A.O. Mitha

Major General Abu Bakr Osman Mitha (1923 – December 1999) was the pioneer of Military Intelligence and known for creating Commando Special Forces to carry out secret and covert operations for the military of Pakistan. He was to Pakistan what J. Edgar Hoover was to the USA. In Pakistan during the 1950s, neither civilian nor military intelligence of modern standards existed. During the 1960s, he helped set up, with the help of CIA, an intelligence group with commando training which came to be known as the SSG. It later branched out into ISI or Inter-Services Intelligence and the military branch of special ops remained as SSG. Mitha was also implicated in the large scale massacre of Bengalis in what is now Bangladesh during the Pakistan Civil war of 1971 but was exonerated by the Hamoodur Rahman Commission in the early 1970s.

Early Life

Major General Mitha was born in 1923 to an affluent and politically influential Memon family in Bombay.

Career in The British Indian Army

Mitha as a young man, rejected both a career in business and the bride chosen for him by his grandfather, deciding instead to embark upon a career in the army.

After finishing high school he joined a pre-cadet academy, and was selected for a commission in the British Indian army. He passed out of the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, in 1942 and volunteered for the Parachute Regiment. He served in Burma during World War II and was dropped behind Japanese lines for high-risk operations while in service to the regiment.

General Mitha refers to the blatant racism that British officers practiced against their Indian colleagues in his book Unlikely Beginnings which was published posthumously. He wrote, "If there were ten officers in a mess, two of them British, they would see to it that they had little, if anything, to do with their Indian counterparts".

Pakistani Army

Mitha opted for Pakistan in 1947. He qualified for the Staff College, Quetta as GSO 1 in GHQ Pakistan. He was Brigade Major in 1952 and Colonel Staff to GOC-in-C in 1962. Just around that time, he fell in love with Indu, daughter of Prof Chatterji of Government College, who had grown up in Lahore, but had since moved to Delhi. That it was not just puppy love but something more lasting was proved by Mitha's perseverance, and four years after the young lovers' separation, Indu, against the wishes of her family, came over to Karachi and they were married.The couple had three daughters, two of which turned out to be very talented classical dancers.

Mitha describes the GHQ in Rawalpindi of the early days of Pakistan in graphic detail, with junior officers using wooden packing cases for desks and chairs and bringing their own pencils to work. Toilet paper that the British used to call "bog paper" was used to write on, as ordinary paper was just not available. He says:

"When I see the offices in GHQ today, with wall-to-wall carpeting, paneled walls and full air conditioning, I wonder how and why this desire for luxurious working conditions has crept in..."

In 1953-1954 officers above the rank of lieutenant-colonel were asked if Pakistan should accept US military aid. Mitha suggested that Pakistan should not, because aid would prevent the country from developing its own arms industry and leave it at the mercy of the Americans. It will also develop a 'beggar mentality', he predicted.

This advice was ignored. Cherat was chosen as the highly restricted site where the commandos were to be trained and based. The trainers were mostly Americans from the CIA and Military, who came with their families, setting up a little community of their own. Mitha's sole instruction to his handpicked Pakistani officers was, "Be proud of your poverty." He remained head of the SSG for 6 years.

Mitha in East Pakistan

Maj. Gen. Mitha was particularly active in East Pakistan in the days preceding the military action of the 25th of March 1971, and even other Generals were present in Dacca along with Yahya Khan, and secretly departed on the evening of 25th of March 1971,that fateful day after fixing the deadline for the military action. Maj. Gen. Mitha is said to have remained behind. Lt. Gen Tikka Khan, Major Gen. Rao Farman Ali and Maj.Gen.Khadim Hussain Raja were associated with the planning of the military action. There was, however, nothing to show that they contemplated the use of excessive force or the Commission of atrocities and excesses on the people of East Pakistan.

