Iskander Mirza
Iskander Mirza was born in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India on November 13th, 1898 and is the World Leader. At the age of 70, Iskander Mirza biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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As the partition of India took place by the United Kingdom, Colonel Mirza played a substantial role in a committee that was responsible for dividing British India's Army, Navy and Air Force into the future militaries of India and Pakistan.
He was appointed as first Defence Secretary in the Liaquat administration by the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, who relied on running the government on British viceregal model with close coordination of civilian bureaucracy, the police and the military. As Defence Secretary, he oversaw the military efforts in the first war with India in 1947, as well as witnessing the failed secession in Balochistan by Khan of Kalat.
In 1950, Mirza was promoted to two-star rank, having skipped the one-star promotion as Brigadier, and upgraded his rank as Major-General in the Pakistan Army by the promotion papers approved by Prime Minister Ali Khan.: 124 He was appointed as Colonel Commandant of the Military Police while serving as the Defence secretary in the Liaquat administration.: 125–126 In 1951, Prime minister Ali Khan appointed him as the director of the Department of Kashmir and Afghanistan Affairs (DKA).: 252
His tenure as defense secretary also saw the deployment of Military Police in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) as a result of the Bengali Language Movement, during which the East Pakistan Rifles fatally shot four student activists. Within a short span of time, the Military Police had the control of the state and its officer commanding submitted the report of their course of action to Major General Iskander Mirza in 1954.
In 1951, he backed the Liaquat administration's decision of appointing the native chiefs of staff of the army, air force and navy, and dismissed deputation appointments from the British military. For the four-star appointment, the Army GHQ sent the nomination papers to Prime Minister's Secretariat that included four-senior major-generals in the race for the army command of the Pakistan Army: Major-General Iftikhar Khan, Major-General Akbar Khan, Major-General Ishfakul Majid, and Major-General N.A.M. Raza.
Initially, it was Major-General Iftikhar Khan who was promoted to four-star rank and selected to be appointed as first native commander of the army but died in an airplane crash en route after finishing the senior staff officers' course in the United Kingdom. All three remaining major-generals were bypassed including the recommended senior-most Major-General Akbar Khan and Major-General Ishfakul Majid due to Major-General Mirza's lobbying for the army selection when he presented convincing arguments to Prime Minister Ali Khan to promote the junior-most Major-General Ayub Khan to the post despite the fact that his name was not included in the nomination list. Ayub's papers of promotion were controversially approved and appointed as the first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army with a promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General (acting full General) on 17 January 1951 by Prime Minister Ali Khan.
With Ayub becoming the army chief, it marked the change in the military tradition of preferring native Pakistanis and ending the transitional role of British Army officers. In 1951 also, he also helped elevating Commodore M.S. Choudhri to the promotion to two-star rank, Rear-Admiral, in order to assume the navy command of Pakistan Navy, but it was not until in 1953 when Admiral Choudhri took over the command.
Due to rapid political instability in East Bengal, Mirza was relieved as Defence Secretary and took over the governorship of East Bengal, in an appointment approved by then Governor-General Sir Malik Ghulam on 29 May 1954.
On 1 June 1954, Mirza took over the Government of East Bengal from Chief Minister A. K. Fazlul Huq as part of the governor rule that dismiss the United Front. He imposed the martial law, backed by the East Pakistan Rifles and dismissed the East Bengal Legislative Assembly.
After landing at the then Dacca Airport, Mirza sharply announced in Bengali language to the Pakistan media representatives, that he would not hesitate to use force in order to establish peace in the province, and personally threatening Maulana Bhashani of shooting him.: 142
Iskander Mirza ruled East Pakistan with an iron fist, having arrested 319–659 political activists on his first week, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Yusuf Ali Chowdhury.
By mid-June 1954, the number of arrests reached 1,051, including 33 assembly members and two Dhaka University professors. His authoritative actions had sown a permanent seed of hatred for the Pakistani government in the hearts of the people of East Pakistan despite the fact that Mirza was himself an ethnic Bengali. Amid criticism at the public level in Pakistan led Mirza of being relieved from the post of Governorship to East Bengal to Muhammad Shahabuddin in June 1955. He was the first Bengali to be governor of East Pakistan. On 24 October 1954, he was appointed as Interior Minister in the Bogra administration of Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra. During this time, he had maintained close political ties to the United States's establishment and was backed by Governor-General Sir Malik Ghulam for this post, which Mirza only remained until 7 August 1955.
As an Interior Minister, he provided strong political advocacy for the controversial geopolitical program, One-unit, which he faced strong criticism in the West Pakistan's politicians and the public in general.
In Bogra administration, he also took care the matters of Commonwealth and Kashmir affairs ministry as he had gained major political influence in the administration in 1955. During this time, Governor-General Malik Ghulam survived another fatal attack of Paralysis that made him unable to talk and walk, seeking treatment in the United Kingdom on a two-month leave.
Appointed only as acting governor-general since 7 August 1955, Mirza dismissed Malik Ghulam to take over his post on 6 October 1955, and forced Prime Minister Bogra to resign when he appointed him as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States. On 12 August 1955, he invited Muhammad Ali, the Finance Minister, to take over the government as a prime minister.