Muhammad Shariff (general)

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General
Muhammad Shariff
NI(M) SPk SI(M)
File:General Muhammad Shariff.jpg
1st Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
In office
1 March 1976 – 22 January 1977
Preceded byNone (Post created)
Succeeded byMohammad Shariff
Personal details
BornMuhammad Shariff
(1921-02-22)22 February 1921
Lahore, Punjab, British India
Died6 August 1999(1999-08-06) (aged 78)
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Resting placeLahore, Punjab, Pakistan
NicknameM. Shariff
Military service
AllegianceBritish Raj British India (1942–1947)
Pakistan Pakistan (1947–1977)
Branch/serviceBritish Raj British Indian Army
Pakistan Pakistan Army
Years of service1942–1977
RankFile:OF-9 Pakistan Army.svg General
Unit3/2 Punjab Regiment
CommandsChairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
II Corps in Multan
Permanent Rep. at CENTO
GOC 33rd Infantry Division, Quetta
Pakistan Army Education Corps
Ins-Gen. Training and Evaluation
Battles/warsWorld War II
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
AwardsFile:Nishan-e-Imtiaz.png Nishan-i-Imtiaz
File:Sitara-e-Pakistan (SPk) (1957-86).png Sitara-e-Pakistan
File:Sitara-e-Imtiaz.png Sitara-i-Imtiaz

General Muhammad Shariff NI(M) SPk SI(M) (Urdu: محمد شريف ; 22 February 1921 – 6 August 1999) was a Pakistani general who served as the first Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1976 until tendering his resignation in 1977 over the disagreement with the military takeover of the civilian government by the army.: 61 [1]: 301–304 [2]

Biography

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Muhammad Shariff was born on 22 February 1921 into a Punjabi family in Lahore, Punjab in India.: 374 [3][4] After being educated at the Lawrence College in Murree, Shariff was commissioned in the 3rd infantry battalion of the 2nd Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army in 1942.[4] 2nd-Lt. Shariff saw actions in the Burma front during World War II with the British Indian Army.[4]

After the partition of India in 1947, Captain Shariff moved to join the newly formed Pakistan Army where his career progressed extremely well, having attended and graduated from the Imperial Defence College.: 302 [2] In 1952, Major Shariff was promoted as a lieutenant-colonel and qualified as psc from the Command and Staff College in Quetta; he later achieved promotion to Brigadier in 1959.[4]

In 1960, Brig. Shariff played a crucial role when he commanded the tactical strike brigade to remove the Nawab of Dir and Khan of Jandol to prevent secession from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.[5]

In 1964–66, Brig. Shariff moved to the staff assignment at the Army GHQ, serving in the Corps of Education where he served on the army board to select the potential candidates to be educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[4] In 1966, Major-General Shariff was appointed as the Inspector General Training and Evaluation (IGT&E) at the Army GHQ, and later appointed as the Commandant of the Command and Staff College in Quetta, which he served until 1970.: 374 [3]

In 1970, Maj-Gen. Shariff was promoted to the three-star rank in the army, and took over the diplomatic assignment as opposed to the command assignment.: 374 [3] Lieutenant-General Shariff was posted as the permanent representative at the CENTO's HQ in Ankara, Turkey, which he remained until 1971.[4]

On 12 December 1971, Lt-Gen. Shariff returned to Pakistan and partially took over the command of the 33rd Infantry Division, stationed in Quetta, from its GOC, Maj-Gen. Naseer Ahmad, who was wounded in action against the Indian Army.[4] After inspecting the infantry division, Lt-Gen. Shariff eventually handed over the command of the 33rd Infantry Division to then Maj-Gen. Iqbal Khan and departed to Turkey.[4]

In 1972, Lt-Gen. Shariff was appointed as field commander of the II Corps, stationed in Multan.: 441 [6] During this time, Lt-Gen. Shariff played a crucial role in his role as a secondment when he led his II Corps to provide the military aid to the civil power to maintain law and order in Karachi, amid the labour unrest.[4] In 1974, Lt-Gen, Shariff was appointed as an honorary Colonel commandant of the Punjab Regiment.[4]

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

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Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Gen. Shariff (second left) along with Gen. Zia (third left) in the passing out parade of the 55th PMA Long Course, 16 April 1977.

