Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (Urdu: پاکستان فوج Pãkistãn Fãuj; Reporting name: PA) is the principal land warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It came into its modern existence from the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of British India that resulted in the parliamentary act that established the independence of Pakistan from the United Kingdom on 14 August 1947.:1–2[6] According to the estimation provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in 2017, the Pakistan Army has approximately 550,000 active duty personnel, supported by the Army Reserve and the National Guard.[7] This effectively makes it the 6th largest army in world in terms of manpower.[8] In Pakistan, the age of military enlistment is 16–23 years of age for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed for combat until age 18 according to its nation's constitution.[9]
The primary objective and its constitutional mission is to ensure the national security and national unity of Pakistan by defending it against external aggression or threat of war, and internal threat by maintaining peace and security within its land borders by requisitioning it by the federal government to cope with internal threats.[10] During the events of national calamities and emergency, it conducts humanitarian rescue operations at home as well as participating in the peacekeeping missions mandated by the United Nations, most notably playing a major role in rescuing the trapped U.S. soldiers in Somalia in 1993 and Bosnian War in 1992–95.:70[11]
The Pakistan Army, which is a major component of the Pakistani Military alongside Pakistan's Navy, Air Force, and Marines, is a volunteer force which has been involved with four wars on its borders with neighboring India and several border skirmishes on its porous border with Afghanistan.:31[12][13] Since the 1960s, the elements of the army has been repeatedly deployed to act as military advisory in the Arab states during the events of Arab–Israeli wars, aided the UN-based coalition in the first Gulf War. Other notable military operations in the theater of War on Terror in the 21st century included: Zarb-e-Azb, Black Thunderstorm, and Rah-e-Nijat.[14]
In violation of its constitutional mandate, it has overthrown elected governments overreaching its constitutional mandate protected by the Constitution to "act in aid of civilian federal government when called upon to do so",[15] the army has been involved in enforcing martial law against the elected governments in claiming to restore law and order in the country by dismissing the legislative branch, the Parliament, four times in past decades, and has wider commercial, foreign, and political interests in the country, facing allegations of acting as state within a state.[16][17][18][19][20]
The Pakistan Army has a regimental system but is operationally and geographically divided into command zones, with basic field of being the corps.[21] The Constitution establishes the role of President of Pakistan to be the civilian Commander-in-Chief.[22] The Pakistan Army is commanded by the Chief of Army Staff, by statute a four-star rank general, who is senior member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the President of Pakistan.[23] The Pakistan Army is currently under the command of General Qamar Javed Bajwa appointed on 29 November 2016.[24][25]
Mission[edit]
Existence and its constitutional role is protected by the Constitution of Pakistan, where its role to serves as land-based uniform service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. In the Chapter 2: Armed Forces in the PartXII: Miscellaneous codified the mission and purpose of the army as alongside the other parts of the Armed Forces as such:[26] The Constitution of Pakistan establishes the principal land warfare uniform branch in the Pakistan Armed Forces as its states:
History[edit]
Early origins[edit]
Division of British Indian Army and the first war with India (1947–52)[edit]
The Pakistan Army came into its modern birth from the division of the British Indian Army that ceased to exist as a result of the partition of India that resulted in the creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947.:1–2[6] Before even the partition took place, there were plans ahead of dividing the British Indian Army in different parts based on the religious and ethnic influence on the areas of India.:1–2[6]
On 30 June 1947, the War Department of the British administration in India began planning the dividing of the ~400,000 men strong British Indian Army, but that only begin few weeks before the partition of India that resulted in violent religious violence in India.:1–2[6] The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) under the chairmanship of British Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck had devised the formula to divide the military assets between India and Pakistan with ratio of 2:1, respectively.:conts.[28]
Major division of the army was overseen by Sir Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi, an Indian civil servant who was influential in making sure that ~260,000 men would be transferred into forming the Indian Army whilst the remainder balance going to Pakistan after the independence act was enacted by the United Kingdom on the night of 14/15 August 1947.:2–3[6]
