Mirza Hassan Khan

Mirza Hassan Khan (Urdu: مرزا حسن خان), of Nagar state, was a captain of the 6th Infantry of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces. Placed at Bunji in the Gilgit wazarat (now Astore district, Gilgit-Baltistan), Khan rebelled against the Maharaja's regime after his accession to India and participated in the overthrow of the governor of Gilgit in November 1947. He later fought in the First Kashmir War as part of Gilgit rebel forces under the command of Colonel Aslam Khan and rose to become a colonel in the Pakistan Army.[2] After leaving the army, he founded the Gilgit League to protest against the Pakistan's ad-hoc administration of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Mirza Hassan Khan
مرزا حسن خان
Born(1919-01-27)27 January 1919[1]
State of Nagar
Died19 November 1983(1983-11-19) (aged 64)
Gilgit, Northern Areas (now Gilgit-Baltistan)
Resting placeChinar Bagh, Gilgit
Alma materSri Pratap College
Indian Military Academy
Organisation(s)4th J & K Infantry, 6th J & K Infantry, Gilgit Scouts, 7 Azad Kashmir Regiment, 4/15 Punjab Regiment & 2/15 Punjab Regiment

Early life

Khan was born in Gilgit in 1919. His father, Mirza Taj Mohammad Khan, belonged to a Rono family of Gilgit. His mother was from Nagar.[3]

Khan had early education in Gilgit and then went to Srinagar. However, his father died at this time and he was taken to Poonch by Wazir Mir Husain Shah. He studied in J.V. High School there and stood first among all students in the district. Afterwards, he entered the Sri Pratap College in Srinagar.[3]

While studying in college, he decided to become a soldier and went to Jammu to enrol as a sepoy. But upon the advice of Col. Mirza Faqirullah, he applied for the king's commission in the army. After studying at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun in 1937–38, he joined the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces.[4]

Jammu and Kashmir State Forces

Khan entered the service of Jammu and Kashmir State Forces in 1938. During World War II, he was sent to Burma as part of the 4th Kashmir Infantry Division. For his gallantry in the Burma action, he was awarded Burmese Star, M. D. and M. C.[4]

After returning from Burma, Khan felt that the Maharaja was cold towards the Muslim officers that returned from the war. He was posted to Bhimber as part of the 6th Kashmir Infantry. Here he became involved with a group of Muslim officers that plotted to overthrow the Maharaja's regime. A revolutionary council was set up in 1946 and Hassan Khan was made its chairman. The group decided to act when the British handed power over to the Dominions of India and Pakistan, by simultaneously attacking and occupying the military cantonments in their respective areas. However, the Maharaja's government transferred all the officers to new locations before that time and the plot was foiled.[4]

It has also been said that Major Aslam Khan, who was supposed to act in Jammu, left the service of State Forces and moved to the (undivided) British Indian Army. Thus a key part of the revolution went missing. Hassan Khan was transferred to the Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar in July 1947.[5]

Gilgit Freedom Movement
Map of Gilgit-Baltistan in 2019

In July 1947, the British government terminated the 60-year lease of the Gilgit Agency and returned the region to the Maharaja. The Maharaja's administration posted Brigadier Ghansara Singh as the governor to Gilgit. It also sent the 6th Infantry to Bunji (in the Astore District, immediately south of the Indus River across from Gilgit). The battalion was commanded by Colonel Abdul Majeed. Hassan Khan commanded a company within it and was found to be actively canvassing for Pakistan.[6][7][lower-alpha 1]

At the beginning of October, a serious brawl broke out between the Muslim and non-Muslim troops in the Bunji garrison. The Maharaja's administration ordered that Hassan Khan should be sent to Srinagar under arrest. Governor Ghansara Singh, however, had the order annulled on the grounds that it would aggravate the situation.[10]

The Gilgit Coup

Towards the end of October, governor Ghansara Singh became apprehensive of the loyalties of the Gilgit Scouts based in Gilgit, and asked Col. Abdul Majeed to send a contingent of Sikh troops. Hassan Khan persuaded Majeed that he should go in place of Sikhs, with the argument that the arrival of Sikh troops would further inflame the Gilgit Scouts. With Majeed's agreement, he set out to Gilgit.[11] It appears that by the time he reached Gilgit, the governor was already overpowered. Nevertheless Hassan Khan sided with Major William Brown of the Gilgit Scouts and later gave himself the full credit as the leader of the coup.[12]

On 2 November 1947, Mirza Hassan Khan and other officers of the rebel forces, announced a provisional government, with Raja Shah Rais Khan as the President and Mirza Hassan Khan as the Commander-in-Chief. William Brown was told that, being a non-Muslim, he could not hold any post in the government. In his autobiography, Khan ascribed to himself a central role in the coup. Scholar Yaqoob Khan Bangash doubts his account.[13]

Soon after the coup, William Brown telegraphed the Pakistan government in the North-West Frontier Province informing them of the developments and asking them to take over the administration of Gilgit. Pakistan's Political Agent, Khan Mohammad Alam Khan, arrived on 16 November and dismissed the provisional government. Thus the Gilgit Agency was absorbed into Pakistan. Mirza Hassan Khan was appointed the military governor for the Bunji sector and asked to focus on that area only.[14]

