A. A. K. Niazi

Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi HJ & Bar SPk SK MC (1915 – 1 February 2004) was a Pakistan Army general. During the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he commanded the Pakistani Eastern Command in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), he signed the instrument of surrender as in 16 Dec. '71 his forces had to surrender to the Indian Army's Eastern Command's commander Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora by the order of the then President of Pakistan Yahya Khan.

Quotes

• Lastly, all I can say is that after talking to Niazi and reading his book, I have had the impression that he symbolises the majority of the Pakistan Army. They are thick, almost robot-like. Their pride is enormous, and they see Pakistan as the world as a whole. The intelligent minority in the army have always used them. For instance, this intelligent minority realised beforehand that East Pakistan would at the end become independent. So most of them never came here, and those who did left early enough to save themselves from humiliation. They refused to take responsibilities for the defeat. Niazi, on the other hand, was more than eager to come and lead this force of murderers, marauders and rapists. He cannot even comprehend that he is actually a war criminal. He still dreams that the East and the West will one day reunite in a confederation because of the Muslim majority in both sides. But he also thinks that Bangalis carry a Hindu mentality. He still holds the Razakars dear to his heart. Not even his own troops, whose gallantry he praises again and again in his book, have been granted this privilege. If his troops had been so dear to him, then he would have dedicated the book to them, and not to the Razakars. To understand the mind of the Pakistani Generals, reading Niazi's book is a must.
  • The vanquished generals and the liberation war of Bangladesh by Muntassir Mamoon

• But Niazi [Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi] has reserved his fiercest wrath for Rao Farman Ali. The latter, he says, was not only an opportunist conspirator, but was also an embezzler of money. Farman asked him to send him back to Pakistan, because "Mukti Bahini would kill him for his alleged massacre of the Bangalis and intellectuals on the night of 15/16th December. It was a pathetic sight to see him pale and almost on the verge of break-down". But Niazi assured him that he would give his life to save Farman Ali from the clutches of the Muktibahini, and he kept his word.
  • The vanquished generals and the liberation war of Bangladesh by Muntassir Mamoon

• “[Enter] Commander East Pakistan General Niazi, wearing a pistol holster on his web belt. Niazi became abusive and started raving. Breaking into Urdu, he said: Main iss haramzadi qaum ki nasal badal doon ga. Yeh mujhe kiya samajhtey hain. He threatened that he would let his soldiers loose on their womenfolk. There was pin drop silence at these remarks. The next morning, we were given the sad news. A Bengali officer Major Mushtaq went into a bathroom at the Command Headquarters and shot himself in the head” (p.98).
  Niazi also asked Raja for phone numbers of his Bengali girlfriends: “Abhi tau mujhey Bengali girlfriends kay phone number day do” (p.99).
  • Major General (Retd.) Khadim Hussain Raja - A Stranger in my own Country. East Pakistan, 1969-1971-Oxford University Press (2012) p 98-99