Command and control at all levels of the new army was extremely difficult, as Pakistan had received six armoured, eight artillery and eight infantry regiments compared to the twelve armoured, forty artillery and twenty-one infantry regiments that went to India.:155–156[29] In total, the size of the new army was about ~150,000 men strong.:155–156[29] To fill the vacancy in the command positions of the new army, around 13,500:2[6] military officers from the British Army had to be employed in the Pakistan Army, which was quiet in larger number, under the command of Lieutenant-General Frank Messervy, the first commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army.:70[30]
Eminent fears of India's seizing the control over the state of Kashmir, the armed tribes and the irregular militia scouts entered in the Muslim-majority valley of Kashmir to oppose the rule of Hari Singh, a Hindu and the ruling Maharaja of Kashmir, in October 1947.:conts.[31] Attempting to maintain his control over the princely state, Hari Singh deployed his troops to check on the tribal advances but his troops failed to halt the advancing tribes towards the valley.:40[32] Eventually, Hari Singh appealed to Louis Mountbatten, the Governor-General of India, requesting for the deployment of the Indian Armed Forces but Indian government maintained that the troops could be committed if Hari Singh's acceded to the Indian Union.:40[32] Hari Singh eventually agreed to concede into admission to the Indian Union on India government terms which eventually led to the deployment of the Indian Army in Kashmir– this agreement, however, was contested by Pakistan since the agreement did not include the consent of the Kashmiri people.:40[32] Sporadic fighting between militia and Indian Army broke out, and units of the Pakistan Army under Maj-Gen. Akbar Khan, eventually joined the militia in their fight against the Indian Army.:40[32]
Although, it was Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Messervy who opposed the tribal invasion in a cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1947, later leaving the command of the army in 1947,:447[33] in a view of that British officers in the Indian and Pakistan Army would be fighting with each other in the war front.:417[34] It was Lt-Gen. Douglas Gracey who reportedly disobeyed the direct orders from Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor-General of Pakistan, for the deployment of the army units and ultimately issued standing orders that refrained the units of Pakistan Army to further participate in the conflict.:59[35]
By 1948, when it became imperative in Pakistan that India was about to mount a large scale operation against Pakistan, Gen. Gracey did not object the deployment of the army units in the conflict against the Indian Army.:59[35]
This earlier insubordination of Gen. Gracey eventually forced India and Pakistan to reach a compromise through the United Nation's intervention with Pakistan controlling the Western Kashmir and India occupying the Eastern Kashmir.:417[34]
20th Century: Cold war and conflict performances[edit]
Reorganization under the United States Army (1952–58)[edit]
At the time of the partition of British India, British Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck diveser[check spelling] favored the transfer of the infantry divisions to the Pakistan Army including the 7th, 8th and 9th.:55[36] In 1948, the British army officers in the Pakistan Army established and raised the 10th, 12th, and the 14th infantry divisions— with the 14th being established in East Bengal.:55[36] In 1950, the 15th Infantry Division was raised with the help from the United States Army, followed by the establishment of the 15th Lancers in Sialkot.:36[37] Dependence on the United States grew furthermore by the Pakistan Army despite it had worrisome concerns to the country's politicians.:36[37] Between 1950–54, Pakistan Army raised six more armoured regiments under the U.S. Army's guidance: including, 4th Cavalry, 12th Cavalry, 15th Lancers, and 20th Lancers.:36[37]
After the Gracey's disobedience incident, there was a strong believe that a native commander of the army should be appointed and the Government of Pakistan had rejected the British Army Board's appointment upon the retirement of Gen. Gracey in 1951.:34[38] Eventually, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan approved the promotion paper of Maj-Gen. Iftikhar Khan as the first native commander-in-chief, a graduate of the Imperial Defence College in England, but died in an aviation accident en route to Pakistan from the United Kingdom.[39]
After the death of Maj-Gen. Iftikhar, there were four senior major-generals in the army in the race of promotion but the most junior, Maj-Gen. Ayub Khan, whose name was not included in the promotion list was elevated to the promotion that resulted in a lobbying provided by Iskandar Mirza, the Defense Secretary in Ali Khan administration.[40] A tradition of appointment based on favoritism and qualification that is still in practice by the civilian Prime Ministers in Pakistan.[40] Ayub was promoted to the acting rank of full general to command the army as his predecessors Frank Messervy and Douglas Gracey were performing the duty of commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army in the acting rank of general, the neighbouring country India's first commanders-in-chief were same in this context.
