Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Bilal Omer Khan (

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

, ur}; 3 February 1954 – 4 December 2009) was a

two-star rank An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, two-star officers hold the rank ...

general in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

who was killed in the December 2009 Rawalpindi attack while serving as the director general of the

Pakistan Armoured Corps The Armoured Corps ( ur, ﺁرمرڈ كور) of the Pakistan Army is a combat branch tasked with armoured warfare. Equipped with more than 3,742 main battle tanks, the corps is headquartered in the garrison town of Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. T ...

. He posthumously received the

Sitara-e-Basalat Sitara-e-Basalat ( ur, ستارہِ بسالت, , ''Star of Good Conduct'') is a non-operational gallantry (courageous behaviour, especially in battle) award of Pakistan Armed Forces given to individuals for distinguished acts of gallantry, valor o ...

Early life

He was born on 3 February 1954 to a

Burki The Ormur ( ps, اورمړ), also called Burki or Baraki ( ps, برکي), are an Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranic people mainly living in Baraki Barak, Logar Province, Logar, Afghanistan and in Kaniguram, South Waziristan. Despite speaking their ...

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

family. Including Bilal, the

family has produced several military generals and cricketers such as

Zahid Ali Akbar Khan Lieutenant General Zahid Ali Akbar ( ur, ; b. 1933) , is a former engineering officer in the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers, who oversaw the civil construction of the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, and later directing the Engineering Research La ...

Wajid Ali Khan Burki Lieutenant-General Wajid Ali Khan Burki (28 October 1900 – 17 January 1989) CBE, was a high-profile Pakistani military official who served as Minister-in-Charge of the Ministry of Health under the military government of Field Marshal A ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

Javed Burki Javed Burki ( ur, ; born 8 May 1938) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played in 25 Test matches from 1960 to 1969 to eventually become an ICC match referee. Burki received his early education from Saint Mary's Academy at Rawalpindi. He a ...

, Majid Khan, and

Shahid Javed Burki Shahid Javed Burki ( ur, ) is a Pakistani-American professional economist who has served as Vice President of the World Bank and as de facto Finance Minister of Pakistan on a caretaker basis. He has written extensively on economic develop ...

Military career

In 1973 at the age of 19, he was commissioned into the army in the 19th Lancers. He served as the commander of the 111th Infantry Brigade in Pakistan and as

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

Joint Staff Headquarters.

Mentorship

He was a

mentor Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

to junior army officers and air force polo players at the Rawalpindi Polo Club. Wing Commander Shafiq had said that after maghrib prayers Major General Bilal used to guide them on polo and gave them tips on how to play better and how to win crucial fixtures.

2009 Parade Lane Mosque attack and death

On 4 December 2009, he and other worshippers were praying

namaz (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba ...

at the Parade Lane Mosque and were

bowing Bowing (also called stooping) is the act of lowering the torso and head as a social gesture in direction to another person or symbol. It is most prominent in Asian cultures but it is also typical of nobility and aristocracy in many European coun ...

in prayer, when suddenly explosions and gunfire rang out. Most of the people died on impact while a few others managed to escape. Bilal unharmed, put his shoes back on and got ahold of one of the terrorists, trying to disarm him, which led to the other terrorists focusing their attention on Bilal. The distraction was a key opportunity for others to escape. While several escaped, Bilal was shot at point blank range by another terrorist and was killed in the

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. When his son Arsalan went to recover his body from the mosque, he said "I saw my father lay there with his hand under his head as though he was in a peaceful slumber."

Personal life

He was very passionate about the sport of

Polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

and was known by his friends and family as an excellent

player and a good hunter. Bilal was married and had two sons and a daughter.

Legacy

The Parade Lane by the mosque bears his name. A tennis championship is named after him at the army polo club, ''Major General Bilal Omer Shaheed Tennis Championship''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omer Khan, Bilal 1954 births 2009 deaths Pakistani military personnel killed in action Pakistan Army officers Pakistani generals Burki family Imran Khan family Pashtun people Pakistani Muslims Terrorism victims Pakistani terrorism victims Victims of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Pakistan Military Academy alumni