Abbas Ali Khan

Brigadier Abbas Ali Khan (Urdu: عباس علی خان) (born January 11 1952), son of Major General Rehmat Ali Shah Bokhari, was born in Sahiwal, Pakistan. He attended various schools and graduated from the Government College of Sahiwal in Pakistan's Punjab Province.

Family

Brigadier General Abbas Ali Khan is from a Pakhtun family of Kohat. His father was a Major General in the Pakistan Army and served as the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps Balochistan and commanded the 35th Infantry Division in Bahawalpur, south of Punjab. Since his mother married Colonel Musa Ali Khan when he was still a toddler, for all documentation purposes he came to be known as Brigadier Abbas Ali Khan son of Musa Ali Khan. Brigadier Abbas was the only child of his parents but has a few step-brothers and -sisters. He has 3 sons who are all professionally qualified and working in Pakistan and abroad. His wife Salhia Hussain (maiden name) hails from a rajput family and is a direct descendent of the Raja Prithvi Raj Chohan.

Military career

Abbas joined the Kakul military academy in 1971 and was the sergeant of his platoon during his training years. Among other achievements, he was also a boxing color holder in the academy. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College in Quetta.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The then-Lieutenant Abbas saw action in the Sialkot sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Being an infantry officer he was stationed at the major military cantonments in Pakistan and specialized in desert warfare. As a major, Abbas served with General Pervez Musharraf in Bahawalpur. At that time, Musharraf (then a Brigadier) was a brigade commander in the 35th Infantry Division and Major Abbas was the GSOII-Ops for the same division.

Abbas commanded the 15th regiment of the Punjab Battalion in Panu Aqil as a Lt-Col before being posted as instructor to the School of Infantry and Tactics in Quetta. During his stay as the commanding officer of 15 Punjab, he was involved in the extensive anti-dacoit operation in Sindh. Under his command the unit won most of the sporting and military events and in recognition of this he was named as one of the two most successful commanding officers in the Pakistan Army.

Bosnian War

His next assignment was as a UN military observer during the Bosnian War in 1995. During his tenure he was given an additional charge as the Chief Logistics Officer for the UN Mission in Bosnia. Abbas witnessed the atrocities committed by the Serb Army on both the Bosnian Muslims and the Croats in one of the worst incidents of ethnic cleansing in history. On several occasions his military convoy flying the UN flag was looted and in one instance he and a fellow officer from New Zealand were forced to walk miles in heavy snow as their vehicle was taken by Serb forces. The officer has a lot of horrific accounts of the war, but has since spoken much less about the war.

Upon his return Abbas was transferred to the Mohmand Agency in the Tribal areas of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. His major responsibilities included border security along the Pakistan-Afghan Border and made huge advances in quelling the bustling opium and arms trade in the region. He helped the Mohmand Rifles in getting nominated for the prestigious Frontier Corps Week which saw an influx of a huge amount of development funds. According to many local residents, the then Colonel Abbas did more work in the region than any of the other commandants had ever done in all the years combined. During the promotions board of 1997, Abbas was promoted to the rank of Brigadier and was given the charge of the 22nd Brigade stationed at Mehfuzpura just outside Lahore. His military career was marred two years later when he underwent an angiogram. This made him unfit for further promotion and he was thus transferred to Multan as the Chief Executive of the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO). Abbas is a licensed glider pilot and has received over 16 Army medals for his commendable performance as an officer.

Civil career

During his tenure at MEPCO, Abbas took a strong stance against the corrupt practices being carried out at the company. During the years prior to his joining, the European Union had given a development loan of $25 million to MEPCO for the electrification of the villages in the southern part of Punjab. The work had been so slow that only about a hundred villages had been done in more than 4 years. When Abbas took over, he completed the electrification of about 400 more villages in a year and a half. This commendable performance was acknowledged by the EU ambassador and he along with the ambassadors of the European countries visited Abbas in Multan and praised his services. The services were also praised by the Governor of Punjab, Mr. Khalid Maqbool] with whom he had also served in 4 Corps Lahore when Abbas was commanding the 22nd Infantry Brigade in the 10th Infantry Division based at Lahore.

The government thus decided to keep Abbas as the CEO of MEPCO for a longer tenure. During his time, the company was the top performer amongst all the other companies and the performance improved manifold over the previous years. Strict governance breeds enmity from those who are hurt by the fair practices. Abbas stood by his principles and in one example refused the unfavorable request of an ex-president. Many saw Abbas as an honest man who was straight forward and saw MEPCO change from a company in ruins to a company that was strong both in financial and operational terms. His 5-year tenure ended in 2004 when he retired and moved to Lahore. There were people who wanted him to stay and others who wanted him to leave but Abbas left with good memories and an honest resolve. Despite being offered a place in the government, he refused any such offers and started his own business.

He currently is an Executive Director at the construction company ACRO Developers [http://www.acrodevelopers.com/] and is extensively involved in property and real estate development along with his trusted friends.

See also

*Pakistan Army
*Brigadier General
*Lahore
*Bosnian War
*Indo-Pakistani War of 1971