Tikka Khan

Tikka Khan was born on 10 February 1915[1] into a Rajput Punjabi family[9] in Jochha Mamdot village of Kallar syedan Tehsil, near Rawalpindi, Punjab, British Indian Empire.[10] Tikka Khan never received any university education nor did he attend the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun.[11] 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 on 22 December 1940.[11]

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.[11] He was captured by German troops and held as a POW in Libya for more than a year.[11] After successfully escaping, he saw military action in the Burma campaign against Japan in 1945 where he was wounded and hospitalised for some time.[11] In 1946, he was posted in different parts of India such as Deolali, Mathura, and Kalyan as an army officer.[11]

During the same time, he served as an infantry instructor at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun.[11] His British superiors quietly suspected that Captain Tikka Khan was in the Academy not by merit but by favouritism.[12] At GHQ India, Tikka Khan was often subjected to jokes by his British officers.[12]

After the efforts of Pakistani nationalists culminated in the partition of British India and the creation of Pakistan, Tikka Khan joined the Pakistan Army as a major where he was the only artillery officer in the Pakistan Army's Regiment of Artillery in 1947.[11] His military career progressed well and he got accelerated promotions in the army.[11] In 1949, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and commander of his unit. He worked hard to raise the Medium Regiment in the new army and commanded the first post of the artillery regiment.[11] In 1950–54, he was promoted to colonel and became the deputy director (Dy Director) at the Regiment of Artillery.[11]

In 1955, he was promoted to brigadier to command the Medium Regiment.[11] In 1962, Tikka Khan was promoted to major general and posted at the GHQ in Rawalpindi.[11]

In 1965, Major-General Tikka Khan was the GOC of the 8th Infantry Division that was positioned in Punjab, Pakistan.[13] At that time, the 8th Infantry Division consisted of the 51st Paratrooper Brigade and the 52nd Infantry Brigade.[13] In April 1965, the 8th Infantry Division intruded into the Rann of Kutch from Southern Command.[14] Hostilities broke out in 1965 between India and Pakistan and Tikka Khan's 8th Infantry Division engaged in battle with the Indian Army,[15] notably in the tank battle in Chawinda, Punjab that is remembered as one of the largest tank battles in history since the Battle of Kursk in World War II.[16] During the 1965 war, Tikka Khan earned a reputation as a victor of Rann of Kutch and was credited widely by the print media for the victories he gained over the Indian Army.[11] He made a bold stand against the Indian Army's encirclement in the Sialkot sector in 1965.[11] He also led the 15th Infantry Division in the 1965 war.[11]

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.[11] He was the martial law administrator of Punjab under President Yahya Khan who appointed him after replacing with Attiqur Rahman.[11] His personality was well known in Pakistan as being tough and ruthless.[11] In March 1971, Tikka Khan was sent to Dacca and left the post to Lieutenant General Bahadur Sher in March 1971.[11]

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.[17] 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.[17]

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.[17] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman reacted by calling upon the Bengali people to launch an armed liberation movement against Pakistan at a mass rally.[17] 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.[18]He assumed command of the Eastern Command on 7 March 1971. He has faced accusations of killing thousands of civilians.[17][18][19]

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.[20] He ordered the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, outlawed the Awami League and ordered a midnight attack on the University of Dhaka.[21] Tikka Khan was the architect and top planner of Operation Searchlight.[5] Thousands were killed in this operation, including academics and other members of civil society, and the country was plunged into a bloody civil war.[21] Tikka Khan followed the classical "Seek and destroy and Infiltration" method and captured all radio stations in East Pakistan at the price of systematic killings of Bengali people.[21] In Pakistan, he was called a "soldier known for his eager use of force."[21] He became notorious as the "Butcher of Bengal."[22][23]

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.[24] Tikka Khan was recalled to Pakistan, relinquishing the Eastern Command to Lieutenant General Amir Khan Niazi,[25] and given command of the II Strike Corps based in Multan, Punjab.[26] He commanded the II Strike Corps during the 1971 war with India.[26] 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.[26]

Tikka Khan was appointed National Security Advisor in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.[33] However, his tenure was short and was terminated 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.[34] 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, during a time when many party stalwarts abandoned it.[35]

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.[35] Despite Tikka's political inclinations, many of Tikka's army protégés such as Sawar Khan, Iqbal Khan and Rahimuddin Khan were promoted to four-star rank and remained on deferential terms with him.[35] In the 1988 general election, Tikka Khan ran unsuccessfully for a seat representing Rawalpindi.[35] He was appointed as the Governor of Punjab by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 1988.[35] His governorship was terminated by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan after dismissing the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in August 1990, after which he retired from active politics.[35]