Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi ( ; c . 1915 – 2 February 2004 ) , was a former lieutenant - general in the Pakistan Army , served as the last governor and martial law administrator of East Pakistan and the last unified commander of the Eastern Military High Command of the Pakistan Armed Forces . Presided over East Pakistan for only two days , Niazi was responsible for the eastern contingent of the Pakistan Armed Forces during the 1971 Indo - Pakistani War and the Bangladesh Liberation War , jointly with Vice - Admiral Mohammad Shariff , Commander of Eastern Naval Command . General Niazi is still remembered as the " Jackal of Bengal " in Pakistan due to his surrender in East Pakistan . His awards were withdrawn and he was stripped of his honors . Niazi got commission in the Indian Army in 1934 and took part in combat operations in the Burma Campaign , most notably in the Imphal operation , for which he became famous . After the establishment of Pakistan he joined the Pakistan Army . He commanded Operation " Chavinda " in the Indo - Pakistani war of 1965 and was ordered to command the Pakistan Armed Forces in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War . In 1971 war , Niazi surrendered his forces of almost 45 , 000 men to the Indian Armed Forces and the Mukti Bahini guerrilla armed resistance force . He stated that he had acted on the orders of the West Pakistan Military High Command under General Yahya Khan . After the war , other parties like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto framed him as personally responsible for the surrender , and he was accused of being involved in Pakistan ' s alleged human rights violations in Bangladesh . He was dismissed by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from his general officer rank and his military decorations , while he sought a court - martial to prove his innocence , filing petitions through his military lawyers both in the civilian Supreme Court of Pakistan and in the Judge Advocate General Branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces . Early life . Niazi was born in 1915 to a Ghilzai Pashtun family in the Punjab , when it was part of the British Indian Empire . In 1932 he was enlisted in the British Indian Army as a junior non - commissioned officer and was sent to the Indian Military Academy , where he completed his BSc in Military science and also completed a paratrooper course . He was then commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 5th Paratrooper of the Punjab Regiment in 1937 and served in the Pacific Theatre of World War II . Burma Campaign . On 11 June 1942 , Niazi was sent to the Kekrima area of the Assam - Burma front . That spring , he was part of the 14th Army Offensive Group of the British Army commanded by General Slim . During this period , the 14th Army Group had halted the offense against the Japanese Imperial Army at the Battle of Imphal and elsewhere in bitterly fought battles along the Burma front . General Slim described his gallantry in a lengthy report to General Headquarters , India , about his judgment of the best course of action . They agreed on Niazi ' s skill in completely surprising the enemy , his leadership , coolness under fire , and his ability to change tactics , create diversions , extricate his wounded and withdraw his men . At the Burmese front , Niazi impressed his superior officers when , as a lieutenant , he commanded a platoon that initiated an offense against the Japanese Imperial Army at the Bauthi - Daung tunnels . Niazi ' s gallantry had impressed GHQ India . They wanted to award him the Distinguished Service Order , but his rank was not high enough for such a decoration . During the campaign , Brigadier D . F . W . Warren , commanding officer of the 161st Infantry Division of the British Army , gave Niazi the soubriquet " Tiger " for his part in a ferocious fight with the Japanese . After the conflict , the British Government awarded Niazi the Military Cross for leadership , judgement , quick thinking and calmness under pressure in action along the border with Burma . On 15 December 1944 , Lord Wavell , Viceroy of India , flew to Imphal and knighted Slim and his corps commanders Stopford , Scoones , and Christison in the presence of Lord Mountbatten . Only two Indian officers were chosen to be decorated at that ceremony . One was Niazi and the other Lieutenant ( later Field Marshal ) Sam Manekshaw . Indo - Pakistan wars . After the Partition of India in 1947 , Niazi chose Pakistani citizenship and joined the newly formed Pakistan Army . He rose quickly through the ranks , earning various awards , including the Hilal - i - Jurat twice . As colonel and commanding officer of the 5th Paratrooper , Punjab Regiment , Niazi participated activily in Indo - Pakistani War of 1965 , during which he was promoted to brigadier general . He commanded the 14th Paratrooper Brigade , 50th Airborne Division , during operations in Kashmir and Sialkot . They gained international fame from the success of the Chawinda counter - offense , which resulted in ultimate success and halted the Indian Army troop rotation further inside Pakistan . After the war , Niazi was appointed Martial Law Administrator of both Karachi and Lahore . In 1968 , he was promoted to major general and was made GOC of the 52nd Mechanized Division , based in Karachi during this period . In 1970 , Niazi commanded the 50th Airborne Division , and by 1971 , he had reached the rank of lieutenant general in the Pakistan Army . East Pakistan . In 1971 , a period of political turmoil in Pakistan , Niazi was the most highly decorated officer in the Pakistan Army . In April 1971 , he was sent to East Pakistan after a Pakistani military crackdown on Bengali intellectuals . On 25 March , Operation Searchlight , planned and executed by Lieutenant General Tikka Khan and Major General Rao Farman Ali , had made the population of East Pakistan hostile to the Pakistan Armed Forces , and Pakistan was internationally condemned for its military action . Niazi publicly condemned the military operation of 25 March . During a