Mohammad Shariff

Mohammad Shariff was born in Gujrat, Punjab, British India, into an Kashmiri-Punjabi family in 1920.[1]^: 372[4] As many of his contemporaries, he was educated at the Rashtriya Indian Military College and joined the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) in 1936 as a sailor in the Communications Branch.[5][6] One of his close colleagues at this time was Gautum Singh, whom he would fight against in 1971.[7]^{: 218–219}

He participated in the World War II as a signalist in the Royal Indian Navy on behalf of Great Britain and took part in military action in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Red sea, and Bay of Bengal.[1]^{: 372–373} In 1945, he went to the United Kingdom to attend the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England where he graduated with a staff course degree.[1]^{: 372–373}

In 1947, the United Kingdom announced the partition of India. After the creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, Lieutenant Shariff decided to opt for Pakistan and joined the newly established Pakistan Navy.

He was the 20th most senior Lieutenant in the navy in terms of seniority list provided by the Royal Indian Navy to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in 1947.>[8] In the 1950s, he served on various assignments in the Pakistan military and served as a senior staff officer at the Navy NHQ from 1953 to 1956 as Lieutenant-Commander.[9] In 1960, he was promoted as Commander in the Navy and went to the United States where he attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and graduated with a master's degree in War studies in 1962.[10]

Upon returning to Pakistan in 1962, he was appointed as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Personnel) with a promoting rank of Captain at the NHQ.[11]

In 1965, Captain Shariff continued his staff appointment role as DCNS (Personnel) at the NHQ and participated in the second war with India in 1965.[9] He participated in planning of the naval assault against the Indian Navy and provided his analysis based on personnel preparation for the operation.[9]

In 1966, he was promoted as Commodore and posted as DCNS (Operations) by the Commander in Chief Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan where he continued his role until 1969.[12] In 1968, Commodore Shariff paid a goodwill visit to China alongside and held defence talks with the senior leadership of People's Liberation Army.[13]

Military map of East Pakistan, with Indian Army encircling the India-East Pakistan border.

In 1969, Commodore Shariff was promoted as Rear-Admiral, a two-star rank, and posted in East Pakistan as Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) at the Eastern Naval Command HQ.[14] His naval command was coordinated with the army's Eastern Command.[9][15]^: 438[16]

During the same time, President General Yahya Khan appointed Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan as the Governor of East Pakistan and Lt. Gen. Yaqub Khan as the commander of the army's Eastern Command, and the activities, momentum, and magnitude of the Pakistan Navy in East Pakistan increased at a maximum level, and more military and naval exercises began to take place in East Pakistan that initially focused on gathering intelligence on Indian infiltration in East.[9] East Pakistan, under the martial law administration of Admiral Ahsan, saw the period of stability and the civil control and law and order situation was effectively under control.[9] In 2010, Admiral Shariff authored his memories and concluded:

The initial military success (Searchlight and Barisal) in regaining the law and order situation in East-Pakistan in March 1971 was misunderstood as a complete success.... In actuality, the law and order situation deteriorated with time, particularly after September of the same year when the population turned increasingly against the [Pakistan] armed forces as well as the [Yahya's military] government. The rapid increase in the number of troops though bloated the overall strength, however, [it] did not add to our fighting strength to the extent that was required. A sizeable proportion of the new additions were too old, inexperienced or unwilling....

— Admiral Mohammad Shariff, Commander of Eastern Naval Command, [17]

In 1970, the Election Commission held the general elections in the country that resulted in Awami League securing the supermajority in the East while Pakistan Peoples Party claiming the mandate in Pakistan. When the agitations in East Pakistan began to gain momentum, President Yahya held meeting with Governor Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan and army's Eastern Command's commander Lieutenant-General Yaqub Ali Khan over their mission outcomes where both objected the brute force against the Bengali rebels. Despite opposition, President Yahya Khan authorized the Operation Searchlight and accepted the resignations from Governor Admiral Ahsan and General Yaqub, only to be appointed Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan as their capacity.[18][17]

The Searchlight resulted in quick success, but it had created a temporary momentum on Bengali rebels who started their insurgency from Barisal, a riverine city which the Army had failed to infiltrated.[17] Therefore, Rear-Admiral Shariff's command was put in test when he authorized the launch of Barisal which resulted in immediate success, but it had no long-lasting effects.[17]

As the war progressed, he insisted on deployment of the combat warships to mount a serious pressure on the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command but the Navy NHQ did not grant his wishes in fear of losing the warships into the hands of the enemy.[19] He personally led many operations undertaken after the deployment of the Marines and SSG(N) against the Eastern Command of the Indian Army despite logistical disadvantages.[17] Overall, the Pakistan Navy performed its mission task well and diligently by providing support to the army until the end.[17] However, while the Navy was successful by performing its task, Pakistan Army's Eastern Military Commands were unsuccessful to achieve their objectives.[17] In the East, he earned his reputation as an effective commander within the military circles whose efforts had partially made the strategic shores of East Pakistan safe from the Indian Navy.[17]

