# 1971 Pakistan Military Officer's Revolt

1971 Pakistan Military Officer's Revolt, also known as the Majors and Colonels Revolt, refers to the deposition of the Yahya Khan's regime in Pakistan by Brigadier Farrukh Bakht Ali, Brigadier Iqbal Mehdi Shah, Colonel Aleem Afridi, Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal, Lt Col Mohammed Khursheed Hussain and other officers. Their action overthrew the government, transferring power to the elected civilian representatives. The revolt succeeded as General Yahya Khan and his government resigned, with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto then taking power as president of Pakistan.

## Background

The plan to separate East Pakistan from Pakistan had been in plans since 1962 when then president Ayub Khan had requested assistance of West Pakistani politician Abdul Wali Khan to ensure a breakup of Pakistan into two parts, but he refused and insisted to work against him. Ayub also offered an independent East Pakistan to Muhammad Ibrahim, who was the minister of law in Pakistan and a Bengali. Ayub removed Ibrahim because of his refusal and replaced him with Muhammad Munir, who was supportive of Ayub in his attempt to break up Pakistan.
Prior to Operation Searchlight in East Pakistan, The Pakistan Armed Forces had raged a military campaign of in Balochistan with war crimes and sexual violence while PAF aircraft were used to bomb indiscriminately. Although no punishment been given to Tikka Khan who was in charge of the military campaign.
During Operation Searchlight in 1971, civilians were killed and raped and Bengali nationalists retributed in equal amounts of violence on the non-Bengali Muhajir community. Due to Operation Searchlight, the Bengali Police and Military personnel mutinied and thus the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Eventually, the intervention of India happened due to airstrikes on its military airbases starting the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, with Indian forces and Mukti Bahini fighters managed to break Pakistani resistance and reached the outskirts of Dacca, the provincial capital, when a surrender was announced by East Pakistan Command. The surrender caused entire West Pakistan into a shock as they had been fed with propaganda that their military was winning in the war.
When the news of Pakistan's surrender was broadcast by West Pakistani media, the spontaneous and overwhelming public anger over the nation's defeat by Bangladeshi rebels and the Indian Army, and over the breakup of Pakistan into two parts, boiled into street demonstrations throughout Pakistan.

## The mutiny

On 17 December 1971 just one day after the surrender by Eastern Command, Brigadier F.B. Ali, who was an Army officer, wrote his resignation letter accepting his own responsibility for the loss of East Pakistan and expected that Yahya Khan and his advisors would follow suit and also resign. But the next day Ali had heard that Yahya was planning to create a new constitution, which infuriated Ali. Brigadier Ali determined that the loss of one war was enough and that it was imperative to get rid of Yahya's military junta. He picked up Brigadier Iqbal Mehdi Shah, Colonel Aleem Afridi, Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal, Lt Col Khursheed, and other officers and told them that they owed it to Pakistan to get rid of the discredited junta and hand over power to the elected civilian representatives of 1970 Pakistani general election.
All officers present, agreed. However, there was a problem as Maj Gen Bashir "Ranghar", Major General R.D. Shamim, and Major General "Bachoo" Karim were in Gujranwala and had the authority to counter F.B. Ali's orders.
On 19 December 1971, F.B. Ali arrested the three generals and seized command of Major General "Bachoo" Karim's 6th Armoured Division. Ali then sent Colonels Aleem Afridi and Agha Javed Iqbal to deliver a letter demanding Yahya Khan's resignation by 8 PM that night for being responsible for the loss of East Pakistan. The two colonels took the letter to CGS Gul Hassan, who initially felt saddened by the defeat in the war and told them that he planned to leave the army. However, upon learning about the contents of the letter from the two Colonels, Hassan's mood brightened, and he went to Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan. Hassan told Colonel Aleem Afridi and Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal to sit in Major Javed Nasir's office.
Earlier in the day, during an address by General Abdul Hamid Khan in Gujranwala, young officers, led by Brigadier Fazal-e-Rasiq Khan, unleashed a barrage of insults in English, Urdu, and Punjabi towards Abdul Hamid, Yahya Khan, and other superiors. They called them "bloody bastards," "debauches," and "drunkards," expressing their deep frustration.

## Reaction and aftermath

Abdul Hamid Khan was rushed out of the auditorium and sought advice from Major General A.O. Mitha, who stated that he could deploy Special Service Group troops to prevent a potential takeover by 6 Division but there were not enough troops. A.O. Mitha then reached out to Ali suggesting that Abdul Hamid Khan should take over from Yahya Khan. Ali refused stating that Hamid was too close to Yahya Khan and was just as responsible for the loss of East Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the reports of near mutiny in Gujranwala prompted Gul Hassan Khan and Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan to go to Yahya Khan, telling him to resign. Abdur Rahim Khan had threatened to bring in the Pakistan Air Force to back the mutiny while General Hassan told Yahya that the junior brass of the Army were also not happy with him. A Pakistan International Airlines flight was sent to fetch Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from New York City, where he was presenting Pakistan's case before the United Nations Security Council on the East Pakistan Crisis. Bhutto returned home on 18 December 1971. On 20 December, he was taken to the President House in Rawalpindi, where he took over two positions from Yahya Khan, one as president and the other as the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator.
Within hours of Yahya Khan stepping down, President Bhutto reversed the Judge Advocate General Branch's verdict against East Pakistani leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and instead released him, allowing him to fly to London. President Bhutto also issued orders for the house arrest of Yahya, the man who imprisoned Mujib in the first place. Both actions made news headlines around the world.