Aziz Khan (general)

For other people of the same name, see Aziz Khan (disambiguation).

Muhammad Aziz Khan
General Aziz Khan in Pakistan's Prime Minister's Secretariat
Born	January 1, 1947 (1947-01-01) (age 64)
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan
Years of service	1966–2004
Rank	General
Unit	Punjab Regiment
Commands held	DG(S) for Inter-Services Intelligence Force Commander Northern Areas (FCNA), Gilgit Chief of General Staff (CGS) IV Corps, Lahore Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 Indo-Pakistani War of 1984 Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 Pakistani coup d'état of 1999 War in North-West Pakistan
Awards	Sitara-e-Basalat (military) Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military)
Other work	Former President of Pakistan Hockey Federation

General Muhammad Aziz Khan, NI(M), SBt, HI(M), (born January 1, 1947) is a retired four-star general in the Pakistan Army who served as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan. Before the former appointment, he had served as Chief of General Staff (CGS) and Colonel Commandant IV Corps, Lahore.^[1] He was instrumental in bringing General Pervez Musharraf to power in the 1999 coup d'état that overthrew the democratic government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif, along with the then Colonel Commandant X Corps Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed.

Personal

General Aziz khan was born at 1 January 1947 in a village Dhar Dhrach of Palandri, and studied in High School Palandri (now Post Graduate College Palandri). He belongs to the Sudhan (Sadozai, Pathan) tribe of Azad Kashmir.

Military career

Aziz Khan was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1966 in the 1st War Course (thus junior to 37th PMA, but senior to 38th PMA)^[2] in the Infantry's Punjab Regiment. He was a graduate of Command and Staff College, Quetta and National Defence College, Rawalpindi.

As a Colonel, Aziz was the Personal Military Secretary to the former President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. He also served as the Military Personnel at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC in late 1980s. Returning ot Pakistan, as a brigadier, Aziz worked as the Chief of Staff (COS) of the X Corps under the then Corps Commander Lt Gen Ghulam Muhammad Malik and also commanded an infantry brigade in the Siachen area around the same time. After that, he served as the deputy director of Inter-Services Intelligence. He was then posted as the Commander Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA), Gilgit who is responsible for the entire Kashmir region and Northern Areas operations (It is worthy to mention that the entire Pakistani forces in Kargil War was conducted by then Commander FCNA Maj Gen Javed Hassan).

Chief of General Staff

General Aziz was promoted to Lt Gen in October 1998 by the recently appointed COAS Pervez Musharraf and posted as Chief of General Staff (CGS). During the Kargil War in 1999, General Aziz Khan was serving as the CGS under General Pervez Musharraf. Secret recordings of alleged conversations between General Musharraf and General Aziz were apparently "intercepted" by the Indian intelligence during the Kargil Campaign. Said recordings proved that Pakistan Army had secretly invaded Kashmir.

When Aziz Khan was made the Chief of General Staff (CGS), the posting was contrary to norms of Army, as generally the senior most Lieutenant General occupy it and is considered the second-in-command of the Army. In August 2000, Aziz Khan was transferred as Corps Commander Lahore (August 2000 - October 2001).

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

After the September 11 attacks and the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan, General Aziz Khan was transferred to the ceremonial post Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. While being promoted, Aziz Khan was sixth in the seniority list of Lt Gens. Lieutenant Generals Muzaffar Usmani, Yusaf Khan (who was also promoted to four-star and made VCOAS), Mahmud Ahmed, Khalid Maqbool, and Hamid Javaid were all senior to him, all of whom stood superseded. He also stayed as the Colonel-in-Chief of the Punjab Regiment appointed by General Pervez Musharraf on 21 March 2003.^[3]

Post-retirement

Aziz Khan also stayed as the honorary president of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) from July 2000 to January 2005.

General Aziz is currently writing his memoirs. He belongs to the influential Sudhan tribe of Azad Kashmir. He is married and has three daughters and one son.

References

1. ^ 'New Vice Chief and CJCSC'
2. ^ Ikram Sehgal. "Choosing Merit over Friendship" The News, 9 October 2001
3. ^ "Army can defend every inch: Musharraf" Daily Times, March 22, 2003

of which the names of 2 daughters are humera and sumera.

External links

Biography portal

• 'The Mullahs' Blue-Eyed General'

Military offices
Preceded by Ali Kuli Khan Khattak	Chief of General Staff 1998 – 2000	Succeeded by Yusaf Khan
Preceded by Pervez Musharraf	Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee 2001 – 2004	Succeeded by Ehsan ul Haq

Persondata
Name	Khan, Aziz
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1947-01-01
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death