(Part 8)
By Dr. Homam Khan
Britain’s Role and Influence in the Formation and Development of the Pakistan Army
Before the partition of India, the British military leadership generally did not allow local soldiers full opportunities to rise to senior officer ranks. As a result, in the early years of Pakistan, the army faced a severe shortage of officers.
An army of approximately 150,000 troops was commanded by only about 2,500 officers, whereas the requirement was around 4,000 officers. This gap was filled by officers from Britain, Hungary, and Poland, some of whom continued to serve until the 1950s.
Moreover, the top command of the Pakistan Army remained in the hands of British officers for the first five years.
The first commander of the Pakistan Army was General Frank Messervy, who served in this position from August 1947 to February 1948. He was succeeded by General Douglas David Gracey, who commanded the army from February 1948 to January 1951. (Pakistan Army: History and Organization, Stephen P. Cohen, p. 3)
Several of the Pakistan Army’s most important specialized units, such as the Special Service Group (SSG), were established in 1950 at the Close Quarter Battle School in Quetta under the supervision of British officer Colonel Grant Taylor. Likewise, the military training institution for soldiers, which was inherited from the British period as the “Royal Indian Army Service Corps School, Kakul,” continued its operations; only its name was changed to the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul.
The training of senior officers was also conducted at the Staff College, Quetta, which was modeled on the British military educational institution at Camberley. This college had been established by Lord Kitchener before the partition of India, and after the partition it remained under British command until 1954.
Similarly, in the Artillery School established in Nowshera for artillery training, the instructors were trained in the United Kingdom until 1952, after which they were sent for further training to American military institutions, including Fort Sill, Oklahoma. (Pakistan Army: History and Organization, Stephen P. Cohen, pp. 77–88)
It is also noteworthy that after the departure of the first two British commanders, those who assumed command of the Pakistan Army belonged to the same class and generation that had been directly trained by British officers in these military academies and had already demonstrated their practical loyalty through service alongside British forces in various wars.
Thus, after General Gracey, command of the army passed to the first Pakistani officer to command the army, Field Marshal Ayub Khan. After studying at Aligarh, he entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, for military education and training.
Admission to the Sandhurst Military Academy was by no means an easy task for an Indian. Stephen Cohen also refers to this point, writing:
“The British selected those who were to be sent to Sandhurst with great care. They chose the most loyal, respectable, and the most Western-influenced Indian families. From these families, they particularly selected the sons of Viceroy’s Commissioned Officers (VCOs), especially among Muslims, whose fathers had rendered distinguished service in their duties.”
(Pakistan Army: History and Organization, Stephen P. Cohen, p. 57)
After joining the Royal Indian Army, Field Marshal Ayub Khan also demonstrated his capabilities during the Second World War, serving in the Burma (Myanmar) region.
After Ayub Khan, General Muhammad Musa Khan assumed command of the army. His father was of Afghan origin and rose to a high-ranking VCO position during his service. In recognition of his father’s loyalty and services, Musa Khan was selected for admission to the British military institution, the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. However, due to certain circumstances, he was unable to attend and instead received military training at another British institution in North India, the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.
In 1936, Musa Khan, serving as a captain, took part in military operations in Waziristan against the Mujahideen. Even today, in the mountainous areas of Boya in North Waziristan, the name of Musa Khan can be seen clearly inscribed in bold lettering near a military post.
After Musa Khan’s era, from 1966 to 1971, General Yahya Khan assumed command of the army. He had also received training at the renowned Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and during the Second World War served in Italy and the Middle East under British command.
Later, General Zia-ul-Haq, who dominated both political and military affairs of the country from 1976 to 1988, was also directly trained under British military systems. Zia-ul-Haq received his initial military education at Dehradun and, during the final stages of the Second World War, demonstrated his capabilities in Southeast Asia under British command.
He later proceeded to the United States for higher military training at the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In the late 1960s, General Zia-ul-Haq also assumed responsibility for training the Jordanian Army.
In 1970, when the Jordanian military launched operations against Palestinian refugees taking shelter in Jordan, it was Zia-ul-Haq, serving as a Brigadier, who commanded the 2nd Division of the Jordanian Army.
According to Palestinian sources, thousands of innocent Palestinian Muslims were killed during these operations.
The last senior officer in this chain of British-trained military leadership was General Asif Nawaz Janjua. He served as the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan from 1991 to 1993. He received his early education at St. Mary’s Missionary School in Rawalpindi, and he himself stated on one occasion that the most significant role in his upbringing and training was played by two European teachers at the school, Father Burns and Madame May Flanagan.
Asif Nawaz Janjua also received his initial military training at the British Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
In this way, after five years of direct British command over the army’s leadership, for nearly 42 years the institution remained under the control of officers who had been selected by the British and trained within their military system.
Thus, the military class through which Britain had kept Indian Muslims under subjugation for more than a century, using the same force to suppress every emerging jihadist movement in India, was even after “independence,” effectively set free. Meanwhile, the rest of the Muslim population, particularly scholars and Mujahideen, remained compelled to live under the dominance of this unfortunate class.
The sacrificial figures of the Mujahideen movement were also labeled as “enemies” after the creation of Pakistan, and the same army continued their pursuit in the same manner as it had done before the establishment of Pakistan.
On one side, the pursuit of religious and jihadist leaders such as Faqir Ipi and others continued in the tribal areas, and their gatherings were subjected to bombardment. On the other side, in the urban centers of Pakistan as well, surveillance, persecution, and harassment of individuals associated with this movement continued unabated.
Dr. Sadiq Hussain, while explaining this point, writes:
“Those Mujahideen who returned to Pakistan either lived a life of hardship and isolation, keeping the stories of their jihadist zeal hidden in their hearts until they passed away from this transient world; or they spent their days under the surveillance of the Pakistani government’s police. It appears that the reason for this was that they had fought against the British government, and therefore were still regarded as enemies.”
(Syed Ahmad Shaheed aur Un ki Tehreek-e-Mujahideen, p. 769)
Thus, even after the creation of Pakistan, the military training curriculum remained unchanged; consequently, the definition of “friend” and “enemy” within the army also remained fundamentally the same as that which had been taught by the British prior to the establishment of Pakistan.