Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi | |
|---|---|
امیر عبداللہ خان نیازی | |
 Niazi's official military portrait as Lieutenant General (1971) | |
| 15th Governor of East Pakistan | |
| In office 14 December 1971 – 16 December 1971 | |
| President | Yahya Khan |
| Prime Minister | Nurul Amin |
| Preceded by | Abdul Motaleb Malik |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as President of Bangladesh) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1915 Mianwali, Punjab Province, British India |
| Died | 1 February 2004 (aged 88–89) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Resting place | Military Cemetery, Lahore[citation needed] |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Alma mater | Officers' Training School, Bangalore Command and Staff College, Quetta |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  British India Pakistan |
| Branch/service |  British Indian Army Pakistan Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1975 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General (S/No. PA-477) |
| Unit | 4th Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment |
| Commands | Eastern Command GOC, 10th Infantry Division GOC, 8th Infantry Division 14th Para Brigade |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |  Hilal-e-Jurat & Bar[a]_(1957-86).png){kind=small} Sitara-e-Pakistan_(1957-86).png){kind=small} Sitara-e-Kidmat Military Cross |
Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi HJ & Bar SPk SK MC (1915 – 1 February 2004) commonly known as General Niazi was a Pakistani military officer. During the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he commanded the Pakistani Eastern Command in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). He signed the instrument of surrender as on 16 December 1971, his forces had to surrender to the Indian Army's Eastern Command's commander Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora by the order of the then President of Pakistan Yahya Khan.[1]
Niazi's area of responsibility comprised the defense of East Pakistan from India during the war in 1971 and authors and critics within the Pakistani military held him morally responsible for his decision to unilaterally surrender the Pakistani Eastern Command, which resulted in the war's end in a decisive Indian victory as well as the independence of Bangladesh.[2][self-published source?][3]
After being held as a prisoner of war by the Indian military, he was repatriated to Pakistan on 30 April 1975 as part of the Delhi Agreement. He was dishonourably discharged from his military service at the War Enquiry Commission led by Hamoodur Rahman.[4] The Commission leveled accusations against him for human rights violations in East Pakistan and the supervision of smuggling efforts during the 1971 war; he was held responsible for Pakistan's military failure during the course of the conflict.[5][6][7] Niazi, however, rejected these allegations and sought a military court-martial while insisting that he had acted according to the orders of the Pakistan Army GHQ in Rawalpindi; the court-martial was never granted.[6]
After the war, he remained active in Pakistani politics and supported an ultra-conservative agenda under the Pakistan National Alliance against the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s.[1] In 1998, he authored the book The Betrayal of East Pakistan.
Niazi died in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan on 1 February 2004.[8]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ a b Siddiqi, PA, Brigadier A. R. (13 February 2004). "Gen A. A. K. (Tiger) Niazi: an appraisal". Dawn. Islamabad. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Brigadier Samir (2014). NOTHING BUT!. India: Partridge Publishing. ISBN 9781482817201. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- ^ Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). "The Cold War and the Nuclear Age, 1945–2008". A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Denver, CO: ABC-CLIO. p. 2475. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.
- ^ News Review on South Asia and Indian Ocean. Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses. 1983. p. 620.
- ^ "Gendercide Watch". Gendercide.org. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ^ a b Mir, Hamid (16 December 2014). "Forty-three years of denial". The Indian Express (Opinion). Noida, India. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- ^ Ahmed, Khalid (7 July 2012). "'Genetic engineering' in East Pakistan". The Express Tribune. Islamabad, Pakistan. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
- ^ Jaffor Ullah, A H (6 February 2004). "On General Niazi's departure". The Daily Star. Dhaka. Retrieved 8 January 2017.