Major General Mohammed Zaman Kiani (1 October 1910 – 4 June 1981) was an officer of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

who later joined the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

(INA), led by

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

, and commanded its 1st Division. He earned the Sword of Honour from the Indian Military Academy, and joined 14/1 Punjab Regiment (now 5 Punjab, in the Pakistan Army). After Indian independence, Kiani moved to Pakistan, he served as political agent of Gilgit Agency and also remained Minister of Information in Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's government. His contributions to the Azad Hind were later acknowledged and he was awarded with Netaji Medal posthumously by the Indian Government.

Early life

Mohammad Zaman Kiani was born in the village of Shakarparian in the

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capi ...

, now part of Islamabad, Pakistan. A keen hockey player in his youth, Kiani joined the

in 1931 at the Indian Military Academy at

Dehra Dun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...

. He won the Sword of Honour & Gold Medal for the most outstanding Cadet in 1935 from the Indian Military Academy, and was commissioned in the 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment as a Second Lieutenant.

Second World War and the Azad Hind

In March 1941 the 1st Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment was sent to Malaya and he fought in the Battle of Malaya during World War II and was taken prisoner of war. He later joined the

First Indian National Army The First Indian National Army (First INA) was the Indian National Army as it existed between February and December 1942. It was formed with Japanese aid and support after the Fall of Singapore and consisted of approximately 12,000 of the 40,0 ...

(INA), when it was formed in 1942 under the command of

Mohan Singh Mohan Singh (4 March 1945 – 22 September 2013) was an Indian politician from the Samajwadi Party. He was elected three times to the Lok Sabha from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. He was the General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party. He died on 22 ...

. After this army collapsed due to disagreements with the Japanese, the Indian Independence League placed Kiani as Army Commander of the remains, with

Jaganath Rao Bhonsle Major General Jaganath Rao Bhonsle, also known as Jagannathrao Krishnarao BhonsleOctober 1939 Indian Army List (20 April 1906 – 14 May 1963) was an Indian military officer, independence activist, and politician. As a member of the Indian Na ...

as Director of the Military Bureau. After the arrival of

in 1943 and the revival of the

(INA), as well as the proclamation of the Free India government, Kiani was appointed the commander of the first division, which he led during the invasion of India in 1944. At the time of the fall of Rangoon, Kiani led the personnel of the Indian National Army and the Azad Hind Government who, along with Bose, marched to Bangkok. After Bose flew to Tokyo in August 1945, Kiani surrendered to the British 5th Division at Singapore on 25 August 1945 as the commander of the INA, along with the rest of his troops. He was repatriated to India and interned until 1946, before being cashiered and discharged from the British Indian Army.

Poonch Rebellion

Following the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, Kiani returned to Rawalpindi after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. In September 1947, the Pakistani prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan and the Punjabi minister Shaukat Hayat Khan put him in charge of the southern wing of the Pakistan's effort to overthrow the Maharaja of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

. General Kiani established a General Headquarters, GHQ Azad, based in Gujrat City. From here, Kiani's forces organised raiding operations on

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

border and directed the Kashmiri rebels in

Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...

, eventually leading to the formation of

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

. Brigadier Habibur Rehman served as his chief of staff.

Later life

Kiani was later appointed the political agent of the Government of Pakistan at

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

. He wrote his memoirs while in retirement in Rawalpindi. They were published after his death: *

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Extract from Sugata Bose, ''A Hundred Horizons''
world-journal.net, archived on 6 October 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiani, Mohammed Zaman Indian National Army personnel Indian Muslims Azad Hind British Indian Army officers People from Karachi Indian Military Academy alumni 1910 births 1981 deaths People of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 People of the 1947 Kashmir conflict