The department of army under General Ayub Khan steered the army's needs towards heavy focused and dependence towards the imported hardware acquired from the United States, in spite of acquiring it from the domestic industry, under the Military Assistance Advisory Group attached to Pakistan in 1954–56.:36[37] In 1953, the 6th Infantry Division was raised and disbanded the 6th Division in 1956 followed by the disbandment of the 9th Infantry Division as the American assistance was available only for one armored and six infantry divisions.:36[37] During this time, an army combat brigade team was readily made available by Gen. Ayub Khan to deploy to support the American Army's fighting troops in the Korean war.:270[41]
Working as cabinet minister in Bogra administration, Gen. Ayub's impartiality was greatly questioned by country's politicians and drove Pakistan's defence policy towards the dependence on the United States when the country becoming the party of the CENTO and the SEATO, the U.S. active measures against the expansion of the global communism.:60[42][43]
In 1956, the 1st Armored Division in Multan was established, followed by the Special Forces in Cherat under the supervision of the U.S Army's Special Forces.:55[36]:133[44] Under Gen. Ayub's control, the army had eradicated the British influence but invited the American expansion and had reorganized the East Bengal Regiment in East Bengal, the Frontier Force Regiment in Northern Pakistan, Kashmir Regiment in Kashmir, and Frontier Corps in the Western Pakistan.[6] The order of precedence change from Navy–Army–Air Force to Army–Navy-Air Force, with army being the most senior service branch in the structure of the Pakistani military.:98[42]
In 1957, the I Corps was established and headquarter was located in Punjab.:55[36] Between 1956–58, the schools of infantry and tactics,[45] artillery,[46] ordnance,[47] armoured,[48] medical, engineering, services, aviation,[49] and several other schools and training centers were established with or without U.S. participation.:60[42]
Military takeovers in Pakistan and second war with India (1958–1969)[edit]
As early as 1953, the Pakistan Army became involved in the national politics in a view of restoring the law and order situation when Governor-General Malik Ghulam, with approval from Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin, dismissed the popularly-mandated state government of Chief Minister Mumtaz Daultana in Punjab in Pakistan, and declared martial law under Lt-Gen. Azam Khan and Col. Rahimuddin Khan who successfully quelled the religious agitation in Lahore.:17–18[51]:158 In 1954, the Pakistan Army's Military Intelligence Corps reportedly sent the intelligence report indicating the rise of communism in East Pakistan during the legislative election held in East-Bengal.:75[50] Within two months of the elections, Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra, with approval from Governor-General Malik Ghulam, dismissed the another popularly-mandated state government of Chief Minister Fazlul Huq in East Bengal in Pakistan, and declared governor's rule under Iskandar Mirza who relied in the Pakistan Army to manage the control and security of the East Bengal at all levels of command.:75[50] With General Ayub Khan becoming the Defense Minister under Ministry of Talents led by Prime Minister Bogra, the involvement of the army in the national politics grew further with the implementation of the controversial One Unit program, abolishing the status of Four Provinces, despite the strong protests by the public and the West Pakistan's politicians.:80[50] Major defense funding and spending was solely focused towards Ayub's army department and the air force department led by Air Marshal Asghar Khan, giving less priority to the national needs for the Navy.[52]
From 1954–58, General Ayub was made subjected with receiving multiple service extensions by the civilian Prime Ministers first receiving in 1954 that extended his commission to last till 1958.:contents[53]:232[54]
The Pakistan Army under General Ayub Khan had been less supportive towards the implementation of the first set of Constitution of Pakistan that had established the civilian control of the military, and the army went onto completely endorsed and support the first martial law in the country imposed by President Iskander Mirza– the army later took control of the power from President Mirza in mere two weeks and installed Gen. Ayub as the second President.:81[50] The subsequent change of command resulted in Gen. Musa Khan becoming the army commander with Ayub Khan promoting himself as controversial rank of field marshal.:22[55][self-published source?] In 1969, the Supreme Court reversed its decision and overturned its convictions that called for validation of martial law in 1958.:60[56]
