| Mirza Aslam Baig | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Place of birth | Azamgarh, British India |
| Allegiance | Pakistan |
| Service/branch | Pakistan Army |
| Rank | Chief of Army Staff |
| Battles/wars | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Soviet-Afghan War |
| Awards | Nishan-e-Imtiaz |
General Mirza Aslam Beg or Mirza Aslam Baig (Urdu: مرزا اسلم بیگ) was the Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan, succeeding General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter died in the air crash in 1988. He continued to hold this post till 1991, when he was replaced by General Asif Nawaz.
Contents |
Chief of Army Staff
General Beg was vice chief of army staff in General Zia's military administration, and after Zia's death in a plane crash, he was immediately made chief in August 1988. General elections followed, resulting in a transfer of government to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with Benazir Bhutto as the premier. He, however, remained a powerful chief of army staff until 1991, a period in which Pakistan developed nuclear weapons.
Post-retirement and implication of bank fraud
After his retirement Beg remained a controversial figure, both for his alleged role in a Bank scandal and the nuclear proliferation issue. Former Air Marshal Asghar Khan filed a petition in the Supreme Court (HRC 19/96) against the retired General Mirza Aslam Beg, the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief retired Lt General Asad Durrani and Younis Habib of Habib and Mehran Banks, relating to the disbursement of public money and its misuse for political purposes, which is still pending hearing by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The case was initiated by the Air Marshal after Benazir Bhutto's interior minister, another retired general, Naseerullah Babar, had disclosed in the National Assembly in 1994 how the ISI had disbursed funds to purchase the loyalty of politicians and public figures so as to manipulate the 1990 elections and bring about the defeat of the PPP. Aslam Beg managed to get Rs 140 million from Younis Habib and deposited in the Survey Section 202 account of Military Intelligence, then headed by Major General Javed Ashraf Qazi. From there, Rs 6 crore was paid to President Ghulam Ishaq Khan's election cellmates (General Rafaqat, Roedad Khan, and Ijlal Hyder Zaidi), and Rs 8 crore transferred to the ISI account. After retirement he also founded a policy think-tank called Friends [1] and the non-political Awami Qaiyadat Party (National Leadership Party) and continued to be a powerful part of Pakistan's ruling oligarchs.
Relations with President Musharraf
President General Pervez Musharraf served under both Beg and Gul, and apparently had high respect for them, but after September 11, 2001, they gradually drifted apart. Their differences surfaced for the first time when in a press conference Musharraf spoke about the negative role of a few generals and called them "pseudo-intellectuals."
Accusation of Zia's plane crash
General Zia-ul-Haq's son, Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq and the son of late Director General ISI Akhtar Abdur Rahman, Humayun Akhtar Khan have blamed Aslam Beg in the press for being behind the crash, the cause of which was never officially established.
Condemnation of forming IJI against PPP
Aslam Beg, along with the then director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Lt General Hamid Gul, are also accused of gathering all right-wing parties under the umbrella of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad against the PPP in 1988 during Benazir Bhutto's first premiership.
External links
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by General KM Arif | Vice Chief of Army Staff 1987–1988 | Succeeded by post abolished |
| Preceded by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq | Chief of Army Staff 1988–1991 | Succeeded by General Asif Nawaz |
