A. O. Mitha

(PA – 649) Major General Abu Bakr Osman Mitha (1923–December 1999) was the pioneer of the "stay behind" concept and founder of Pakistan's Special Services Group (SSG), an independent Commando Brigade of the Pakistan Army. He was to the SSG what David Stirling was to Britain's Special Air Service.

Early life

Major General Osman Mitha was born in 1923 to an affluent and politically influential Memon family in Bombay. Mitha grew up in Bombay, spending his childhood and early years under the influence of a joint-family system presided over by an imperious grandfather and an omnipresent, all-powerful grandmother.

Career in the British Indian Army

Mitha, as a young man, rejected both a career in business and the bride chosen for him by his grandfather, deciding instead to embark upon a career in the army.

After finishing high school he joined a pre-cadet academy, and was selected for a commission in the British Indian army. He passed out of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, in 1942 and volunteered for the Parachute Regiment. He served in Burma during World War II and was dropped behind Japanese lines for high-risk operations while in service to the regiment.

General Mitha refers to the blatant racism that British officers practiced against their Indian colleagues in his posthumously published book, "Unlikely Beginnings". He wrote, "If there were ten officers in a mess, two of them British, they would see to it that they had little, if anything, to do with their Indian counterparts".

Pakistani Army

When India divided into the secular Republic of India and the Dominion of Pakistan in August 1947, Mitha opted for Pakistan. He qualified for the Staff College, Quetta as GSO 1 in GHQ Pakistan. He was Brigade Major in 1952 and Colonel Staff to GOC-in-C in 1962. Just around that time, he fell in love with Indu, daughter of Prof Chatterji of Government College, who had grown up in Lahore but since moved to Delhi. That it was not just puppy love but something more lasting was proved by Mitha's perseverance, and four years after the young lovers' separation, Indu, against the wishes of her family, came over to Karachi and they were married. The couple had three daughters, two of whom turned out to be very talented classical dancers.

Mitha describes the GHQ in Rawalpindi of the early days of Pakistan in graphic detail, with junior officers using wooden packing cases for desks and chairs and bringing their own pencils to work. Toilet paper, called "bog paper" by the British, was used to write on, as ordinary paper was just not available. He says: :"When I see the offices in GHQ today, with wall-to-wall carpeting, paneled walls and full air conditioning, I wonder how and why this desire for luxurious working conditions has crept in..."

In 1953-1954 officers above the rank of lieutenant-colonel were asked if Pakistan should accept US military aid. Mitha suggested that Pakistan should not, because aid would prevent the country from developing its own arms industry and leave it at the mercy of the Americans. It will also develop a 'beggar mentality', he predicted.

This advice was ignored. "Cherat" was chosen as the highly restricted site where the commandos were to be trained and based. Mitha's sole instruction to his handpicked Pakistani officers was, "Be proud of your poverty." He remained head of the SSG for 6 years.

Mitha in East Pakistan

Maj. Gen. Mitha was particularly active in East Pakistan in the days preceding the military action of March 25, 1971. Other Generals were present in Dhaka along with Yahya Khan, and secretly departed on the evening of March 25, 1971, that fateful day after fixing the deadline for the military action. Maj. Gen. Mitha is said to have remained behind. Lt. Gen. Tikka Khan, Maj. Gen. Rao Farman Ali and Maj. Gen. Khadim Hussain Raja were associated with the planning of the military action. There was, however, nothing to show that they contemplated the use of excessive force or the commission of atrocities and excesses on the people of East Pakistan.

Betrayal by Lt Gen Gul Hassan

Maj. Gen. Mitha was Quartermaster General at GHQ when prematurely retired by the civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in December 1971. He was just over 48 years old. Lt General Gul Hasan added his name to a list of officers whose retirements were announced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in his first speech as president on December 20, 1971. This came as a surprise as Major General Mitha had no hand in the "Officer's Revolt" at Gujranwala and the hooting down of General Abdul Hamid Khan (Chief of Staff) at a GHQ meeting, events that, ironically, pushed out Yahya Khan too.

According to Maj Gen Mitha, it was Gul Hasan who also saved then-Brig Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq from being sacked. Zia was in Jordan. The year was 1971. Gen Yahya Khan received a signal from Maj. General Nawazish, the head of the Pakistan military mission in Amman, asking that Zia be court martialled for disobeying GHQ orders by commanding a Jordanian armor division against the Palestinians, as part of actions in which thousands were killed. That ignominious event is known as Operation Black September. It was Gul Hasan who interceded for Zia and Yahya Khan let Zia off the hook.

Honors, dishonors and death

In the course of his military career, he was awarded the Hilal-i-Jur'at, Sitarai-Pakistan, and Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam.After retirement he was stripped of his medals and pensions without due cause, and that was quite a surprise to the public as he was never court-martialed. But Maj Gen Mitha gained more popularity by this due to which he was kept under surveillance by the Bhutto Administration as he was also hero worshipped by his juniors in the SSG. He remained under surveillance through the Bhutto years.

He had a hard time finding any kind of employment. Had it not been for the generosity of a friend living in Britain, who asked Mitha to manage his farm for him, he would have been on the street.

Maj. Gen. A.O. Mitha died in December 1999. After he died, one of his friends wrote to his wife, "At the end of a tumultuous life, all he wanted was a room to sleep in, one to write and eat in - a space to walk, reflect and gaze across the fields to the distant hills."

pecial Service Group (SSG)

Lt. Col. (later Maj. Gen.) Abu Bakr Osman Mitha came to prominence when appointed to raise the Special Services Group (SSG). He became a legend within the SSG, a fact attested to by SSG officers who came after he had moved on from the SSG. He was extremely hands on and leading from the front type of an officer.

This made him a legend not only in the Army, but also with the Navy and Air Force. He left his mark on hundreds of young cadets when he commanded the Pakistan Military Academy from 1966-1968. In 1965 he commanded an Infantry Brigade in East Pakistan and was also active there in early 1971 as Deputy Corps Commander. He also commanded the elite 1st Armoured Division from 1968-1970.

Since then SSG has come a long way. The current president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, is an SSG-trained commando.