The army held the referendum and tightly control the political situation through the intelligence agencies, and banned the political activities in the country.[57]
From 1961 to 1962, military aid continued to Pakistan from the United States and they established the 25th Cavalry, followed by the 24th Cavalry, 22nd, and 23rd Cavalry.:36[37] In 1960–61, the Army Special Forces was reportedly involved in taking over the control of the administration of Dir from the Nawab of Dir in Chitral in North-West Frontier Province over the concerns of Afghan meddling in the region.[58] In 1964–65, the border fighting and tensions flared with the Indian Army with a serious incident taking place near the Rann of Kutch, followed by the failed covert action to take control of the Indian-side of Kashmir resulted in a massive retaliation by the Indian Army on 5 August 1965.[59] On the night of 6 September 1965, India opened the front against Pakistan when the Indian Army's mechanized corps charged forwards taking over the control of the Pakistan-side of Punjab, almost reaching Lahore.:294[60] At the time of the conflict in 1965, Pakistan's armory and mechanized units' hardware was imported from the United States including the M4 Sherman, M24 Chaffee, M36 Jackson, and the M47 and M48 Patton tanks, equipped with 90 mm guns.[61] In contrast, the Indian Army's armor had outdated in technology with Korean war-usage American M4 Sherman and World War II manufactured British Centurion Tank, fitted with the French-made CN-75 guns.[62]
In spite of Pakistan enjoying the numerical advantage in tanks and artillery, as well as better equipment overall,:69[63][64] the Indian Army successfully penetrated the defences of Pakistan's borderline and successfully conquered around 360 square kilometres (139 square miles)[60]–500 square kilometres (193 square miles)[65] of Pakistan-side Punjab territory on the outskirts of Lahore.[66] Major tank battle took place in Chawinda, which the newly established 1st Armoured Division was able to halt the Indian invasion.:35[67] Eventually, the Indian invasion of Pakistan came to halt when the Indian Army concluded the battle near Burki.[66][68][page needed][69][70] With diplomatic efforts and involvement by the Soviet Union to bring two nation to end the war, the Ayub administration had reached a compromise with Shastri ministry in India when both governments signed and ratified the peace treaty in the Soviet Union.[69][70] According to the Library of Congress Country Studies conducted by the Federal Research Division of the United States:
At the time of ceasefire declared, per neutral sources, Indian casualties stood at 3,000 whilst the Pakistani casualties were 3800.[72][73][74] Pakistan lost between 200-300 tanks during the conflict and India lost approximately 150-190 tanks.[75][76]
However, most neutral assessments agree that India had the upper hand over Pakistan when ceasefire was declared,[77][78][79][80][81] but the propaganda in Pakistan about the war continued in favor of Pakistan Army.[82] The war was not rationally analysed in Pakistan with most of the blame being heaped on the leadership and little importance given to intelligence failures that persisted until the debacle of the third war with India in 1971.[83] There was no military action taken by the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan against the standing Indian Army, and at the end of the Indian army was in possession of 758.9 miles² (1,920 km²) of Pakistani territory and the Pakistan army held 210 mile² (550 km²) of Indian territory.[84] The Indian Army's action was restricted to Punjab region of both sides with Indian Army mainly in fertile Sialkot, Lahore and Kashmir sectors,[85][86] while Pakistani land gains were primarily in southern deserts opposite Sindh and in the Chumb sector near Kashmir in the north.[85]
