Syed Mohammad Ahsan

Infobox Military Person
name= Syed Mohammad Ahsan
lived=
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=Karachi


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagcountry|Pakistan
branch= navy|Pakistan
serviceyears=1947—1969
rank= Vice Admiral
commands=Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS)
unit=
battles=1965 Indo-Pakistani War
awards=Sitara-i-Pakistan
laterwork=Pakistan Minister of Finance, Governor of East Pakistan

Vice Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan H.QA. S.PK. S.Q. D.S.C. (Urdu: ﺴﻴﺩ ﻣﺤﻣﺪ ﺍﺣﺴﻦ) (born 1921) was Governor of the Province of East Pakistan from 1 September 1969 to 7 March 1971. Prior to that, he was the Commander in Chief of Pakistan Navy from October 20, 1966 to August 31, 1969)

Admiral Ahsan was born and bred in Hyderabad Deccan. He joined the Royal Indian Navy and rose up to the rank of a Lieutenant before independence of Pakistan. At the time of independence of Pakistan in August 1947, Lieut. Ahsan chose to join the Royal Pakistan Navy, and was assigned the position of ADC to the founder and first Governor General of Pakistan Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He had also served as the ADC to Lord Mountbatten as well. [ http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/1999-11/0942460378] [ http://www.flickr.com/photos/pimu/2769399825/] [ http://www.flickr.com/photos/84504376@N00/1231234268]

Ahsan rose up through the ranks to eventually become the Commander in Chief of Pakistan Navy on October 20, 1966, nearly a year after the war with India in September 1965. Upon his retirement from the Navy at the end of August 1969, President of Pakistan Gen. Yahya Khan appointed him to become the Governor of East Pakistan on 1 September 1969. The country had been in turmoil with riots and disturbances all over the country (East and West Pakistan) against the rule of ex-President Ayub Khan. It was in this charged atmosphere that elections were held in the country in December 1970. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League was the clear victor having secured more than 50% of the seats in the parliament. This was a shock to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who ended up with around 33% of the seats – all from West Pakistan. Bhutto refused to accept a government led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which led to the disastrous action by Pakistan Army in East Pakistan, and the eventual independence of Bangladesh after the Indian invasion in December 1971.

Admiral Ahsan was opposed to any military action in East Pakistan. In an article titled ‘’A nation's shame’’ published in the NEWSLINE magazine of September 2000, the author states:

"But who was responsible for creating this hostile atmosphere and hatred among the people? The situation deteriorated further after General Yahya Khan postponed the first session of the newly elected constituent assembly. It became very clear immediately after the election results that the generals were not prepared to transfer power to the Awami League. First the delay in summoning the National Assembly session and later its postponement confirmed the Bengalis' worst fears, that the election results were not acceptable both to the generals and to the majority of West Pakistani politicians. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto publicly called for a boycott of the assembly session. Such a transgression was bound to further fuel public resentment.

"The anti-Bengali bias of the military leadership was very obvious. There was no representation from East Pakistan in the decision-making forums. In his statement before the Commission, Admiral Ahsan, the former governor of East Pakistan, aptly described the hostile mood of the military leadership when they decided to postpone the assembly session and launch a military operation in the eastern province. 'On arrival in Rawalpindi I was alarmed to notice the high tide of militarism flowing turbulently.... There was open talk of a military solution according to plan ', maintained Admiral Ahsan. 'I was caught quite unaware in this atmosphere for I know of no military solution which could possibly solve whatever crisis was supposed to be impending in the minds of the authorities.'

"It was evident from the statement that the decision to launch a military operation was taken without consulting the governor of East Pakistan who was the only sane voice in the government. Ahsan went on to describe the atmosphere at a crucial high-level meeting in Rawalpindi on February 22 1971.

" 'The president presided over the meeting of the governors and martial law administrators attended as usual by the military and the civilian officers of the intelligence agencies. It is relevant to record that among the tribe of governors and MLAs I was the only non-army governor and the only retired officer in the midst of active service men. I was the only person, though a non-Bengali, who had to represent the sentiments of seventy million Bengalis to a completely West Pakistani generalship,' said Admiral Ahsan. 'During the past 17 months, in meetings and conferences, my brief ran counter to the cut-and-dried solutions of West Pakistan representatives and civil servants. The president invariably gave decisions which accommodated East Pakistan's viewpoint, at least partially. This made me unpopular with my colleagues who probably thought I was 'difficult' at best and 'sold' to the Bengalis at worst.' [ http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20000917.htm]

Due to his opposition to the apparent planned military operation, Admiral Ahsan resigned from his position as Governor of East Pakistan on 7 March 1971, less than three weeks before the army action. [ http://www.despardes.com/articles/deco5/121805-i-remember.asp] [ http://www.newagebd.com/2005/apr/01/oped.html] [ http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/oct/hamoodur.htm]

Other Wikipedia references

*Pakistan Navy
*East Pakistan
*Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan
*List of Pakistanis

Footnotes

###@@@KEY@@@###Succession box
title = Governor of East Pakistan
before = Lt General Sahabzada Yaqub Khan (martial law administrator)
after = Lt General Tikka Khan (martial law administrator and governor)
years = 1 September, 1969 – 7 March, 1971

succession box |title=Finance Minister of Pakistan
years=23 March, 1969 - 3 August, 1969
before=N. M. Uqaili| after=Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash

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s-ttl|title=Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan Navy)|years=20 October, 1966 - 31 August, 1969