Department of State

Intelligence Note
US DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH

CONFIDENTIAL

26 March 1969

To: The Secretary

Through: S/S

From: INR-Thomas L. Hughes

Subject Pakistan : Martial Law "Who's Who"

This paper gives biographic information on the principal actors in the martial law regime established in Pakistan on March 25, 1969. Although there are ample data on the military careers of the persons who have assumed control there is a marked paucity of information on their political attitudes. It is therefore difficult to predict how each will act in his new and non-military role. This role gives dictatorial power to Yahya. The constitution has been abrogated and normal recourse to the courts is ended. Although Yahya has disclaimed "ambitions" for himself he is cloaked in full powers and may find "ambitions" developing in the future.

General Agha Muhammed YAHYA KHAN, 52, Chief Martial Law administrator. Yahya has risen rapidly in the Pakistan Army and jumped over several officers senior to him to become Commander-in-Chief in September 1966. He is given much credit for the only really successful Pakistani maneuver during the 1965 conflict with India: the drive through Chamb and Akhnoor in the Jammu area. Yahya belongs to the Shi'a Muslim sect (about five to seven percent of West Pakistanis are Shi'a, and differ in beliefs from the orthodox majority). He is from the North West Frontier but is not, strictly speaking, a Pathan. Yahya has an unsavory reputation in his personal habits. He more than occasionally drinks heavily and is accused (probably with justification) of "womanizing", including the reported exercise of droit de seigneur with wives of his military subordinates. The Muslim fundamentalists will be unhappy with him but they are unhappy with any Westernized figure, including Ayub.

Air Marshal Malik NUR KHAN, 46, Deputy Martial Law Administrator and Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Air Force. Nur Khan has been chief of the Air Force since July 1965, when he took over from Asghar Khan, now a leading figure in the opposition. Nur Khan comes from the Indus River region of the Punjab, an area which has provided a substantial proportion of Pakistan's military forces. He is a member of the Awan tribe and is a close relative of the late Nawab Malik Amir Muhammad Khan of Kalabagh, former Governor of West Pakistan. Nur Khan has been given credit for Pakistan's relatively good performance in the air in the 1965 conflict with India. There have been persistent reports that he has political ambitions, many of these related to his relationship with Kalabagh. If anyone were to assemble a "group" in opposition to Yahya, Nur is a likely candidate to lead a dissident group.

Vice-Admiral Syed Muhammad AHSAN, 48, Deputy Martial Law Administrator and Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Navy. Ahsan became the third Pakistani to command the Navy in October 1966, when he succeed Admiral A.R. Khan, who became Defense Minister in the Ayub cabinet. He was born in Hyderabad, India, and migrated to Pakistan after partition. He has had an amicable relationship with Americans, is highly Westernized and, despite a possible early association with the Jama'at-i-Islami, is not an Islamic fundamentalist.

Lt. General Abdul HAMID KHAN, 52, Deputy Martial Law Administrator and Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Army. Hamid Khan was born in Burma of Punjabi parents and returned to the Punjab for his education. He has a routine military career and was a corps commander prior to his transfer to his present position.

Lt. General Muhammad Attiqur RAHMAN KHAN, 51, Martial Law Administrator, Zone A (West Pakistan). Little is available on Rahman Khan. He has been a corps commander and was posted at Multan in the Punjab. He has been described as one of Pakistan's best officers.

Major General MUZAFFARUDDIN, 50, Martial Law Administrator, Zone B (East Pakistan). Muzaffaruddin, also a Punjabi, has been commander of the 14th Infantry Division in East Pakistan since October 1966. As the officer already on the spot, he has been designated to exercise martial law powers in that highly disturbed province. His may well be the most difficult task the new administration will face, especially in view of Bengal's long-standing bitterness at being ruled by Punjabis.

Source: The American Papers- Secret and Confidential India.Pakistan.Bangladesh Documents 1965-1973, The University Press Limited, p.265-266