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{{Infobox President
{{Taxobox
| name = Yahya Khan
| color = pink
| image = Yahya khan 150.jpg
| imagesizename = 150pxSummit Rat
| status = EN
| birth_date = [[4 February]] [[1917]]
| regnum = [[Animalia]]
| birth_place = [[Image:Imperial-India-Blue-Ensign.svg|20px]] [[Chakwal]], [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]], [[British India]]
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1980|08|10|1917|02|04}}
| classis = [[Mammalia]]
| death_place = {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Rawalpindi]], [[Pakistan]]
| officeordo = 3rd [[President of PakistanRodentia]]
| term_startfamilia = [[25 March]] [[1969Muridae]]
| term_endgenus = ''[[20 December]] [[1971Rattus]]''
| species = ''R. baluensis''
| primeminister = [[Nurul Amin]]
| binomial = ''Rattus baluensis''
| predecessor = [[Ayub Khan]]
| binomial_authority = Thomas, 1894
| successor = [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]
| synonyms = }}
| office2 = 5th [[Chief of the Army Staff]]
The '''Summit Rat''' ('''''Rattus baluensis''''') is a species of [[rodent]] in the [[Muridae]] family.
| term_start2 = [[25 March]] [[1969]]
It is found only in [[Malaysia]].
| term_end2 = [[20 December]] [[1971]]
==Source==
| predecessor2 = Gen. [[Musa Khan]]
* Baillie, J. 1996. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/19323/all Rattus baluensis]. [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 09 July 2007.
| successor2 = Gen. [[Gul Hasan]]
| party = [[Military]]
| religion = [[Sunni Islam]]
}}
'''Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan''' ([[February 4]] [[1917]] – [[August 10]] [[1980]]) was the [[President of Pakistan]] from [[1969]] to [[1971]], following the resignation of [[Ayub Khan]].
{{rodent-stub}}
==Early Life==
Yahya Khan was born in [[Chakwal]] in 1917 to a family of ethnic [[Qizilbash]] [[Persian people|Persian]] soldiers. He attended [[Punjab University]] and finished first in his class. He then joined the [[British Army]], and served in [[World War II]] as an [[Commissioned officer|officer]] in the '''British Indian 4th Division'''. He served in [[Iraq]], [[Italy]], and [[North Africa]].
Yahya was a [[Shia]] ''Qizilbash'' commissioned from Indian Military Academy ''Dehra Dun'' on 15 July [[1939]]. An infantry officer from the 4/10 [[Baluch Regiment]], Yahya saw action during WW II in North Africa where he was captured by the Axis Forces in June [[1942]] and interned in a prisoner of war camp in [[Italy]] from where he escaped in the third attempt.
==Career before becoming Chief of Army Staff (COAS)==
In 1947 he was instrumental in not letting the Indian officers shift books from the famous library of the ''British Indian Staff College'' at [[Quetta]], where Yahya was posted as the only Muslim instructor at the time of partition of India.
Upon the formation of Pakistan, Khan helped set up an officer's school in [[Quetta]], and commanded an infantry division during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]. Immediately after the 1965 war Major General Yahya Khan who had commanded the 7th Division in '''''Operation Grand Slam''''' was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, appointed Deputy Army C in C and C in C designate in March [[1966]].
Yahya became a brigadier at the age of 34 and commanded the '''106 Infantry Brigade''', which was deployed on the ceasefire line in Kashmir in 1951-52. Later Yahya as Deputy Chief of General Staff was selected to head the army’s planning board set up by Ayub to modernise the Pakistan Army in 1954-57. Yahya also performed the duties of Chief of General Staff from 1958 to 1962 from where he went on to command an infantry division from 1962 to 1965.
==As Chief of Army Staff (COAS)==
Yahya energetically started reorganising the Pakistan Army in 1965. The post 1965 situation saw major organisational as well as technical changes in the Pakistan Army. Till 1965 it was thought that divisions could function effectively while getting orders directly from the army’s GHQ. This idea failed miserably in the 1965 war and the need to have intermediate corps headquarters in between the GHQ and the fighting combat divisions was recognised as a foremost operational necessity after the 1965 war. In 1965 war the Pakistan Army had only one corps headquarter (i.e. the 1st Corps Headquarters).
Soon after the war had started the [[USA]] had imposed an embargo on military aid on both [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. This embargo did not affect the Indian Army but produced major changes in the Pakistan Army’s technical composition. US Secretary of State [[Dean Rusk]] well summed it up when he said, ''"Well if you are going to fight, go ahead and fight, but we’re not going to pay for it"''.
