1973 to 1977, of Pakistan. ... Lahore (Urdu: لاہور) is the capital of the province of Punjab, and the second most populated city in Pakistan, sometimes known as the Gardens of the Mughals, after the significant rich heritage of the Mughal Empire. ...

Legacy

Niazi was a mixture of the bold and pragmatic. He was also noted for making audacious statements like "Dacca will fall only over my dead body".[1] According to Pakistani author, Akbar S. Ahmed, he had even hatched a far-fetched plan to "cross into India and march up the Ganges and capture Delhi and thus link up with Pakistan."[2] This he called the "Niazi corridor theory" explaining "It was a corridor that the Quaid-e-Azam demanded and I will obtain it by force of arms".^[3] In a plan he presented to the central government in June 1971, he stated in his own words that "I would capture Agartala and a big chunk of Assam, and develop multiple thrusts into Indian Bengal. We would cripple the economy of Calcutta by blowing up bridges and sinking boats and ships in Hooghly River and create panic amongst the civilians. One air raid on Calcutta would set a sea of humanity in motion to get out of Calcutta”.^[3][4] A journalist from Dawn had observed him thus: When I last met him on September 30, 1971, at his force headquarters in Kurmitola, he was full of beans. Thumping his thighs in his characteristic, over-confident way, he said: "You just wait and see that I am going to make it to Calcutta one day..." He did indeed live up to his words, and made it to Calcutta less than three months later, but only as a prisoner of war.[3] Early morning on the Ganges The River Ganges (Ganga in Indian languages) (Devanagiri गंगा) is a major river in northern India. ... This article is about the metropolis of Delhi. ... Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah (referred to in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam, or Great Leader, which is a legally defined title) (December 25, 1876 - September 11, 1948) was an Indian Muslim nationalist, who led the movement demanding a separate homeland for Muslims in... Agartala is the capital of the Indian state of Tripura. ... Assam now renamed to Asom (Assamese: অসম Ôxôm) is a northeastern state of India with its capital at Dispur. ... The Hooghly River (alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) is a distributary of the Ganges River in India. ... Strategic bombing is a military strategem used in a total war style campaign that attempts to destroy the economic ability of a nation-state to wage war. ... Dawn or civil dawn is the time at which the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon in the morning. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... This article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

See also

• Lieutenant General Gul Hassan Khan
• Lieutenant General Sahabzada Yaqub Khan
• Major General Osman Mitha
• Major General Rao Farman Ali
• General Agha MuhammadYahya Khan
• Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
• General Jagjit Singh Aurora
• The Blood telegram
• M. A. G. Osmany

General Gul Hassan Khan was the Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan. ... Sahabzada Yaqub Ali Khan Sahabzada Yaqub Khan (born 1920) was the International Face of Pakistan for many years. ... ... Major General (R) Rao Farman Ali Maj Gen Rao Farman Ali Khan (1923 - January 21, 2004). ... Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (February 4, 1917 – August 10, 1980) was the President of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971, following the resignation of Ayub Khan. ... Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (born April 3, 1914) was the Indian Army Chief of Staff who led the Indian forces during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. ... Lt-Gen Jagjit Singh Arora (February 13, 1916 - May 3, 2005) was the Indian commander whose comprehensive defeat of Pakistan in 1971 led to the creation of Bangladesh. ... Archer Kent Blood (1923-2004) was an American diplomat in Bangladesh. ...

References

1. ^ The Rediff Interview/Lt Gen A A Khan Niazi - Rediff February 02, 2004
2. ^ Hamoodur-Rahman Commission, Chapter 1
3. ^ ^a b The Betrayal of East Pakistan. A.A.K Niazi
4. ^ Online snippets of Niazi's comments

Rediff. ...

External links

• Pakistan: Independence and Military Succession
• Video of Surrender By General Niazi, A. A. K.
• Lt.Gen A.A.K. Niazi