Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Karamat Rahman Niazi ( ur, ; usually shortened to K.R. Niazi) (died 4 May 2021) was a senior officer of

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Qur'an, 3:173'') , type ...

who served as the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) from 1979 to 1983 of

. He was renowned for being the

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the submarine PNS ''Ghazi'' during the second war with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in 1965, for which he was decorated. In 1979, he took over the command of the

as its Chief of Naval Staff and worked in close coordination with

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

on the matters of national security throughout the 1980s.

Biography

Naval career and between wars

Karamat Rahman Niazi was born in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourteenth century. In 1809, it was occupied b ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, to a

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 r ...

noble family who belonged to the Niazi tribe. After graduating from a local high school, he commissioned in the

as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Af ...

in 1948 in Operations Branch and initially did his training at the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

in Dartmouth in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Upon returning, he was promoted as

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second hig ...

and his career in the Navy progressed extremely well, eventually being promoted to

lieutenant-commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in 1962. In 1963, Lieutenant-Commander Niazi was directed to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to complete a training on the submarine operations, and qualified for his training from the , alongside then-

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Ahmad Tasnim. Upon commissioning of PNS ''Ghazi'' in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

in 1963, Niazi was promoted as

and was the first

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the nation's first submarine, ''Ghazi''. On 2 September in 1965, ''Ghazi'' was deployed to Bombay coast under Niazi's command, initially covertly patrolling the

Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into ...

coastal areas. However, his mission was to remain off the Bombay coast and engage only major warships of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

which were close to the Karachi coast. After the naval shelling by the

Dwarka Dwarka () is a city and a municipality of Devbhumi Dwarka district in the state of Gujarat in Western India. It is located on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula on the right bank of the Gomti river at the mouth of the Gulf of Kut ...

, India, ''Ghazi'' again returned to patrol off the Rann of Kutch area and identified two warships, but did not engage them. On 17 September 1965, Commander Niazi ordered the firing of three Mk. 14 torpedoes at the INS ''Brahmaputra'' when it was identified by its navigator officers. He ordered an increase in depth to evade the counter attack, as there were three distant explosions heard. Niazi logged the explosions in the war logs, but ''Brahmaputra'' was not sunk nor had it released any

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

s, as no homing signals were detected by the submarine's

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

s. After a

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state ac ...

was enforced by the two nations, Niazi decided to continue patrolling the

Arabian sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

and safely reported back to its base on 23 September 1965. At Navy NHQ, Niazi submitted his mission report, but did not submit an inquiry report of three mysterious explosions that were heard during the course of the mission. Niazi and Lieutenant-Commander Tasnim were publicly decorated with

Sitara-e-Jurat Sitara-e-Jurat (, Star of Courage) is the third highest military award of Pakistan. It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a republic; however, it was instituted retrospectively back to 1947. It is awarded for gallantry or distinguishe ...

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

for their actions. Niazi commanded ''Ghazi'' until 1967 before being promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and taking a staff assignment at Navy NHQ. In 1971, he was promoted to

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

and temporarily held the rank of

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

to assume the

Submarine Command ''Submarine Command'' is a 1951 American war film directed by John Farrow and starring William Holden, Don Taylor, Nancy Olson, William Bendix, and Darryl Hickman. It is notable for being one of the first films to touch on post traumatic stress ...

during the third war with

. In 1972, Commodore Niazi assumed the command of the Pakistan Fleet before being selected to attend the National Defence University in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

to complete a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in strategic studies, also in 1972. Upon graduating in 1976, his promotion in the Navy was extremely quick due to the dismissal of senior flag ranking officers. He was immediately promoted to two-star

, becoming the senior

fleet commander The Fleet Commander is a senior Royal Navy post, responsible for the operation, resourcing and training of the ships, submarines and aircraft, and personnel, of the Naval Service. The Vice-Admiral incumbent is required to provide ships, submarine ...

as the head of the Pakistan Fleet. In 1977, he was promoted as vice-admiral and appointed Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS), where he was instrumental in incorporating new ideas on

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typ ...

methods.

Chief of Naval Staff

Vice-Admiral Niazi was promoted as four-rank admiral in the Navy and assumed command of the Navy from Admiral

Mohammad Shariff Admiral Mohammad Shariff ( ur, ; 1 July 1920 – 27 April 2020), was a Pakistan Navy senior admiral, who served as the 2nd Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and a memoirist who was at the center of all the major decisions made in ...

as its Chief of Naval Staff on 22 March 1979. Admiral Niaz was honored with

Nishan-i-Imtiaz The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (; ) is one of the state organized civil decorations of Pakistan. It is awarded for achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or outstanding service for the country. However, the award is not limited to citizens o ...

(Military), which is awarded to all the services chiefs upon taking over their respective commands by the President. As Chief of Naval Staff, he played a crucial role in stabilizing the

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

and was appointed

martial law administrator Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

under President Zia. Admiral Niazi worked in close coordination with Zia on the national security issues, including those involving internal security. After the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

intervened in neighboring

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

, Admiral Niazi gave authorization to the Navy's depot command in Karachi to store arms and weapons bought by the

under a

covert operation A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are perform ...

to secretly arm the Afghan mujahideen fighting the Soviet Union. His interests in the country's

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

was also noted when aiding in preparation of federal budgets. During the same time, he maintained close ties with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and held discussion on upgrading the existing naval infrastructure in the country., His tenure lasted only three years, and he retired on 22 March 1983, handing over command of the Navy to Admiral

Tariq Kamal Khan Admiral Tariq Kamal Khan ( ur, ; b. 23 January 1933), , is a retired four-star rank, four-star rank Four star admiral, admiral and a former diplomat who served as a Chief of Naval Staff (Pakistan), Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan Navy f ...

Post-retirement

After his retirement, Admiral K.R. Niazi lived a very quiet life and lived on military pension. He did not seek public office, but became a member of ''

Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat (, also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is a transnational Deobandi Islamic Dawah, missionary movement that focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encouraging fellow memb ...

'' in his later life serving on missionary activities throughout his life. On 23 January 2008, Admiral Niazi was among the retired senior military officers from the Ex-Servicemen Association who called for

Parvez Musharraf's resignation in order to pave the way for a complete restoration of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...

and

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

in the country. In 2009 and 2014, it was reported that Admiral Niazi had been secretly monitored by the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

for his alleged and controversial activities in the country, though no charges were ever leveled against him.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

Official website of Pakistan Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niazi, Karamat Rahman Date of birth missing Pashtun people People from Karachi Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Submarine commanders Pakistan Navy admirals Admirals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Chiefs of Naval Staff (Pakistan) Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) People of the Soviet–Afghan War Pakistani Sunni Muslims 2008 controversies Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians Pakistani Muslim activists Pakistani Islamists Controversies in Pakistan 2014 controversies People from Mianwali District 2021 deaths Year of birth missing