Yahya Khan
From Freepedia
| Image:Yahyakhan.jpg | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth: | February 4, 1917 |
| Date of Death: | August 10, 1980 |
| President of Pakistan | |
| Tenure Order: | 3th President |
| Term in Office: | March 25, 1969 – December 20, 1971 |
| Predecessor: | Ayub Khan |
| Successor: | Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto |
| Chief of the Army Staff | |
| Tenure Order: | 5th Chief of the Army Staff |
| Term in Office: | 1969 – 1971 |
| Predecessor: | Gen. Musa Khan |
| Successor: | Gen. Gul Hasan |
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (February 4 1917 – August 10 1980) was the President of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff from 1969 to 1971, following the resignation of Ayub Khan. His rule was characterized by tensions in East Pakistan in the early 1970s that finally led to its seccession following the Bangladesh Liberation War. The twin failures, the dismemberment of the nation and the military defeat at the hands of arch rival India, forced him to resign and hand over power to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Pre-independence career
Yahya Khan was born in Chakwal in 1917 to a family of Persian speaking soldiers. He attended Punjab University and finished first in his class. He then joined the British Army, and served in World War II as an officer in the British Indian 4th Division. He served in Iraq, Italy, and North Africa.
Later anger over its humiliating defeat by India boiled into street demonstrations throughout Pakistan, rumors of an impending coup d'état by younger army officers against the government of President Mohammed Agha Yahya Khan swept the country. Yahya became the highest-ranking casualty of the war: to forestall further unrest, he hastily surrendered his powers to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, age 43, the ambitious leader of West Pakistan's powerful People's Party.
Yahya Khan died in August 1980, in Rawalpindi.
| Preceded by: Gen. Musa Khan | Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan | Succeeded by: Gen. Gul Hasan |
| Preceded by: Ayub Khan | President of Pakistan | Succeeded by: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto |
