Major General Zahirul Islam
Abbasi ( )( n 12 January 1943 - 30 July 2009) was a former
commander and officer of the
Pakistani
Army and the
Inter-Services Intelligence
agency of the
military of
Pakistan.
Serving in the Siachen
region of
the disputed territory of Kashmir
, Abbasi
planned and executed assaults on posts occupied by the Indian Army. Abbasi was accused and
convicted for a period of 7 years for being party to a
coup d'etat against the civilian government of
Benazir Bhutto in 1995 while he was
still a serving Major General in Pakistan Army. No political party
was linked to this coup attempt as determined by the courts.
Military and intelligence career
Abbasi was commissioned into the
Baloch
Regiment of the Pakistan Army around 1963. As a Captain in the
army, he was appointed the adjutant of
Cadet College Petaro in 1966. He served
in that position until 1969. In 1972, he got married to Shahida
Zaheer, daughter of A.A. Shaikh, who was one of the senior teachers
at
Cadet College Petaro. Abbasi
has four children - two sons and two daughters.
Abbasi participated in the 1971 war against India from the western
front. His overall performance was rated very high and he rose up
through the ranks to become a brigadier by the mid-1980s. Abbasi
was deeply influenced by the program of
Islamization carried out by
President
Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s. Under
Zia, the religious values were promoted very highly within the
government and military circles which led to a level of piety in
the lives of many officers including Abbasi. Abbasi remained a part
of the military establishment as long as he was in service with no
links to any political or religious groups as per the tradition of
the army which remained secular in nature.
Abbasi worked as an intelligence and military officer in liaison
with Afghan militias resisting the
Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan (1980 - 1986), which was a part of the United
States program supporting Pakistan.
In 1987-1988, Brigadier Abbasi also served
as the Military Attache at the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi
, India
. Both
India and Pakistan have brigadiers in the position of Military
Attache in their respective embassies. On
December 1,
1988 New Delhi
police arrested Abbasi in a meeting with an alleged Indian contact.
As no information or documents could be obtained from him, the
Indian government was forced to release him within hours, chose to
declare him persona non grata and expelled him from India.
Siachen assault
In April
1984, India occupied the high ground around the
Siachen
Glacier
in violation of the Simla Agreement. Pakistan immediately
rushed its forces to the area, which led to a war-like situation
that has lasted since them. Many Pakistani and Indian soldiers were
killed in high-altitude warfare involving thousands of soldiers. As
a Brigadier, Abbasi was deployed as a unit commander in the Siachen
area in 1991. Abbasi opposed the restraint imposed by the army
under prime minister
Nawaz Sharif, and
planned an assault with a group of army officers. Striving to seize
key posts, Abbasi's surprise attack failed as his troops were
repulsed by Indian forces with heavy casualties. Abbasi and his
allies were removed from their posts by the army chief Gen.
Asif Nawaz.
Coup attempt
Dropped from further promotion in the army command and due to
dissatisfaction with the state of corruption and other affairs in
the country, Major General Abbasi allegedly plotted a coup against
the civilian government of prime minister
Benazir Bhutto and the army chief Gen.
Abdul Waheed Kakar in 1995. At
the time of the attempted coup, Abbasi was holding the post of
director-general of infantry corps at the army General Headquarters
GHQ - a staff position where he did not command any troops.
Attempting to gather a group of senior officers and military
commanders, Abbasi was accused of planning to assassinate Bhutto,
Kakar, senior cabinet ministers and the military chiefs and
proclaim the establishment of Islamic law in Pakistan, and taking
over the government.
The plot was foiled when it was uncovered by Lt. Gen.
Jehangir Karamat, then chief of general
staff (CGS).
The coup plotters were arrested, and
following a court-martial, Abbasi was
moved to the civilian central prison at Haripur in NWFP
.
Investigation reports revealed that Abbasi
and his co-conspirators had planned to kill the entire army high
command during a corps commander's conference in Islamabad
on September 30,
1995.
According to one of the earliest reports, "Diplomats and
politicians in Islamabad tell a different story. They say the
arrested officers were not planning a coup, but were supplying arms
to separatists fighting in Indian Kashmir. Bhutto, these sources
say, was responding to pressure from Washington to crack down on
military support to the rebels in violation of official policy. The
U.S. has been seeking a solution to the Kashmir dispute and is
eager to see an end to tensions between Islamabad and New
Delhi."
With one of the co-conspirators Qari Saifullah turning an
"approver" (government witness), the military court determined that
Abbasi was not the main plotter in the attempted coup and was
therefore given a lighter sentence of only 7 years as compared to
the other army officers like Brigadier
Mustansir Billah who were convicted for
terms up to 14 years. The coup was not considered serious enough to
grant a death sentence to any of the plotters. Qari Saifullah was
not convicted as a part of the deal with the government for his
becoming a witness.
Release
Abbasi's imprisonment started in 1995 and he was to remain in
prison for 7 years, i.e. until 2002.
During his period of
imprisonment, Abbasi lodged an appeal to Supreme Court of
Pakistan
in 1997 for a review of his case. This was
refused since he had been convicted by a military court, and it was
outside the purview of civilian courts. He was not granted release.
However based on good conduct during his prison term, Abbasi was
given early release from prison by General
Pervez Musharraf in October, 1999, i.e.
within four years. With his military career over, Abbasi moved to
organise a political party with the aim of creating awareness and
establishing the rule of Islamic law through constitutional change.
Abbasi recently formed another political party called the
Azmat-e-Islam party with the
same objectives. He leads a quiet life in Rawalpindi, and delivers
lectures to audiences on the values of religious life.
Footnotes
See also
References
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