Tajammul Hussain Malik, from the Awan tribe, was born on June 13, 1924 in the Chakwal District in the Punjab province and became a career officer in the British Indian Army, 7 Rajput Regiment, later joining the army of the new state of Pakistan in 1947. He had participated in Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 and the 1965 War-Battle of Batapur. In 1969, he was promoted as Brigadier and in October 1971 he was posted as Director of Staff Duties (DSD) in GHQ, from where at his personal request to volunteer to fight in East Pakistan, he was posted to 205 Brigade deployed on the Hilli-Bogra Front. He joined the Brigade on November 20, 1971 deployed at Hilli in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).