With the United States' arm embargo on Pakistan over the issue of the war, Pakistan Army's reliance turned over the Soviet Union and China for hardware acquisition, and correctly assessed that lack of infantry played a major role in the failure of Pakistani armour to translate its convincing material and technical superiority into a major operational or strategic success against the Indian Army.[87] Ultimately, the army's high command established the 9th, 16th, and 17th infantry divisions in 1966–68.[87] In 1966, the IV Corps was formed and its headquarter was established, and permanently stationed in Lahore, Punjab in Pakistan.[88]
The army remained involved in the nation's civic affairs, and ultimately imposed the second martial law in 1969 when the writ of the constitution was abrogated by then-army commander, Gen. Yahya Khan, who took control of the nation's civic affairs after the resignation of President Ayub Khan, resulted in a massive labor strikes instigated by the Pakistan Peoples Party in West and Awami League in East.[89]
In a lawsuit settled by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the legality of the martial law was deemed questionable as the Supreme Court settled the suit by retroactively invalidated the martial law that suspended the Constitution and notably ruled that Yahya Khan's assumption of power was "illegal usurpation".:59–60[56] In light of the Supreme Court's judgement, the army held the publicly televised conference when President Yahya Khan announced to hold the nationwide general elections in 1969–70.:59–60[56]
Suppression, civil conflict in East Pakistan and Indian invasion (1969–1971)[edit]
In 1969, President Yahya Khan decided to make administrative changes in the army by appointing the Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan as the Army Chief of Staff (ACOS) of the Pakistan Army, who centralized the chain of command in Rawalpindi in a headquarters known as "High Command".:32[90] From 1967–69, there were series of major military exercises were conducted by the army's infantry units in East's borderline with India.:114–119[91] In 1970, the Pakistan army's military mission in Jordan was reportedly involved in tackling and curbing down the Palestinian infiltration in Jordan.[92] In June 1971, the enlistment in the army had allowed the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi to raise and established the 18th infantry division, stationed in Hyderabad, Sindh, for the defence of 560 miles (900 km) from Rahimyar Khan to Rann of Kutch, and reestationed the 23rd infantry division for defending the Chhamb-Dewa Sector.[87]
In 1971, the II Corps was established and headquartered in Multan, driven towards defending the mass incursion from the Indian Army.[88] In December 1971, the 33rd infantry division was established from the army reserves of the II Corps, followed by raising the 37th Infantry Division.[87] The Pakistan Army reportedly helped the Pakistan Navy to toward establishing the amphibious branch, the Pakistan Marines, whose battalion was airlifted to East along with the 9th Infantry Division.[93][87] The other battalions of marines were stationed with the army troops in the skirts of Punjab to support the defence in the events of the war with India.[93]
The intervention in civic matters in East-Pakistani government further grew when the major operation resulted overtaking of the government buildings, communication centers, and restricting the politicians opposing the military rule,:263[94] and within one month, Pakistani national security strategists realized their failure of implementing the plan which did not include the civil resistance in East, and the real nature of Indian strategy behind their support of the resistance.:2–3[95]
The Yahya administration is widely held responsible and accused of permitting the army of committing the war crimes against the civilians in East and curbing civil liberties and human rights in Pakistan. The Eastern Command under Lt-Gen. A. A. K. Niazi, who had area responsibility of the defending the Eastern Front and had the responsibility to protect, was leveled with accusations of escalating the political violence in the East by the serving military officers, politicians, and journalists in Pakistan.[96][97] Since the general elections in 1970, the army had detained several key politicians, journalists, peace activists, student unionists, and other members of civil society while curbing the freedoms of movement and speech in Pakistan.:112[98] In East, the unified Eastern Military Command under Lt-Gen. A.A.K. Niazi, began its engagement with the armed militia that had the direct terror support from India in April 1971, and eventually fought the war with Indian Army in December 1971.:596[99]:596 The army, together with marines, launched ground offensives on both fronts but the Indian Army successfully held its ground and initiated well-coordinated ground operations on both fronts, initially capturing 5,795 square miles (15,010 km2):239[44] of Pakistan's territory; this land gained by India in Azad Kashmir, Punjab and Sindh sectors.:239[44]
