Mohammad Shafiq

Lt.Gen. Mohammad Shafiq
Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In office October 21, 1999 – August 14, 2000
President	Rafiq Tarar General Parvez Musharraf
Personal details
Born	1934 (age 76–77) Kohat, North West Frontier Province, British India
Nationality	Pakistani
Military service
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1956-1991
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Punjab Regiment, Pakistan Army
Commands	Frontier Corps XXXI Corps
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

Lieutenant General Mohammad Shafiq (born April 1934) is a career Pakistan Army soldier who served as the governor of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 1999 to 2000. He was appointed to that position on 21 October 1999 by General Pervez Musharraf after he overthrew the Nawaz Sharif government on 12 October.^[1] He was later replaced by another officer Lt. Gen. (R) Iftikhar Hussain Shah on 14 August 2000. He then served a stint as Pakistani Ambassador to Bahrain from 2000 to 2002.

Early Life and Army Career

Mohammad Shafiq was born in Shinokhel village of Kohat in April 1934. An infantry officer, Shafiq was commissioned in the Punjab Regiment in March 1956 in the 13th PMA Long Course.^[2]

Political Rivalry with Zia and Imprisonment

During his army career, then-Maj. Gen. Shafiq stayed as the Military Secretary to the President GeneralZia ul Haq, but was later imprisoned by the order of Judge Advocate General Branch after when his name was discovered in the aborted coup plotted by Maj Gen (retd) Tajammal Hussain Malik. An immediate arrest by the Pakistani military police, he was freed on the request of former Commander-in-Chief General Muhammad Musa and was posted abroad.^[3] He came back to become the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps from 1986 to 1988.

Investigation of Zia's Death

Shafiq was then promoted to Lt Gen and posted as the commander of the XXXI Corps at Bahawalpur. It was at this time when President-General Zia-ul-Haq's airplane crashed near the city on 17 August 1988, killing everyone on board including Zia and the American ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel.^[1] Later, the investigation to determine the cause of crash was carried on under Lt. Gen. Shafiq, but was obstructed under his command.^[3] Journalist Khaled Ahmed quotes the then Karachi corps commander Lt Gen Asif Nawaz (later Army chief) asking Lt. Gen. Shafiq about steps being taken to investigate the cause of crash. To his astonishment, Lt Gen Shafiq replies that "Zia had met his end and there was no need to do anything about it, clearly indicating Shafiq’s intent to block all investigation into the incident."^[3] He retired from the army in 1991.

Post Retirement Activities

After retiring from the army, Shafiq served as chairman of the prime minister's inspection team until 1993. During the caretaker government of Moeen Qureshi, General Shafiq remained a federal minister, looking after the affairs of at least six federal ministries. He was appointed the first chief executive of the Northern Areas when Benazir Bhutto came to power in 1993, but he chose to retire before completing his term. Known to be a mild and soft-spoken person, General Shafiq underwent a heart bypass in 1998.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Governors of four provinces appointed" Dawn, 22 October 1999
2. ^ ^{a b} "New Governors" Economic and Industrial Publications, October 1999
3. ^ ^{a b c} Khaled Ahmed. "The Death of Zia-Ul-Haq" Criterion Quarterly, April - June 2007. Issue - Vol. 2 No. 2

Political offices
Preceded by Miangul Aurangzeb	Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1999 – 2000	Succeeded by Iftikhar Hussain Shah

Persondata
Name	Shafiq, Mohammad
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1934
Place of birth	Kohat, North West Frontier Province, British India
Date of death
Place of death