Iftikhar Khan

Major General Mohammad Iftikhar Khan psc (10 January 1909 — 13 December 1949) also known as Ifti, was a two-star general in the Pakistan Army serving as GOC 10th Division. Prior to the Partition of British India, he was an officer in the British Indian Army. He was the most senior to succeed General Douglas Gracey as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, but unfortunately was killed in a C-53 crash with 22 others, including his wife and infant daughter before he could take office leading to Ayub Khan being appointed instead.

Major General Pataudi, a close friend of Iftikhar, claimed that Iftikhar was concerned about the politicization of officers and he distrusted politicians. According to him, Iftikhar once stated that ‘it would be better for both of us if we both got out before our hands were stained and garments polluted’. Additionally, Pataudi believed that if Iftikhar had lived to be C-in-C, "he would not have allowed the Army to be used for political purposes and ‘would have never used his position as C-in-C, to come into power through the Army".

Early life
Iftikhar was born on 10 January 1909 into a family which belonged to the Punjabi Minhas Rajput clan of Chakwal.

Family
His father was Sardar Bahadur Ressaidar Raja Fazal Dad Khan, who was a Zamindar and had served as a Viceroy's Commissioned Officer with the 12th Cavalry Unit of the British Indian Army.

Iftikhar had nine brothers and four sisters. Six brothers including Iftikhar were in the army, namely Major General Muhammed Akbar Khan, Major General Muhammad Anwar Khan, Brigadier Muhammad Afzal, Brigadier Muhammed Zafar Khan, and Brigadier Muhammad Yusuf Khan. The three other brothers Baqir Khan, Tahir Khan, and Masud Khan chose civilian careers.

Personal life
He was married to Begum Iftikhar, a Parsi woman who was the number one woman rider in India.

Personality
Major General Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, recalled that Iftikhar was professionally sound, well read and highly intelligent. He added that Iftikhar was a shy person and people wrongfully assumed he was conceited.

He was amongst a group of officers who were more tolerable to the British than the rest because they were anglicized. Syed Shahid Hamid stated that Iftikhar was "more English than the English themselves and looked down on everything native".

Major General Shaukat Riza credited Iftikhar in his book, The Pakistan Army 1947-49, as “a handsome and forceful character who was never slowed by obstacles”.

Lieutenant General Mohammad Yusuf, who was concurrently adjutant of 7th Light Cavalry remembered Iftikhar as “a fine horseman and a strict adjutant.”

Major General A.O. Mitha, the founder of Pakistan's Special Service Group, in his book Unlikely Beginnings: a Soldier’s Life recalls that “Iftikhar was a tough commander and had the reputation of eating a brigadier or a colonel for breakfast every day. However, he was big enough to tolerate outspoken, forceful subordinates”.

Military career
On 29 August 1929, after attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Iftikhar was commissioned as a second lieutenant on the Unattached List for the British Indian Army. He then spent a year on attachment to the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.

British Indian Army
Khan transferred to the Indian Army on 16 October 1930 and was posted to the 7th Light Cavalry. He was promoted to lieutenant on 29 November 1931.

He then transferred to the 3rd Cavalry on 1 October 1932, a regiment which was in the process of being Indianised.

He was promoted to captain on 29 August 1938 and served as regimental quartermaster from 1 August 1937 to 18 April 1938, then as regimental Adjutant from 19 April 1938 to 5 August 1940. He was appointed a Staff Captain on 7 August 1940.

From 17 December 1941, Khan was attached to the No. 2 Indian Armoured Corps Training Center. By January 1943, he was a General Staff Officer Grade 2 on the staff of Headquarters Ceylon Army Command.

By July 1943 he was a local lieutenant colonel and a General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the Command and Staff College, Quetta. He was still in this role in April 1944.

In early 1945, he was a temporary major and second in command of the 45th Cavalry, a war raised armoured unit then serving in Burma, later posted to the 7th Light Cavalry as temporary major and second in command.

He was promoted to major on 29 August 1946. He commanded the 7th Light Cavalry in Japan as part of the occupation forces from September to December 1946.

Pakistan Army
On the Partition of British India in August 1947, Khan opted to join the new Pakistan Army. He was quickly promoted to major general and on 1 January 1948 assumed the command of the 10th Division.

Khan had been nominated by the Government of Liaquat Ali Khan to become the first local Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army after General Douglas Gracey's retirement. He was senior to later Commander-in-Chief and dictator Ayub Khan.

In Ayub Khan's book Friends, not masters, he alleged "the British were backing Major General Iftikhar and that he was short tempered and difficult to get on with."

Death
While Iftikhar planned to go by train from Lahore to Karachi and then take a flight to the United Kingdom as the first Pakistan Army Officer selected for a course at the Imperial Defence College, while Brigadier Sher Khan had been appointed to the United States and was headed there for the UN Security Council discussion on Kashmir along with Cabinet Secretary General Mohammad Ali, Under-Secretary Mohammad Niaz and Deputy Director of Public Relations Mushtaq Ahmad. Sher Khan called Iftikhar and persuaded him that they all travel by air together.

Before Khan could assume his new post, tragedy struck when his flight on a Pakistan Airways C-53 aircraft crashed on 13 December 1949 at 10 PM PST, claiming his life as well as the lives of his wife and infant daughter. Also among the victims were Director of Military Operations Brigadier Sher Khan, and his wife. Additionally, Lala Murli Dhar (the oldest son of Lala Shri Ram) and his wife Mrs. Murli Dhar who were on their way to buy jewelry for their son Shri Dhar's wedding, Mr. Yaktar, Mr. Sher Ali, Mr. Rana Mohammed Sidiq, Mohammed Niaz, Mushtaq Ali, Len Mitchell (a British owner of a fruit farm in Pakistan), Mrs. Bergie (wife of a British Bank manager in Karachi), and the crew members including Captain Farooqi, Co-Pilot Saleem, Radio Officer Derby, and air hostess Margaret Drake. The plane was flying from Lahore to Karachi when it crashed at Karo Jabal, near Malmari Jalalji Village, Thatta, 102 kilometers from Karachi and several miles away from the nearest rescue base in Jungshahi.

Funeral
The funeral procession began at the Frere Hall in Karachi, making its way 1.5 miles through Saddar Bazaar. Thousands of people witnessed the procession before it reached its final destination at the Armed Forces Cemetery, commonly known as Fauji Qabristan.

The remains of Iftikhar and Sher Khan were transported to Gun carriages by military personnel, namely Commodore Chaudhri, Brigadier Rodham, Brigadier Sher Ali, and Group Captain Murad.

Among the chief mourners was the brother of Iftikhar, Major General Muhammed Akbar Khan, and Lieutenant Colonel Yusuf Khan, the brother of Sher Khan. Following them were Admiral Jefford, Major General Raza, and Ghulam Muhammad, who represented Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Furthermore, diplomats, government officials, military personnel, and prominent individuals from Karachi were present in the procession.

Each Gun carriage was pulled by 8 JCOs. Over 30,000 people attended the Funeral prayers at the Fauji Qabristan.