meeting he condemned the operation after its outcomes had surfaced . In April 1971 , General Niazi became commander - in - chief of the East Pakistan Army , replacing Tikka Khan . Throughout this period , Niazi headed the military operations of the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan . He successfully thwarted the combined Indian Army and Mukti Bahni attacks against East Pakistan for a continuous period of eight months without any significant support or supply from the West Pakistan . On 31 November 1971 , Niazi received a message from General Abdul Hamid Khan , Chief of General Staff , saying , " The whole nation is proud of you and you have their full support " . On 3 December , the Pakistan Air Force launched Operation Chengiz Khan without notifying the Eastern Military High Command . Eastern Military High Command . Following the resignation on 7 March 1971 of Vice Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan as the Unified Commander of the Eastern Military High Command and Martial Law Administrator , Yahya Khan ' s military government could not find an active - duty officer willing to take this position . Several officers assumed the command over a nine - month period , but each was removed after failing to restore order . Many other senior Pakistani officers were reluctant to take charge of East Pakistan , until Niazi volunteered for the job of East Pakistani Governor on 14 December . Yahya Khan immediately appointed him and made him Unified Commander of the Eastern Military High Command at the same time , sending him a telegram message saying , " You have fought a heroic battle against overwhelming odds . The nation is proud of you . . . You have now reached a stage where further resistance is no longer humanly possible nor will it serve any useful purpose . . . You should now take all necessary measures to stop the fighting and preserve the lives of armed forces personnel , all those from West Pakistan and all loyal elements " . The situation in East Pakistan was critical , as Bengali forces in the Pakistani Army had gone into mutiny , large segments of the population were hostile , and an independence movement was gaining momentum among Bengalis . Despite this , Niazi and Mohammad Shariff managed to reassert Pakistan ' s control over large parts of East Pakistan , opening the window for a political solution to the turmoil . No such solution came about , however . On 16 December 1971 , the East Pakistan Intelligence Directorate ( EPID ) learned of the Indo - Bengali siege of Dhaka . Niazi appealed for a cease - fire , but Manekshaw set a deadline for surrender , failing which Dhaka would come under siege . To save the city , Niazi signed an instrument of surrender with his counterpart , Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora , commander - in - chief of Eastern Command of the Indian Army . The meeting took place at Ramna Race Course in Dhaka at 16 : 31 IST on 16 December 1971 , and Niazi surrendered nearly 45 , 000 personnel of the Eastern Military High Command to India . Aftermath : Revelation . Only on returning to Pakistan as a prisoner of war did Niazi criticize Tikka Khan and Rao Farman . Niazi admitted that he had raised the Razakar forces that were used against the Bengali Mukti Bahini guerilla forces and to kill and terrorize people and destroy rural villages . Pakistan combat forces found themselves involved in a guerrilla war with the Mukti Bahini under Bangladeshi General M . A . G . Osmani . The Pakistan forces were unprepared and untrained for such warfare . After a preemptive strike on the Indian territories in the western front , a full - scale invasion of East Pakistan by India resulted in Niazi ' s and Shariff ' s forces being isolated and ambushed by the Mukti Bahini and forced to surrender . Return to Pakistan . More than 93 , 000 Pakistani armed forces personnel and civilian intelligence officers , including about 34 , 000 regular army soldiers , were taken prisoner after the 16 December 1971 surrender . These were the largest number of prisoners of war taken since World War II , and included some senior government officials . Most would remain in captivity for more than three years after the conflict ended , as they were to be tried for crimes such as murder of Bengalis . Niazi was the last prisoner of war to cross back to Pakistan , after Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto signed the Simla Treaty with his counterpart , Indira Gandhi , the Indian prime minister . Being the last to return supported his reputation as a " soldier ' s general " , but did not shield him from the scorn he faced in Pakistan , where he was blamed for the surrender . Bhutto discharged Niazi after stripping him of his military rank , the pension usually accorded to retired soldiers , and his military decorations . Pursuit of Court - Martial . The Commission led by Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman of the Supreme Court accused Niazi of several kinds of misconduct during his tenure as Martial Law Administrator in East Pakistan . To clear his name , Niazi sought a court martial from the Judge Advocate General Branch , but it was never granted by Bhutto and Tikka Khan , who was then Chief of Army Staff . Niazi tried to take up politics to clear himself , but was jailed by General Zia - ul - Haq , the Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan , to quell such actions . In 1998 , Niazi released " The Betrayal of East Pakistan " , in which he blamed Yahya Khan , Rao Farman Ali , Tikka Khan and Bhutto for the separation of East Pakistan . Niazi did not accept the Hamoodur Rahman Commission , as he believed that it was prepared by one of the guilty parties ( Bhutto ) and that it was no alternative to a court - martial , where accused persons can defend themselves , bring in witnesses and cross - examine . Niazi claimed that a court - martial would have besmeared the names of those who later rose to great heights , and that he was being used as a scapegoat . Death . Niazi lived out his life in Lahore and died there in 2004 . His wife predeceased him .