A history of Pak military officials’ convictions

LAHORE: The arrest of three more retired army officers linked to probe against former ISI chief Faiz Hameed, who faces a court-martial, is not the first instance of its kind in the last 73 years, research shows.

Apart from innumerable Pakistani army officers handcuffed, sentenced and booked to date on allegations of corruption, there are many who faced law during service or after retirement, on charges of plotting coups against elected regimes, for voicing dissent against the rulers of the time and espionage etc.

Here follows a chronology of arrest of members of Armed forces since 1951 in cases involving failed coups and espionage:

In the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case 1951, an attempted coup to overthrow Premier Liaquat Ali Khan, those handcuffed by the Military Police included Chief of the General Staff, General Akbar Khan (hero of 1948 Kashmir War), Air Commodore M. K. Janjua, Maj. Gen. Nazir Ahmed, Brigadier Sadiq Khan, Brigadier Latif Khan, Lt. Col. Ziaud-Din, Lt. Col. Niaz Arbab, Captain Khizar Hayat, Maj. Hassan Khan, Major Ishaq and Captain Zafrullah.

General Akbar was reportedly furious after Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan had accepted the UN’s peace plan to end the war with India. In the Attock Conspiracy Case 1973, a failed plot against the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, those arrested included Brigadier F.B. Ali, Major Farouk Adam, Squadron Leader Ghous, Colonel Aleem Afridi and Colonel Tariq Rafi. The plan could not reportedly materialize as Colonel Afridi backed out and informed the government. The coup plotters were arrested, court martialed and jailed.

In 1980, Major General Tajammul Malik headed a failed coup attempt against Gen Zia. His move to kill Zia on the Pakistan Day Parade consequently resulted in his Court-Martial.

In January 1984, Major Aftab (along with eminent lawyer Raza Kazim) was arrested by Gen. Zia’s regime for resistance against the 1977 Martial Law. Declared principal accused and tried in-camera at Attock Fort, Aftab was sentenced to life. All caught were given jail sentences, but released in 1988 by the first Benazir Bhutto regime. The last of the failed coup attempts was made in 1995 against the second Benazir government. Maj Gen Zaheerul Islam Abbasi had planned to take over the GHQ. Gen Abbasi was arrested along with Brig Mustansar Billah (convicted for 14 years), Colonel Inayatullah, Colonel Azad Minhas, Colonel Hamid, Colonel Iqbal, Lt Colonel Shamsul Islam and Lt Colonel Liaquat Raja.

In 2018, Naik Muhammad Hussain was court-martialed for espionage. He was sentenced to death, a decision later upheld by the Chief of Army Staff.

In May 2019, according to “BBC News,” a Pakistani three-star General, Javed Iqbal was sentenced to life for spying by a military court that also gave death sentences to a retired brigadier (ex-Military Attaché Raja Rizwan) and a civilian official. In 2004 several low-ranking military personnel were convicted in connection with attempts on the life of former President Pervez Musharraf.

In June 2011, Brigadier Ali Khan, Major Inayat, Major Iftikhar, Major Sohail and Major Jawad were arrested for alleged contacts with a banned extremist group. After A Court Martial, all four were convicted. The same year, Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Shahid Bashir was court-martialed on similar charges and accused of leaking secrets of Shamsi Air Base. In 2023, Lieutenant Colonel Akbar Hussain was convicted after a Court Martial on charges of sedition and terrorism for his alleged role in vandalism during protests following Imran Khan’s arrest.