Asif Nawaz General Asif Nawaz Janjua , NI ( M ) , HI ( M ) , SBt ( Bar ) , afwc , psc ( 3 January 1937 – 8 January 1993 ) , was a senior four - star general and the 10th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army from August 16 , 1991 till January 8 , 1993 . His tenure was cut short by his death after suffering a heart attack . His career highlights featured successful pacification operation in Sindh when the province wilted under the most violent period in its history . He also stayed as Corps Commander Karachi and Chief of General Staff before becoming the COAS . Early life . Asif Nawaz was born in the village of Chakri of Jhelum District into Janjua family . He was educated at St Mary ' s , a mission school in Rawalpindi , about which he later said that two Irish teachers , Fr Burns and Miss May Flanagan , had most influence in teaching him the values for his future career . He was the third generation of his family to join the Punjab Regiment ( 5th Battalion , also known as " Sherdils " ) and as an outstanding cadet went on a scholarship to [ Royal Military Academy Sandhurst ] . Military career . He was commissioned in the Punjab Regiment on 31 March 1957 in the 15th PMA Long Course and received his initial training from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . He was one of the last Sandhurst - trained soldier ( Pakistan Military Academy was started later on ) and known as a soldier ' s soldier with no political ambition . He spent most of his career in the field , holding command positions during the 1965 and 1971 wars with India . From 1982 to 1985 he commanded a division in Peshawar and then headed the Pakistan Military Academy , Kakul until 1988 . From April 1988 to March 1991 he was Corps Commander , Karachi , in charge of three army divisions . In April 1991 he became Chief of General Staff and was appointed Chief of Army Staff in August 1991 with a tenure of three years . He took over the command from the retiring General Mirza Aslam Beg at a time when Pakistan ' s relations with the United States were at an all - time low because of Washington ' s suspicions about Islamabad ' s nuclear weapons program . Chief of Army Staff . At the completion of three - year term of General Mirza Aslam Beg , four generals were in the race to replace him : Lt Gen Shamim Alam Khan , commander XXXI Corps , Bahawalpur ; Lt Gen Asif Nawaz , chief of general staff ( CGS ) ; Lt Gen Zulfiqar Akhtar Naz commander I Corps , Mangla ; and Lt Gen Hamid Gul , commander II Corps , Multan . The senior two were promoted as four - star generals , with Shamim Alam Khan being named as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Lt Gen Asif Nawaz , who also came recommended by Gen Rahimuddin Khan , was appointed the Chief of Army Staff to replace Mirza Aslam Beg on 11 June 1991 by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan . Shortly after being named to the post , General Nawaz said the army had no role in politics other than to defend the civilian government and the country . The army ' s image had been tarnished and its officers corrupted in Pakistan ' s 25 years of martial law , he said . Nawaz , whose views tended to be pro - Western , spent much of his brief tenure as COAS trying to improve ties between Pakistan and the United States , the two formerly staunch allies . As a strong believer in liberal values , he was trying to improve the military ' s relations with India and take Pakistan out of the dead - end legacy of Islamic fundamentalist rhetoric left by his two predecessors , General Zia ul - Haq and General Aslam Beg . During Nawaz ' s tenure , the army took on the surprising role of becoming a protector of a free press and liberal values of criticism . Sindh operations . It was in Karachi and Sindh where Asif Nawaz came to political prominence as the province wilted under the most violent period in its history . Ethnic battles between Sindhis and Muhajirs claimed thousands of lives , and General Nawaz ' s troops were frequently called upon to impose curfews and break the civil strife . In a celebrated incident he was instrumental in organising a handover of ' prisoners of war ' between ethnic extremist groups . His experience in Sindh stood him in good stead when the government asked the army to take over law and order in Sindh last year for a six - month period . One of his Achievement ' s as a Chief of Pakistan Army is an anti - dacoit operation in sindh , where he deployed his best officers and direct orders were given to them to eliminate those dacoits from dadu district . Indus Rangers were in charge of those series of operations which resulted in a massive decline in the uncertainty of that area . Major Shamim Ahmed was assigned as a Wing Commander and Force Commander later who was in a direct contact with him . Later that officer was awarded a Tamgha - e - Basalat for his bravery during those series of operations . Major Shamim Ahmed also headed the operation against kidnapped Japanese engineers in kashmore in late 80 ' s and Early 90 ' s . His tenure as Chief of Army Staff was ended abruptly by his death on 8 January 1993 , apparently from a heart attack . He suffered the heart attack while he was jogging near his home in Rawalpindi . He is widely remembered as having died under mysterious circumstances . His widow demanded the investigation and to registering it as a murder case . former DG ISI Gen Asad Durrani supported the investigations in this case . He was replaced by General Abdul Waheed Kakar as the next Army Chief . Legacy . Benazir Bhutto , former Prime Minister , then described Nawaz as " a true professional soldier , " and further stated that " he did what he said he would do – he kept the army out of politics . " Unlike many of his predecessors , Nawaz was incorruptible and often talked of how he would relax when he retired , unlike other generals who plunged into politics . Then Bangladeshi prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia also expressed condolence to General Asif Nawaz ' s death . ( Ref )