First Kashmir War
Operation Erase of Indian forces

On 19 January 1948, the Azad Kashmir provisional government appointed Major Mohammad Aslam Khan replacing Major William Brown as the commander of Gilgit Scouts.[15][16] Major Aslam organised all the forces in Gilgit into three wings of 400 men each, which were called the Ibex Force, Tiger Force and Eskimo Force. The three forces were ordered to advance along three directions into the state of Jammu Kashmir. Mirza Hassan Khan was put in charge of the Tiger Force, which advanced on the Gilgit-Bunji-Kamri-Gurais-Bandipora axis. The force reached Bandipora on 28 April, but had to withdraw to Tragbal. When Gurais was recaptured in June by the Indian forces, the Tiger Force withdrew to Minimarg.[17][18]

Political activism

In 1957, Mirza Hassan Khan founded the Gilgit League, which is said to be the first political organisation formed to protest the Pakistan's ad hoc administration of Gilgit-Baltistan. The party demanded political freedom and democratic rights, and an end to the Frontier Crimes Regulations. The party was banned by Ayub Khan's martial law administration.[19]

Subsequently, Khan joined the Pakistan People's Party. He was arrested by the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto government in 1973 due to political differences and put in prison.[20]

Military service
  • Took commission from Indian Military Academy Dehradun as second lieutenant in 2nd Jammu & Kashmir Infantry of Maharaja's Army in 1938.
  • Promoted to the rank of captain and posted to 4th J & K Infantry on 21 Dec 1941
  • Promoted as major/company commander in the 4th J & K Infantry on 3 Nov 1943
  • Promoted lt col in 4/15 Punjab Regiment of the Pakistan Army. Ante Date seniority under decision.
  • Lt col Azad Forces, commanding officer 7 AK Regiment, 1949.
  • Arrested in Rawalpindi conspiracy case from 2/15 Punjab Regiment, tried by special tribunal and dismissed from service with effect from 5 Jan 1953.[21]

Honours and awards

According to a report on Radio Pakistan, Khan was awarded a Military Cross for bravery by the British Indian Army in 1944, when he fought in Burma as part of the Jammu and Kashmir troops in the Second World War.[22] He was awarded the title of Fakhr-e-Kashmir by the Azad Kashmir government and Tamgha-i-Jurat by the Pakistani government.[1] He was also given the title of Fateh-e-Gilgit wa Baltistan locally (Liberator of Gilgit-Baltistan).

Notes
  1. Of the five companies of the 6th Infantry battalion, one was retained at Leh, a partial company was sent to Skardu, and the remaining forces were at Bunji. They consisted of two Muslim companies, commanded by Hassan Khan and Nek Alam, and two non-Muslim companies, commanded by Baldev Singh and Sukhdev Singh.[8][9]

References
  1. "Death anniversary of Col Mirza Hassan Khan being observed today", Radio Pakistan, 19 November 2014
  2. Dani (1991), p. ix: "Col. Hasan Khan: hero of Tiger force, 371"
  3. Dani (2001), p. 365.
  4. Dani (2001), p. 366.
  5. Brigadier Ghansara Singh, Gilgit – Before 1947, cited in Fall of Dogras in Gilgit by Late Col. Hassan Jarral Sahib(1947).
  6. Sokefeld, From Colonialism to Postcolonial Colonialism (2005), p. 959.
  7. Dani (2001, p. 338): "... it was only Captain Hasan Khan who was enthusiastic for Pakistan right from the beginning and even raised slogans for Pakistan in the march from Srinagar to Bunji."
  8. Dani (2001), pp. 331–332.
  9. Khan, F. M. (2002). The story of Gilgit, Baltistan and Chitral: a short history of two millenniums AD 7-1999. Eejaz. p. 77.
  10. Report on 1947 events in Gilgit Agency (part I) - liberation of Gilgit Baltistan, The Dardistan Times, 30 January 2013.
  11. Dani (2001), p. 344.
  12. Bangash, Three Forgotten Accessions (2010): "Captain Hassan, though, does make some unsubstantiated claims which lead one to believe that he was basically trying to portray himself as the sole leader in the secession of Gilgit."
  13. Bangash, Three Forgotten Accessions (2010), p. 132.
  14. Bangash, Three Forgotten Accessions (2010), p. 133.
  15. Bangash, Three Forgotten Accessions (2010), p. 134.
  16. Khan, F. M. (2002). The story of Gilgit, Baltistan and Chitral: a short history of two millenniums AD 7-1999. Eejaz. p. 84.: "He arrived in Gilgit on January 10, 1948, as a representative of the Azad Kashmir government and produced credentials of the Azad Kashmir government to the political agent."
  17. Cheema, Brig Amar (2015), The Crimson Chinar: The Kashmir Conflict: A Politico Military Perspective, Lancer Publishers, p. 85, ISBN 978-81-7062-301-4
  18. Khanna, K. K. (2015), Art of Generalship, Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, p. 158, ISBN 978-93-82652-93-9
  19. Ahmad, Core-Periphery Relationship (2015), pp. 102–103.
  20. Hussain, Gilgit-Baltistan Reforms (2015).
  21. COROs and service record received from his son, Col( r) Nadir Hassan Khan, Islamabad, Pakistan
  22. Khan, Hassan. "Recommendation for Award for Hussain Khan Rank: Captain Service No: SF 811 Catalogue reference: WO 373/43/118".

Bibliography

Further reading
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