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 Regime in Pakistan by Brigadier F.B. Ali, Brigadier Iqbal Mehdi Shah, Colonel Aleem Afridi, Colonel Agha Javed Iqbal, Lt Col Khursheed 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
In March 1971, The Military Junta in Pakistan Started Operation Searchlight which was a Plan to Genocide the Bengali People. The Plan to Separate West Pakistan and East Pakistan had been in plans since 1962 when then Dictator Ayub Khan had requested assistance of West Pakistani Politician Wali Khan to ensure a breakup of Pakistan into Two Parts but he refused and insisted to work against him with all means and all allies. Ayub Khan also offered an Independent Bangladesh to Muhammad Ibrahim who was the Minister of Law in Pakistan and a Bengali. Ayub removed Muhammad Ibrahim because Ibrahim had refused to help his plan to divide Pakistan and replaced him with Justice Munir who was supportive of Ayub in his attempt to breakup Pakistan.

Prior to Operation Searchlight, The Pakistani Military had raged a merciless campaign of terror and murder in Baluchistan with civilians murdered and woman raped while PAF Aircraft used to bomb Baloch Villages and huts.Had Punishment been given to the butcher of Baluchistan then Operation Searchlight may have been avoided.

During Operation Searchlight, Hundred of Thousands of Bengalis were murdered while tens of thousands of Bengali woman were raped and Bengali Nationalists retributed in equal amounts of violence on the Bihari Community which created the hate. Due to Operation Searchlight, the Bengali Police and Military Personnel mutined and thus the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Eventually India intervened due to Airstrikes on Its Military Airbases starting the 1971 Indo-Pak War, With Indian Forces and Bengali Mukti Bahini Fighters managed to break Pakistani Resistance and reach Outskirts of Dacca 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 there Military was Winning in the War.

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 the military junta of Yahya Khan. 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.

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, Gul Hassan's mood brightened, and he went to Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan. Gul 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.

Junta Response
Abdul Hamid Khan was rushed out of the auditorium and sought advice from Major General A.O. Mitha who stated that he could deploy SSG 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 Abdul Hamid was too close to Yahya Khan and was just as responsible for the loss of East Pakistan.

Intervention by Senior Commanders and Airforce
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. Air Marshal Abdur Rahim Khan had threatened to bring in the PAF to back the Mutiny while General Gul Hassan told Yahya that the Junior Brass of the Army were also not happy with Yahya. A Pakistan International Airlines flight was sent to fetch 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.