Responding to the ultimatum issued on 16 December 1971 by the Indian Army in East, Lt-Gen. Niazi agreed towards conceding the defeat and moved towards signing the documented surrender with the Indian Army to effectively and unilaterally ending the armed resistance that led the creation of Bangla Desh, only after India's official engagement that lasted 13-days.[100] It was reported that the Eastern Command had reportedly surrendered ~93,000–97,000 uniform personnel to Indian Army– the largest surrender in a war by any country after the World War II.[101] Casualties inflicted to army's I Corps, II Corps, and Marines did not sit well with President Yahya Khan who turned over the control of the civic government to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto through an executive decree.[102]
Commenting on the defeat, the military observer in the Pakistan Army, Major A.H. Amin, reported that the war strategists in the army had not seriously considered a full-fledged invasion from India until December 1971, because it was presumed that the Indian military would not risk intervention by China or the United States, and the high command failed to realize that the Chinese would be unable to intervene during the winter months of November to December, due to snowbound Himalayan passes, and the Americans had not made any real effort to persuade India against attacking East Pakistan.[103]
Restructuring of armed forces, stability and restoration (1971–1977)[edit]
In January 1972, the Bhutto administration formed the POW Commission to investigate the numbers of war prisoners held by the Indian Army while requesting the Supreme Court of Pakistan to investigate the causes of the war failure with India in 1971.:7–10[105] The Supreme Court formed the famed War Enquiry Commission (WEC) that identified many failures, fractures, and faults within the institution of the department of the army and submitted recommendations to strengthened the armed forces overall.[6] Under the Yahya administration, the army was highly demoralized and there were unconfirmed reports of mutiny by soldiers against the senior army generals at the Corps garrisons and the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi.:5[105]
Upon returning from the quick visit in the United States in 1971, President Bhutto forcefully dishonorably discharge the commission of seven senior army generals, which he called the "army waderas" (lit. Warlords).:71[106] In 1972, the army leadership under Lt-Gen. Gul Hassan refrained from acting under Bhutto administration's order to tackle the labor strikes in Karachi and to detained the labor union leaders in Karachi, instead advising the federal government to use the Police Department to take the actions.:7[105]
On 2 March 1972, President Bhutto dismissed the commission of Lt-Gen. Gul Hassan as the army commander, replacing with Lt-Gen. Tikka Khan who was later promoted to four-star rank and appointed as the first Chief of Army Staff (COAS).:8[105] The army under Bhutto administration was reconstructed in its structure, improving its fighting ability, and reorganized with the establishment of the X Corps in Punjab in 1974, followed by the V Corps in Sindh and XI Corps in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan in 1975.[107] The trilateral agreement in India, the Bhutto administration transferred all the war prisoners back to the country but the military struggle to fill in the vacancies and employments due to some suffering from the PTSD and other mental health complications, while others simply did not wanted to serve in the military any longer.:19–20[105] Under Bhutto administration, the army engage in self-reliance production and eventually reached to China for establishing the material and metal industries to overcome the material shortage and manufacturing of weapons industry in the country.[108]
In 1973, the Bhutto administration dismissed the state government in Balochistan that resulting in another separ
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