Khadim Hussain Raja

Khadim Hussain Raja
خادم حسین راجہ
Managing Director Army Welfare Trust
In office 1972–1977
DG Artillery
In office 12 April 1971 – 1972
GOC 14th Division
Personal details
Born	(1922-11-23)23 November 1922 British India
Died	9 December 1999(1999-12-09) (aged 77) Islamabad, Pakistan
Education	Central Model High School Government College University, Lahore Indian Military Academy Staff College, Quetta United States Army Command and General Staff College
Military service
Allegiance	Major General
Unit	Regiment of Artillery[1]
Commands	14 Infantry Division (East Pakistan)
Battles/wars	World War II Burma campaign First Kashmir War Second Kashmir War Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Early life

Raja was born on 23 November 1922 in Haranpur, Jhelum District to an agriculturist family.^[1]

Education

He received his education from Central Model High School in Lahore and graduated with Honours in English from Government College University, Lahore.^[2]

Military career

He joined the British Indian Army in 1942 and received the King's Commission from the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun.

World War II deployment

He served in an infantry battalion^{[citation needed]} in the Burma campaign of World War II until the end of the war.

Pakistan Army

After the Partition of British India in 1947, he opted to join the Pakistan Army.

He volunteered in the

He graduated from the Staff College, Quetta and afterward from the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

Commands

He commanded the 1st Pakistani Battalion (Quaid-i-Azam's own) at the Pakistan Military Academy.

1971 War

He was in charge of planning the military operation known as Operation Searchlight which was executed on 25 March 1971. Other generals were present in Dhaka along with Yahya Khan, who secretly departed on the evening of that day after setting the deadline for the military action. Lt Gen Tikka Khan, Maj Gen Rao Farman Ali and Maj Gen Khadim Hussain Raja were associated with the planning of the military action. Eventually their action bloodied the capital city Dhaka with the blood of thousands of residents including students, military and police personnel, politician and the general mass.

Army Retirement

On 11 April 1971, he was relieved of his duties as General Officer Commanding of 14th Division.^[3]

He later retired the same year after serving as DG Artillery.

Later career

In 1972 he was appointed to

Raja died on 9 December 1999 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Posthumous book release

Before his death, he authored a book and instructed his family to not publish it until after he died. The book was later released 13 years after his death.

The book detailed their actions in the early hours of 26 March 1971 known as Operation Searchlight.^[4] He wrote a book, A Stranger in My Own Country: East Pakistan, 1969-71 (Oxford University Press, 2012), in which he revealed secrets about the nine-month liberation war of Bangladesh.^[5]

The Mukti Bahini's (under M. A. G. Osmani) initial success in capturing a portable radio-transmitter near Rangamati was short-lived due to Raja's accidental discovery of the transmitter—he had authorised a search for it, and directed it from his personal helicopter through radio-contact when it was fired-upon.

Awards and decorations

Foreign decorations

Foreign Awards
UK	Burma Star
	War Medal 1939-1945
	Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

References