Gul Hassan Khan

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Gul Hassan Khan
File:Lieutenant-General Gul Hassan Khan of Pakistan Army..jpg
Birth name	Gull Hassan Khan
Born	Rawalpindi, British Punjab State, British Indian Empire
Buried	Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service / branch	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1933-1972
Rank	Lieutenant-General (withdrawn)
Service number	PA-457
Unit	Armoured Corps
Commands	Army Commander-in-Chief Chief of General Staff 1st Armoured Division Directorate for Military Operations
Battles / wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 Indo-Pakistani war of 1971
Awards	Star of Pakistan (Withdrawn)
Other work	Author

Lieutenant-General Gul Hassan Khan (death 1999), was a former three star general and the last Army Commander -in-Chief of Pakistan Army from December 20, 1971 – March 3, 1972. Khan was the shortest Army Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army as of time line, and was deposed by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, led by Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman, recommended and exposed his war-crimes. In a trial led by JAG Branch, General Hassan Khan was immediately retired from the Army and further relieved from any benefits given to the retired officers.

Army career

Khan was born in Rawalpindi, British Punjab of the British Indian Empire. In 1929, Khan joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun, and graduated from there in 1933. He gained commissioned in the British Indian Army, and landed a staff job in the Army. Throughout the years, Khan did not joined the World war II and was committed to work as a staff officer. Throughout the World war, Khan served as Aid-de-Camp (ADC) to Viscount Slim and opted Pakistan citizenship in 1947. Khan went onto served in the Indo-Pakistani war in Kashmir as Lieutenant-Colonel. He also spent another year serving ADC to Governor-General Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan. In 1960, Khan was promoted to Brigadier-General and commanded a small Brigade in 1960s. In 1965, Khan was promoted to Major-General and was made GOC of the 1st Armoured Division. He commanded this division during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. His actions of valor won him the prestigious Star of Pakistan. In 1969, Khan was made Director-General of the Pakistan Army's Directorate-General for the Military Operations (DGMO). Khan allegedly executed or either approved military operations in East-Pakistan, since he was heading the Directorate-General for the Military Operations during this period. Khan participated in Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 where he headed the Directorate-General for Military Operations. After the war, the newly civilian President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto approved the appointment of Army Commander-in-Chief, and promoted him to Lieutenant-General. In controversy, Khan was avoided to be promoted the 4-star rank as oppose to his predecessors, by Bhutto.

As Army Commander-in-Chief, Khan lessen the value of the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI]]. The ISI lost its importance throughout this time, and the new Army Commander did not pay any attention to ISI. The ISI's operations were never revealed to him and Khan was reluctant and incompetent commander to control the ISI.

Ousted from the Army

His tenure, however, was short-lived. He was ousted as Army Commander-in-Chief on 3 March 1972 by Judge Advocate General Branch by the order of the Civilian Martial Law administrator and then-President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. His retirement privileges and benefits were taken away as well as received a dishonorable discharge. He was allegedly huddled up in a car and taken to Lahore by road by Ghulam Mustafa Khar, a politician and a close associate of Bhutto's. Khan's alleged involvement and his controversial approvals of military operations 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 Hamoodur Rahman Commission, led by Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman, Bhutto fired Khan as Army Commander-in-Chief and appointed General Tikka Khan instead.

Family

He had three brothers and a sister. He has relatives still residing in Pabbi near Peshawar, and in Quetta, Pakistan. General Gul Hassan Khan died in 1999 and was buried in Pabbi in Nowshera District (Main town of Chearat Cant, Chowki Mumriaz, Taroo Jaba, Akber Pura).

In the last few years of his life he was dividing his time between Vienna, Austria and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He wrote a book Memoirs of Lt. Gen. Gul Hassan Khan.

References

External links

Military offices
Preceded bySahabzada Yaqub Khan	Chief of General Staff 1969–1971	Succeeded byM. Rahim Khan
Preceded byYahya Khan	Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Army 1971–1972	Succeeded byTikka Khan