Pakistan now turned to [[China]] for military aid and the Chinese tank '''T-59''' started replacing the '''US M-47/48''' tanks as the Pakistan Army’s '''MBT (Main Battle Tank)''' from [[1966]]. 80 tanks, the first batch of T-59s, a low-grade version of the '''Russian T-54/55''' series were delivered to Pakistan in 1965-66. The first batch was displayed in the Joint Services Day Parade on 23 March 1966. The [[1965]] War had proved that Pakistan Army’s tank infantry ratio was lopsided and more infantry was required. Three more infantry divisions (9, 16 and 17 Divisions) largely equipped with Chinese equipment and popularly referred to by the rank and file as ''"The China Divisions"'' were raised by the beginning of 1968. Two more corps headquarters i.e. 2nd Corps Headquarters ('''Jhelum-Ravi Corridor''') and 4th Corps Headquarters ('''Ravi-Sutlej Corridor''') were raised.
In the 1965 War India had not attacked East Pakistan which was defended by a weak two-infantry brigade division (14 Division) without any tank support. Yahya correctly appreciated that the geographical as well as operational situation demanded an entirely independent command set up in East Pakistan. 14 Division’s infantry strength was increased and a new tank regiment was raised and stationed in [[East Pakistan]]. A new Corps Headquarters was raised in East Pakistan and was designated as Headquarters Eastern Command. It was realised by the Pakistani GHQ that the next war would be different and East Pakistan badly required a new command set up.
==President of Pakistan==
[[Ayub Khan]] was [[President of Pakistan]] for most of the 1960s, but by the end of the decade, popular resentment had boiled over against him. Pakistan had fallen into a state of disarray, and he handed over power to Yahya Khan, who immediately instituted [[martial law]]. Once Ayub handed over power to Yahya Khan on 25 March 1969 Yahya inherited a two-decade constitutional problem of inter-provincial ethnic rivalry between the [[Punjabi]]-[[Pathan]]-[[Mohajir]] dominated [[West Pakistan]] province and the ethnically [[Bengali people|Bengali]] Muslim [[East Pakistan]] province. In addition Yahya also inherited an 11 year old problem of transforming an essentially one man ruled country to a democratic country, which was the ideological basis of the anti-Ayub movement of 1968-69. Herein lies the key to Yahya’s dilemma. As an Army Chief Yahya had all the capabilities, qualifications and potential. But Yahya inherited an extremely complex problem and was forced to perform the multiple roles of ''caretaker'' head of the country, ''drafter'' of a provisional constitution, resolving the ''One Unit question'', satisfying the frustrations and the sense of exploitation and discrimination successively created in the ''East Wing'' by a series of government policies since 1948. All these were complex problems and the seeds of Pakistan Army’s defeat and humiliation in December 1971 lay in the fact that Yahya Khan blundered unwittingly into the thankless task of cleaning dirt in Pakistan’s political and administrative system which had been accumulating for 20 years and had its actual origins in the pre-1947 British policies towards the Bengali Muslims.
The American author '''Ziring''' observed that, ''"Yahya Khan has been widely portrayed as a ruthless uncompromising insensitive and grossly inept leader…While Yahya cannot escape responsibility for these tragic events, it is also on record that he did not act alone…All the major actors of the period were creatures of a historic legacy and a psycho-political milieu which did not lend itself to accommodation and compromise, to bargaining and a reasonable settlement. Nurtured on conspiracy theories, they were all conditioned to act in a manner that neglected agreeable solutions and promoted violent judgements”.''
[[Image:Yahya and Nixon.jpg|frame100x|right|thumb|Last President of a United Pakistan Yahya Khan with President Richard Nixon of USA]]
Yahya Khan attempted to solve Pakistan’s constitutional and inter-provincial/regional rivalry problems once he took over power from [[Ayub Khan]] in March 1969. The tragedy of the whole affair was the fact that all actions that Yahya took, although correct in principle, were too late in timing, and served only to further intensify the political polarisation between the East and West wings.
*He dissolved the one unit restoring the pre-1955 provinces of West Pakistan
*Promised free direct, one man one vote, fair elections on adult franchise, a basic human right which had been denied to the Pakistani people since the pre-independence 1946 elections by political inefficiency, double play and intrigue, by civilian governments, from 1947 to 1958 and by Ayub’s one man rule from 1958 to 1969.
However dissolution of one unit did not lead to the positive results that it might have lead to in case "One Unit" was dissolved earlier. Yahya also made an attempt to accommodate the East Pakistanis by abolishing the principle of parity, thereby hoping that greater share in the assembly would redress their wounded ethnic regional pride and ensure the integrity of Pakistan. Instead of satisfying the Bengalis it intensified their separatism, since they felt that the west wing had politically suppressed them since 1958. Thus the rise of anti West Wing sentiment in the East Wing.
Yahya announced in his broadcast to the nation on 28 July [[1969]], his firm intention to redress Bengali grievances, the first major step in this direction being, the doubling of Bengali quota in the defence services. It may be noted that at this time there were just Seven infantry battalions of the East Pakistanis. Yahya’s announcement, although made with the noblest and most generous intentions in mind, was late by about twenty years. Yahya’s intention to raise more pure Bengali battalions was opposed by '''Major General Khadim Hussain Raja''', the General Officer Commanding 14 Division in East Pakistan suggesting that the Bengalis were "too meek".
Within a year he had set up a framework for elections that were held in December of [[1970]].The results of the elections saw Pakistan split into its Eastern and Western halves. In [[East Pakistan]], the [[Awami League]] (led by [[Mujibur Rahman]]) held almost all of the seats, but none in [[West Pakistan]]. In [[West Pakistan]], the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] (led by [[Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto]]) won the lion's share of the seats, but none in East Pakistan. Though AL had 162 seats in the National Assembly against 88 of PPP,this led to a situation where one of the leaders of the two parties would have to give up power and allow the other to be [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]]. The situation also increased agitation, especially in East Pakistan.
Yahya Khan could not reach a compromise, and instead cracked down on the political agitation in East Pakistan leading to atrocities and genocide. Khan arrested [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] upon Bhutto's insistence and appointed Brigadier [[Rahimuddin Khan]] (later General) to preside over a special tribunal dealing with Mujib's case. Rahimuddin awarded Mujib the [[death sentence]], and President Yahya put the verdict into abeyance. Yahya's crackdown, however, had led to a [[Bangladesh Liberation War|civil war]] within Pakistan, and eventually drew [[India]] into what would extend into the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]. The end result was the establishment of [[Bangladesh]] as an independent republic, and this was to lead Khan to step down. After Pakistan was defeated in 1971, most of the blame was heaped on Yahya and his drinking, disregarding the fact that Yahya was merely the tip of the iceberg.
==Character as an officer==
Yahya was from a reasonably well to do family, had a Grammar school education and was directly commissioned as an officer. He was respected in the officer corps for professional competence.But Yahya was known to be a drunker and caused humiliation to Pakistan on many occasions because of being completely drunk on important international meetings. He is also known to be a womanizer and famous prostitutes have been regularly brought to the presidential palace during his presidential period.
==Fall from Power==
Later anger over its humiliating defeat by [[India]] boiled into street demonstrations throughout [[Pakistan]], rumors of an impending coup d'état by younger army officers against the government of President Mohammed Agha Yahya Khan swept the country. Yahya became the highest-ranking casualty of the war: to forestall further unrest, he hastily surrendered his powers to [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], age 43, the ambitious leader of [[West Pakistan]]'s powerful People's Party.
On the same day that [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] released [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] and saw him off to [[London]], [[Pakistan]] President [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], in a supreme irony, ordered the house arrest of his predecessor, Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan, the man who imprisoned Mujib in the first place. Both actions produced headlines round the world. But in Pakistan they were almost overshadowed by what Bhutto grandly called "the first steps toward an economic and social revolution."
Nonetheless, due to his role as the head of the government and the head of state, Yahya Khan is regarded as a [[war criminal]]. He is directly responsible for the actions of the government and the army in the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].
==Death==
Yahya Khan died in August [[1980]], in [[Rawalpindi]].
{{start box}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box | title=[[:Category:Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan|Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan]]| before=General [[Musa Khan]]| after=General [[Gul Hasan]]|years=1969–1971}}
{{end box}}
{{PakistaniPresidents}}
{{1971 Indo-Pak War}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878409,00.html?promoid=googlep Good Soldier Yahya Khan]----TIME
*[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+pk0032) YAHYA KHAN AND BANGLADESH]
*[http://pakistanspace.tripod.com/47.htm Chronicles Of Pakistan]
*[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB193/HAK%206-20-72.pdf Henry Kissinger and PM China discussed Yahya Khan and 1971 loss]
*[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/96385676.html?dids=96385676:96385676&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=JAN+09%2C+1972&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Yahya+Khan+Is+Arrested+In+Pakistan&pqatl=google Yahya Khan Is Arrested In Pakistan]----Washington Post
[[Category:Presidents of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani generals]]
[[Category:Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:Generals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]
[[Category:Generals of the Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[bn:ইয়াহিয়া খান]]
[[fr:Muhammad Yahya Khan]]
[[id:Yahya Khan]]
[[ur:یحیٰی خان]]
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