In 1976, General Tikka Khan's retirement as a chief of army staff was due, and Lt-Gen. Shariff was the most senior army general in the Pakistani military.: 262 [7] Initially, Lt-Gen, Shariff was in the race for the promotion to four-star rank alongside six other army generals.: 67 [8]

Eventually, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto promoted and elevated the junior-most Lt-Gen, Zia-ul-Haq, to the four-star appointment and appointed him as nation's second army chief in 1976.: 67 [8] Prime Minister Bhutto moved to create the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and promoted Lt-Gen. Shariff to the four-star rank, posting him as first Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on 1 March 1976.: contents [9]

His relations with Gen. Zia were limited but he seemed to dislike General Zia personally.: 125–126 [10] In 1974–75, Lt-Gen. Shariff had submitted a report to the then-army chief General Tikka Khan that detailed Maj-Gen. Zia's actions of bypassing the chain of command in the military but the report was overshadowed due to Zia's dedication towards promoting the professionalism in the military.: 125–126 [10] His duties as Chairman Joint Chiefs had been largely ineffective, and his deputy Admiral M.S. Khan had led the delegation to meet with Vice Chairman Li Xiannian when he paid a state visit to Pakistan on 22 January 1977.: 28 [11]

His relations with Gen. Zia soured and he was not supportive towards the actions by General Zia of military takeover of the civilian government,[citation needed] and regretted that this ultimate step had become inevitable.[12] In July 1977, General Shariff prematurely sought retirement and he submitted his resignation to the President of Pakistan, asking him to relieve him of his duty.: 304 [2]

In public circles, General Shariff privately made it clear that the martial law was in fact unconstitutional.[4] Furthermore, General Shariff was of the view of strengthening the Chairman joint chiefs' role to be more assertive and with more power than the army chief, but before the system could evolve itself, the July 1977 coup disturbed the power balance, and tilted it heavily in favor of the army chief.[13]

In 1977, General Shariff left the chairmanship of the joint chiefs to his deputy Admiral Mohammad Shariff but it was not until 1979 when his resignation actually became effective.: 304 [2][4] He died in Lahore on 6 August 1999.[4]

Awards and decorations

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File:Nishan-e-Imtiaz.png File:Sitara-e-Pakistan (SPk) (1957-86).png
File:Sitara-e-Imtiaz.png File:Tamgha-e-Diffa.png File:Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War Ribbon.png File:Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War.png
File:War Medal 1965(Tamgha-e-Jang, A.H.1385).png File:Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War.png File:Pakistan Independence Medal 1947.png File:Tamgha-e-Sad Saala Jashan-e-Wiladat-e-Quaid-e-Azam.png
File:Republic Medal 1956 (Pakistan).png File:Ribbon - War Medal.png File:Ribbon India Service Medal.png File:QE II Coronation Medal 1953.png
Nishan-e-Imtiaz

(Military)

(Order of Excellence)

Sitara-e-Pakistan

(SPk)

Sitara-e-Imtiaz

(Military)

(Star of Excellence)

Tamgha-e-Diffa

(General Service Medal)

Dir-Bajaur 1960-62 Clasp

Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War

(War Star 1965)

Sitara-e-Harb

1971 War

(War Star 1965)

Tamgha-e-Jang

1965 War

(War Medal 1965)

Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War

(War Medal 1971)

Pakistan Tamgha

(Pakistan Medal)

1947

Tamgha-e-Sad Saala Jashan-e-

Wiladat-e-Quaid-e-Azam

(100th Birth Anniversary of

Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

1976

Tamgha-e-Jamhuria

(Republic Commemoration Medal)

1956

War Medal

1939-1945

India Service Medal

1939–1945

Queen Elizabeth II

Coronation Medal

(1953)

Foreign decorations

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Foreign Awards
File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg UK War Medal 1939-1945 File:Ribbon - War Medal.png
India Service Medal 1939–1945 File:Ribbon India Service Medal.png
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal File:QE II Coronation Medal 1953.png

References

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  13. ^ Brig (retd) Yasub Ali Dogar. "Pakistan's Higher Defence Reorganisation" Defence Journal January 1999
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