The Indian Air Force's aerial campaign resulted in taking Sq. Ldr PQ Mehdi as war prisoner and dismantling the only No. 14 Squadron active in the East.[20] Admiral Shariff authorized Lieutenant-Colonel Liaquat Asrar Bukhari to evacuate the Aviation Corps and take refuge to neighbouring Burma.[15]^{: 422–425}[20] When Air Commodore Inamul Haq, commander of Eastern Air Command, argued against the evacuation, Shariff strongly lobbied for the evacuation by convincing Lieutenant-General Niazi that Colonel Liaqat Bukhari should be allowed to give it a try, as several helicopters would be prevented from falling into enemy hands.[20] General Niazi agreed with Rear-Admiral Shariff and ordered Colonel Liaqat to launch an evacuation operation immediately.[20] Over several nights, the army aviators, large number of PAF pilots and personnel successfully left for Akyab in Burma.[20]

About the deployment of US Taskforce 74 in support to the Pakistani military, Admiral Shariff had notified General Niazi that "if the American Fleet had been coming to help them [Eastern Command], it would have established contacts with his HQ."[21]

During the entire military conflict, insurgency was widely spread to entire provincial state, the East-Pakistan.[17] The Indian Military had intervened in East-Pakistan, the Eastern Air Command and Eastern Military Command forced Lieutenant-General A. A. K. Niazi to surrender the Pakistan Eastern Command Forces to his counterpart Jagjit Singh Arora. In spite of Eastern Naval Command paying a heavy price, Admiral Shariff continued to keep the morale of Pakistan Navy personnel on high who were later pushed back to the wall by Mukti Bahni and the animosity of public that pounded the Pakistan Naval assets.

As Indian Armed Forces entered in East-Pakistan, Shariff planned an immediate evacuation operation.[9] He commanded and oversaw the maximum evacuation of Pakistan Naval assets from East Pakistan to Burma in a limited time.[9] However, the night Pakistan Eastern Military High Command were surrendered, Shariff with a small number of military officers planned to leave as the Pakistan naval vessel was waiting for their evacuation.[9] As the East-Pakistan fell, all the naval routes were closed by Indian Navy, forcing Shariff to remain in East-Pakistan.[9]

On 16 December, Rear-Admiral Mohammad Shariff surrendered his TT pistol to Vice-Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command at 4:31pm (16:31hrs).[7] His TT Pistol is still placed in "covered glass" display at the Indian Military Academy's Museum.[7]

Later, he joined General Niazi where he was presented at the time when the Instrument of Surrender was signed. Shariff was the only Admiral at that particular event, with thirty brigadiers, and four Major-Generals, and thousands of soldiers and personnel witnessed the event and instrument that Niazi signed.[7]

Upon surrendering of the Eastern Command, Rear-Admiral Shariff was taken as prisoner of war (POW) and was taken adjacent Camp No. 77A, where many of the senior military officials were held, including Lieutenant-General Niazi, in 1971.[7]^: 218 In 1972, he was later shifted to Fort William in Calcutta where the U.S. Navy naval chief Admiral Elmo Zumwalt paid him a visit, followed by a visit of Indian naval chief Admiral S.M. Nanda.[7]^: 218

Later, Admiral Nanda transferred him to Jabalpur, to Rear-Admiral Gautum Singh who had done communications operations and specialization under Admiral Shariff in HMS Mercury during World War II.[7]^: 218 He also requested a copy of the Quran which he recited during his time of his imprisonment.[7]^: 218

[At the end of the conflict] ... We [Eastern Naval Command] had no intelligence and hence, were both deaf and blind with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force pounding us day and night ...

— Admiral Mohammad Shariff telling Admiral Zumwalt in 1971, [7]

In March 1973, the Indian government handed over Rear-Admiral Shariff to Pakistan government at the Wagha border.[7]^: 219 He was allowed to resume his military service and testified in the War Enquiry Commission, where he noted that: "the foundation for the defeat in East Pakistan could be traced back to the military coup d'état in 1958 where senior officers became greedy self-serving politicians rather than soldiers."[22] In 1974, he was promoted as Vice-Admiral and appointed as Vice-Chief of Naval Staff under Vice-Admiral H.H. Ahmed despite the latter being junior to Vice-Admiral Shariff.[23]

On 25 December 1979, the Soviet Union officially intervened in Afghanistan and President Zia called for a national security meeting that was attended by the Chairman joint chiefs, chiefs of staff of army, navy, and air force. At this meeting, he made no intentions against Soviet involvement in East Pakistan's crises after witnessing the Soviet support to India and Mukti Bahini.[27] After this meeting, Zia authorized this operation under General Akhtar, and it was later merged with Operation Cyclone, a programme funded by the United States and the CIA.[27]

At this meeting, President Zia had asked Admiral Shariff and his army chief of staff General Khalid Mahmud Arif to lead a geo-strategic civil-military team to formulate a geostrategy to counter Soviet aggression.[27] He played a crucial role in President Zia's policy on nuclear weapons and was a strong proponent for the implementation of the nuclear deterrent with a view to prevention of foreign intervention. He advised an aggressive policy towards supporting the Afghan mujahideen and supporting a covert but aggressive nuclear option to prevent the military infiltration from India and the Soviet Union.[28]