Rao Farman Ali Khan ( ; 1 January 1923 – 20 January 2004) was a Pakistani military officer who is widely considered complicit in the Rayer Bazar killings during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Farman oversaw the deployment of local militias (razakars) during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He testified his responsibilities in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission in 1972 but denied allegations of genocide committed in Bangladesh in spite of the Hamoodur Rahman Commission which proved the involvement of misconducts and genocide of Pakistani military personnel.
Upon retirement, he joined the Fauji Foundation and later headed the Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited in 1978.
Biography
Rao Farman Ali Khan was born into a Rajput family in Rohtak, East Punjab, then under the British Colonial rule in 1923. His date of birth is 1 January 1923, according to the official headstone written in Urdu in his grave which is located in the Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Regiment of Artillery of the British Indian Army during the World War II in 1943. After the partition of British India in 1947, he opted to join the Pakistan Army. Hamoodur Rahman Commission though heavily criticized other senior military staff of Pakistan Army in East Pakistan at the time including confirmation of mass atrocities, cleared Ali citing the fact that he was not involved in any direct Military Operation due to the nature of his post which was mostly Administrative.
Altaf Gohar, an East Pakistani civil servant, recounted that a friend told him a hit list had been drawn up for elimination of certain Bangalis. The friend asked Gohar if he could do something to save Sanaul Haque, whose name was on the list. Gohar asked an acquaintance who knew Farman to persuade Farman to drop that name from the list. "Farman took out", said Gohar, "a list from the drawer and cut off the name". However, Farman Ali had denied all the accusations leveled against him, and branded these accusations as "lies".
In 1972, Ali testified against A.A.K. Niazi in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission and noted that Niazi's morale collapsed as early as 7 December and cried fanatically over the progress report presented to the Abdul Motaleb Malik. Controversy regarding his own involvement in the political events of East had arisen since he had denied all accusations leveled against him despite testifying his responsibilities.
Farman Ali was forcefully retired from the military in 1972 but appointed as managing director of Fauji Foundation in 1974 which he remained in that position until 1984.
Awards and decorations
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{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
| colspan="2" |Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam
(SQA)
| colspan="2" |Sitara-e-Khidmat
(SK)
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|Tamgha-e-Diffa
(General Service Medal)
1. 1965 War Clasp
2. 1971 War Clasp
|Tamgha-e-Jang 1965 War
(War Medal 1965)
|Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War
(War Medal 1971)
|Pakistan Tamgha
(Pakistan Medal)
1947
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|Tamgha-e-Jamhuria
(Republic Commemoration Medal)
1956
|Burma Star
|War Medal
1939-1945
|Queen Elizabeth II
Coronation Medal
(1953)
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Foreign decorations
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! colspan="3" style="background:#006400; color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center" |Foreign Awards
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|Burma Star
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|War Medal 1939-1945
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|Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
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See also
- Bangladesh Liberation War
- 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals