(10 February 1915 – 28 March 2002) was a Pakistani military officer who served as the first chief of the army staff from 1972 to 1976. He, along with Yahya Khan and Abdul Hamid Khan, is considered a chief architect of the 1971 Bengali genocide, occurring under his governorship over East Pakistan, for which he is referred to as the Butcher of Bengal in Bangladesh.
Gaining a commission in 1940 as an artillery officer in the British Indian Army to participate in World War II, he rose to command the 8th and 15th infantry divisions. In 1969, he was appointed as the commander of IV Corps while acting as martial law administrator in West Pakistan under President Yahya Khan. In 1971, he took over the command of army's Eastern Command in East Pakistan and was appointed as Governor of East Pakistan, where he oversaw the planning and the military deployments to execute the military operations to quell the liberation war efforts by the Awami League.
After commanding the II Corps in the war with India in 1971, Tikka Khan was promoted to four-star rank and appointed as the first chief of army staff of the Pakistan Army in 1972. As an army chief, Tikka Khan provided support to the Pakistan nuclear programme alongside bureaucrat Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Upon retirement from the military in 1976, he was subsequently appointed as National Security Advisor by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, only to be removed in 1977 as a result of enforced martial law. In the 1980s, he remained active as a political worker of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and emerged as its leader when appointed as Governor of Punjab after the general elections held in 1988. His tenure ended when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's government in 1990, and he was succeeded by Mian Muhammad Azhar. He retired from politics in 1990. He died on 28 March 2002 and was buried with full military honours in Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
Early life and education
Tikka Khan was born on 10 February 1915 in the Jochha Mamdot village of Kahuta Tehsil, Rawalpindi District, Punjab, British India (now Punjab, Pakistan).
After his education in Rawalpindi, he joined the Army Cadet College in Nowgong, Madhya Pradesh in 1933 and joined the British Indian Army as a sepoy in 1935; he gained his commission in the army from the Indian Military Academy on 22 December 1940.
During these early years, he was known to be a particularly good boxer. Contemporary accounts described him as "a heavy set man with a British military moustache, a sallow complexion, a pointed chin, and dark brown eyes usually concealed behind dark glasses" while his "boxing experience had given him a misshapen nose, a curious rolling walk and a savage delight in violence."
Military career
World War II
He participated in World War II and fought with the 2nd Field Regiment, Regiment of Artillery in Libya against the Afrika Korps led by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in 1940. In April 1965, the 8th Infantry Division intruded into the Rann of Kutch. Hostilities broke out between India and Pakistan and Tikka Khan's 8th Division fought the Indian Army in the Battle of Rann of Kutch. During the war, Tikka Khan earned a reputation as a victor of Rann of Kutch and was credited widely by the Pakistani press for the victories, he gained.
Yahya Khan ordered him to carry out a "district-wise military operation" against the Awami League on the evening of 25 March 1971. Tikka Khan's order to his soldiers was I want the land and not the people. Tikka Khan took assistance from loyal Bengalis and Biharis for the operation and organized a paramilitary force called Razakars. He ordered the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, outlawed the Awami League, and ordered a midnight attack on the University of Dhaka. Tikka Khan was the architect and top planner of Operation Searchlight.
In September 1971, Governor Tikka Khan was replaced with a civilian government led by a governor and a cabinet drawn from different political parties. Tikka Khan was recalled to Pakistan, relinquishing the Eastern Command to Lieutenant General Amir Khan Niazi, and given command of the II Corps based in Multan, Punjab. He commanded the II Corps during the 1971 war with India. and replaced him with Tikka Khan. Tikka Khan was a highly unpopular choice in military circles for the chief of army staff because it was felt strongly that he was professionally unprepared for the assignment. On the other hand, Tikka Khan was steadfastly loyal to Bhutto. He was implicated in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission's report on the 1971 war with India over East Pakistan, but much of the report remains classified.
In 1974, Tikka Khan led the counterinsurgency military operation in Balochistan and successfully crushed Baloch independence movement. In 1976, he provided his support to Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Bhutto to expand the clandestine nuclear weapons programme. However Bhutto by-passed his recommendations, approved Lieutenant General Zia-ul-Haq to four-star rank, and appointed him as army chief. However, his tenure was short and ended when martial law was imposed by army chief General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1977. General Zia ordered the military police to arrest both Bhutto and General Tikka Khan and placed them under house arrest. Bhutto was executed in 1979, after which General Tikka Khan emerged as one of the leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), becoming its secretary general.
Jail under Zia-ul-Haq
In 1980–88, Tikka Khan faced imprisonment numerous times for his political activities until President Zia-ul-Haq died in August 1988 in an aircraft explosion over Bahawalpur. In spite of Tikka's leadership position within the political opposition, many of his army protégés such as Sawar Khan, Iqbal Khan and Rahimuddin Khan were promoted to four-star rank and remained on deferential terms with him. In the 1988 general election, Tikka Khan ran unsuccessfully for a seat representing Rawalpindi. He was survived by three sons and two daughters.
He was laid to rest with military honours in the Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi.