Muhammad Musa (general)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

K. K. Afridi
President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation
In office
1960–1966
Preceded byNaseer Ahmad
Succeeded byNur Khan
Personal details
Born
Muhammad Musa

(1908-10-20)20 October 1908
Imperial Defence College
OccupationMilitary officer
Politician
Military service
Allegiance
(1947–1966)
Branch/service
Years of service1926–1966
Rank General
Unit 4th Hazara Pioneers
Frontier Force Regiment
Commands
Battles/wars
Awards
Hilal-e-Jurat
Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam
Order of British Empire

Ayub Khan
. Following his tenure as C-in-C of the Army, he later became a politician.

Gaining

Second Kashmir War
with India in 1965.

Khan retired shortly after the 1965 war and embarked on a career in

Governor of West Pakistan, a position he held from 1966 to 1969. In 1985, he was appointed as the Governor of Balochistan
and remained in office until his death in 1991.

Early life

Musa was born on 20 October 1908 in

Hazara family.[1][2] His family was sardar (lit. chief) of the Sang-e-Masha administration of Jaghori Hazara tribe and Musa was the eldest son of Yazdan Khan, who was the local Hazara tribal chief and himself a descendant of Sher Ali Khan, a Hazara elder from Jaghori, Afghanistan.[3][4][5]

Musa while in the British Indian Army, c. 1935

Early military career

After his schooling, he was recruited to the British Indian Army as a Jawan in 1926 and eventually joined the 4th Hazara Pioneers after being promoted as the Naik – a non-commissioned officer in the British Indian Army.[6] He was selected to join the Indian Military Academy (IMA) at Dehra Dun as a cadet in October 1932. The first batch of IMA, known as the "The Pioneers", also produced India's first Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, and Smith Dun, the future commander-in-chief of the Burmese Army.[1] In 1935, he was commissioned from the IMA, Dehradun following a two years and six months long military training.[7] He was said to be an excellent sportsman and played hockey.[2] In 1936, he was posted to the 6th Royal Battalion of the

London Gazette 30 December 1941 as a Lieutenant and acting Major.[3]

In 1942, his heroic action for valor won him the praise and was appointed as

captain and substantive major in 1946 and was serving with the Machine Gun battalion, 13th Frontier Force Rifles by October 1942.[8]

During his time at the Indian Military Academy, Musa was selected as part of the first batch of cadets. Called "The Pioneers", his class also produced Smith Dun and Sam Manekshaw, future army chiefs of Burma and India, respectively.

After the

first war with India.[1] In 1948, he went on to command the 52nd Infantry Brigade positioned in Quetta.[9]

After the war in 1948, Musa studied and graduated from the

Imperial Defence College in United Kingdom prior to his graduation.[9]

Later military career

In 1950s, Musa's commanding assignments included his role as the Commandant of the

Field Marshal
.

Musa's promotion to the

four-star appointment came with controversy in the country as many saw that his appointment was based on "dependability rather than merit."[10][11] His elevation also meant that he would supersede three of the most senior officers in the Pakistan Army: Gen Adam Khan, Gen Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, and Gen Latif Khan, all of whom were decorated Sandhurst graduates.[12]

President Ayub delegated the military affairs to General Musa when heading the civic government.

Gold Medal against the Indian Hockey Team in the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960.[15]

Bajaur Campaign

Main article: Bajaur Campaign
General Musa inspecting the Royal Afghan Guard in the 1950s on the Torkham border

In September 1960,

Afghan Regular Troops disguised as local tribesmen started border incursions into the NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) province of Pakistan with the goal of starting a local rebellion to capture the Pashtun Inhabited Territory
, under General Musa's leadership, Pakistani troops and Local Pashtun tribesmen along with Pakistan Airforce support pushed back the Afghans in 1961 and captured many Afghan soldiers.

The 1965 War

General Musa addressing Pakistani troops, circa 1965

In 1964, he became aware of

GOC Maj Gen Akhtar Hussain Malik and handed over the command of the 12th Division to Major-General Yahya Khan, which resulted in critical time delays of troops movements and eventual failure of the operation.[19]

About the failure due to command change, General Musa justified his actions that he had not had time to select a commander or staff despite the authority given to him.

peace treaty brokered by the USSR in 1965.[20]

General Musa's military service is unique due to the fact that he had received two extension as a Commander-in-chief from the period of 1958 until 1966.[21] Upon his retirement, General Musa did not recommend Yahya Khan's nomination as Commander-in-chief and Yahya's name was not included in the list of nomination sent to President Ayub Khan; nonetheless, General Musa was succeeded by General Yahya Khan as Commander in Chief.

About the

military history of Pakistan Army: first being the My Version: India-Pakistan War, 1965[22] and the second being the Jawan to General: Recollections of a Pakistani Soldier,[23]
the latter was mainly his biography.

Retirement and Politics

See also: Pakistan Muslim League

At the time of his retirement in 1966, General Musa was a famed and popular military figure which led President Ayub Khan to appoint him as the

presidency.[25]

From 1969 to 1984, he settled in

M. K. Junejo.[1] He was appointed as Governor of Balochistan by the President Zia-ul-Haq after the general elections held in 1985.[26] After the general elections held in 1988, Governor Musa controversially dissolved the provincial assembly on the then-Chief Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali's advice.[27]

However, the Balochistan High Court restored the provincial assembly amid public condemnation of the Governor's move.[27] The step towards dissolving the assembly was believed to have been taken with the consent of the President and Prime Minister.[27] On 12 March 1991, General Musa died while in office and per accordance to his wishes, he was buried in

Razavi Khorasan, Iran.[3] In his honour, the provincial Balochistan government established a vocational school, the General Muhammad Musa Inter-College (GMMIC), in Quetta, Pakistan in 1987.[28]

Post-1965 war

About the

military history
of Pakistan Army: the first being My Version and the second being Jawan to General: Recollections of a Pakistani Soldier which was also his autobiography. General Mohammad Musa, who commanded the Army in the '65 war, gave his account of how the events unfolded at GHQ, the C-in-C and the Supreme Commander Field Marshal Ayub Khan surprising India on 6 September 1965 in My Version: India-Pakistan War, 1965

Awards and decorations

Hilal-e-Pakistan

(Crescent of Pakistan)

(HPk)

Hilal-e-Jurat

(Crescent of Courage)

1965 War

 Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam

(HQA)

Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War

(War Star 1965)

Tamgha-e-Jang 1965 War

(War Medal 1965)

Pakistan Tamgha

(Pakistan Medal)

1947

Tamgha-e-Jamhuria

(Republic Commemoration Medal)

1956

Member of the

British Empire

(MBE)[29]

Indian Distinguished

Service Medal

India General Service Medal

(1936)

North West Frontier 1937–39 Clasp

1939-1945 Star
Africa Star
War Medal 1939-1945

(with MiD oak leaf)

India Service Medal

1939–1945

Queen Elizabeth II

Coronation Medal

(1953)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Staff writer. "Dignitaries buried in the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (A.S.)". imamreza.net. Imam Reza (A.S.) Network. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9781317463283
    . Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e Hazara The Best. "Great General Mussa Khan". Hazara The Best. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  4. ^ Yusufzai, Rahimullah. "The first priority is security". The News. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  5. ISBN 9781135486761
    . Sardar Yazdan Khan and his sons, General Musa Khan, Sardar Isa Khan and Sardar Isaq Khan, who long dominated political life among the Hazaras of Quetta, also originated in that tribal section.
  6. ^ Rahimullah Yusufzai (20 January 2013). "The first priority is security". The News. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  7. ^ ISPR. "General Muhammad Musa". pakistanarmy.gov.pk. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  8. ^ October 1942 MS Army List
  9. ^ a b c d e Army Museum. "GENERAL MUHAMMAD MUSA". pakarmymuseum.com. Army Museum. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9781631440397
    . Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  11. ^ Brig A.R. Siddiqui. "Army's top slot: the seniority factor" Dawn, 25 April 2004
  12. ^ Manzoor, Usman (27 November 2016). "Four of 13 army chiefs were senior-most when appointed". The News, Manzoor. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  13. ISBN 9780674419773
    . Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  14. ^ PHF. "Pakistan Hockey Federation". Pakistan Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  15. ^ Musa, Mohammed (1985). Jawan to General: Recollections of a Pakistani Soldier. ABC Publishing House. p. 240. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  16. ^ Haider, Retired Air Commodore Sajjad (6 September 2015). "Straight shooting on the 1965 war". Dawn, Haider. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  17. ^
    ISBN 9781317005407
    . Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  18. ^
    ISBN 9781568585031
    . Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  19. ISBN 9781477250310. Retrieved 19 October 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  20. ^
    ISBN 9788170623014
    . Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  21. ISBN 9780415330954
    . Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  22. ISBN 9699988762
    .
  23. ISBN 9789694073552
    .
  24. ^
    ISBN 9780981537894
    . Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  25. ISBN 9780674744998
    . Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  26. ^ name="Hazara The Best"
  27. ^
    ISBN 9781442241480
    . Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  28. ^ Hussaini, Ali Aosat. "About College". musacollege.com. Musa College. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  29. ^ Recommendation for Award for Mohammad Musa Rank: Acting Major Regiment: 6... 1941–1944.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by
Ayub Khan
 Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Army
1958–1966 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Naseer Ahmed
 President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation
1960–1966 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of West Pakistan
1966–1969 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Khushdil Khan Afridi
Governor of Balochistan

1985–1991 		Succeeded by
Hazar Khan Khoso
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Muhammad Musa Khan Hazara.
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