Gul Hassan Khan ( ur, گل حسن خان) (1921; b. 1921—10 October 1999), was a Pakistan Army senior general who served as the 6th and the last Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, serving under

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 ...

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

from 20 December 1971 until 3 March 1972. He was succeeded by

Tikka Khan General Tikka Khan ( ur, ٹکا خان; 10 February 1915 – 28 March 2002) was a Pakistan Army general who was the first chief of army staff from 3 March 1972 until retiring on 1 March 1976. Along with Yahya Khan, he is considered a chief a ...

, who was promoted to full general rank and designated as the Chief of Army Staff.

Biography

Early life and military career

Gul Hassan Khan was born in

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

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 ...

into a

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...

Pashtun family in 1921. In 1939, he was admitted and joined the Royal Indian Military College in Dehradun and moved to the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

at Dehra Dun in January 1941. He was an excellent

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player and gained fame as boxer at the

Military Academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

. In 22 February 1942, he was commissioned as a

2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the 9th battalion of the Frontier Force Rifles and was later transferred to the Armoured Corps. He was later stationed in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

with

Assam Rifles The Assam Rifles (AR) is a central paramilitary force responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast India. It guards the Indo-Myanmar border. The Assam rifles is the oldest paramilitary force ...

and participated in Burma Campaign in 1944–45 on the side of the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he selected to serve as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to General Viscount Slim who commanded the

14th Army Fourteenth Army or 14th Army may refer to: * 14th Army (German Empire), a World War I field Army * 14th Army (Wehrmacht), a World War II field army * Italian Fourteenth Army * Japanese Fourteenth Army, a World War II field army, in 1944 converted ...

. During the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1965, he was the Director of Military Operations, DMO and directed military operations against the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. His actions of valor won him the nomination of prestigious

Sitara-e-Pakistan The Nishan-e-Pakistan ( ur, , , ''Order of Pakistan'') is the highest civilian award of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is awarded for "those who have rendered services of highest distinction" to the national interest of Pakistan. Nishan i ...

by the

. After the 1965 war, he was promoted to Maj. Gen. and was made the GOC of the 1st Armoured Division headquartered in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

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

. In December 1966, he was posted to General Headquarters as the Chief of General Staff (CGS), and was promoted to Lieutenant General while serving in this post in 1971.

Role in 1971 Black September

According to the testimonies provided by

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 ...

A.O. Mitha, it was Gul Hasan's lobbying at the Army GHQ who also saved then Brigadier

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 ...

(Chief of Pakistan military mission) from being terminated. Brigadier Zia who was in Jordan in 1971 was recommended to be court-martialled by Major-General Nawazish in his submission to

Yahya Khan General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his p ...

for disobeying GHQ orders by commanding a Jordanian armoured division against the Palestinians, as part of actions in which thousands were killed. That event is known as "Operation Black September". It was Gul Hasan who interceded for Zia and Yahya Khan let Zia off the hook.

1971 war and Bangladesh

In 1971, he was the Chief of General Staff at the Army GHQ and allegedly either executed or approved

military operations A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations ma ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

. As CGS of Pakistan Army, he was heading the military operations and intelligence during this period. It is also alleged that he was the "intellectual planner" of Pakistan Army's crackdown in the

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and that he preferred a military solution of the political crisis looming over the horizon of Pakistan during 1971. He lacked foresight as was viewed by some of his colleagues in Pakistan Army as "short on strategic vision but good as field commander". He, along with Air Marshal A.R. Khan, played a crucial role in forcing

to step down from the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

Army Chief (1971–72)

After the 1971 war which ended with unilateral surrender to

called Lieutenant-General Gul Hassan to take over the post of Commander in Chief of Pakistan Army, which he refused. However, he reluctantly accepted the post on several of his set conditions and took over the command of Pakistan Army. In controversy, Khan was avoided to be promoted the

four-star rank A four-star rank is the rank of any four-star officer described by the NATO OF-9 code. Four-star officers are often the most senior commanders in the armed services, having ranks such as (full) admiral, (full) general, colonel general, army ge ...

as opposed to his predecessors, by Bhutto. Initially, he provided his support to

Bhutto but began obstructing the hearings of

Hamoodur Rahman Commission The Hamoodur Rahman Commission (otherwise known as War Enquiry Commission), was a judicial inquiry commission that assessed Pakistan's political–military involvement in East-Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. The commission was set up on 26 Decem ...

. Reports were surfacing that Gul Hassan Khan, along with Air Marshal A.R. Khan, were interfering in state's affairs and influencing on

. As Army Commander-in-Chief, he lessened the role and value of the Inter–Services Intelligence which lost its importance throughout this time, and the new Army Commander did not pay any attention to ISI as he relied on Intelligence Bureau (IB) instead. The ISI's covert operations were never revealed to him and Khan was reluctant and incompetent commander to control the ISI; instead the ISI began directly reporting to

Bhutto. In 1972, the

implicated him for his role in atrocities committed in

which eventually led towards his termination. Upon approval of his termination papers, the Governor of Punjab

Ghulam Mustafa Khar Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar ( ur, ; born 2 August 1937) is a Pakistani politician and feudal lord who has previously served as the Chief Minister of Punjab and Governor of Punjab. Early life He was born on 2 August 1937 in Sanawan in Kot Add ...

allegedly huddled up in a car and taken to Lahore. Khan's alleged involvement and his controversial approvals of military operations during 1971 in East Pakistan created a public resentment towards him, as he was the Director-General of the Director-general for the Military Operations (DGMO). When it was cleared by

, led by Chief Justice

Hamoodur Rahman Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman ( ur, ; 1 November 1910 – 20 December 1981), . , was a Pakistani Bengali jurist and an academic who served as the Chief Justice of Pakistan from 18 November 1968 until 31 October 1975. Educated in law ...

, Bhutto fired Khan as Army Commander-in-Chief and appointed General Tikka Khan instead.

Diplomatic career

After his stint as the commander-in-chief of Pakistan Army, Khan was appointed as Pakistan's ambassador to Austria. He also served as ambassador to Greece from April 1975 to April 1977. He resigned from the latter position in protest against alleged rigging during the

1977 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 March 1977 to elect 200 members of the National Assembly. They were the second general elections held in Pakistan and the first to be held after the Bangladesh Liberation War, which saw East Pakistan ...

Family

He had three brothers and a sister. He has relatives still residing in Pabbi Nowshera District, and in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. General Gul Hassan Khan died in 1999 and was buried in Pabbi in Nowshera District (Main town of Chirrat Cant, Chowki Mumriaz, Taroo Jaba, Akber Pura). In the last few years of his life he was dividing his time between

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He has one son, Sher Hassan Khan, who resides in Vienna with his mother. He wrote a book ''Memoirs of Lt. Gen. Gul Hassan Khan''.

References

External links

Official profile at Pakistan Army website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Gul Hassan 1921 births 1999 deaths People from Quetta Pashtun people Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni Indian Army personnel of World War II Frontier Force Regiment officers British Indian Army officers Generals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Generals of the Bangladesh Liberation War Commanders-in-Chief, Pakistan Army Pakistani memoirists Pakistan Armoured Corps officers Pakistani generals 20th-century memoirists Ambassadors of Pakistan to Austria Ambassadors of Pakistan to Greece Pakistan Command and Staff College alumni