Betrayal by the Army

Maj. Gen. Mitha was Quartermaster General at GHQ when prematurely retired by the civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in December 1971. He was just over 48 years old. General Gul Hasan added his name to a list of officers whose retirements were announced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in his first speech as president on December 20, 1971.This came as a surprise as General Mitha had no hand in the Officer's Revolt at Gujranwala and the hooting down of Gen Hamid at a GHQ meeting, events that, ironically, pushed out Yahya Khan too.

According to Gen Mitha, it was Gul Hasan who also saved Brig Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, as he then was, from being sacked. Zia was in Jordan. The year was 1971. Gen Yahya Khan received a signal from Maj. General Nawazish, the head of the Pakistan military mission in Amman, asking that Zia be court martialled for disobeying GHQ orders by commanding a Jordanian armor division against the Palestinians in which thousands were slaughtered. That ignominious event is known as Operation Black September. It was Gul Hasan who interceded for Zia and Yahya Khan let Zia off the hook. In the course of his military career, he was awarded the Hilal-i-Jur'at, Sitarai-Pakistan, and Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam.

Honors, Dishonors and Death

After retirement he was stripped of his medals and pensions without due cause ,and that was quite a surprise to the public as he was never Court Martialled.So it remained an unpopular move by the army of Pakistan at the time .But Gen Mitha gained more popularity by this due to which he was kept under surveillance by the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Administration as he was also hero worshipped by his juniors in SSG.His Hilal-i-Jurat was withdrawn in February 1972, some suggest it to be the work of General Gul Hasan. He remained under surveillance through the Bhutto years.

He had a hard time finding any kind of employment. Had it not been for the generosity of a friend living in Britian, who asked Mitha to manage his farm for him, he would have been on the street.

Maj.Gen. A.O. Mitha died in December 1999. After he died, one of his friends wrote to his wife, "At the end of a tumultuous life, all he wanted was a room to sleep in, one to write and eat in – a space to walk, reflect and gaze across the fields to the distant hills."

Special Services Group (SSG)

Lt. Col. (later Maj. Gen.) Abu Bakr Osman Mitha came to prominence when appointed to raise the Special Services Group (SSG). This made him a legend not only in the Army, but also with the Navy and Air Force. He left his mark on hundreds of young cadets when he commanded the Pakistan Military Academy from 1966-1968. In 1965 he commanded an Infantry Brigade in East Pakistan and was also active there in early 1971 as Deputy Corps Commander. He also commanded the elite 1st Armoured Division from 1968-1970.

SSG's initial training and orientation in regards to tactics was based on the US Special Forces pattern with whom they co-operated closely in the Cold War years. Later Chinese training, tactics, weapons, and equipment were also introduced.

After a few preliminary operations on the Afghan border, the nascent SSG's first test came during the 1965 war. Around 100 officers and men were dropped on the night of 6 September near the Indian airbases of Adampur, Pathankot and Halwara in an ill-conceived operation to destroy Indian combat aircraft and put the bases out of action.The operation ended in a disaster as the SSG commandos fell easy prey to hastily gathered Indian troops and adventurous civilians. Only a handful made it back to their own country after numerous travails. No Indian planes were damaged or casualties inflicted on Indian troops.

By 1971, the SSG boasted of 3 battalions with one permanently stationed in East Pakistan. Their performance in the 1971 war was much better with 1 Commando Battalion making a spectacular raid on an Indian artillery regiment and disabling several of their guns besides inflicting casualties. 3 Commando Battalion in Bangladesh performed creditably in a normal infantry role. The SSG's role in the Afghan War was highly commendable and much of the credit for the spectacular successes of the Mujahideen goes to them.

Likewise, they have fought well in Siachen though in one or two instances taking heavy casualties. In the preliminary stages of the 1999 Kargil Operations the SSG performed well, infiltrating relatively deep into Indian territory undetected. Subsequently being used as stock infantry troops to hold posts/defensive positions, they took heavy casualties and suffered the mortification of being `denied' by their own country.

In 1980, an anti-terrorist role was given to Musa Company, which was originally formed in 1970 as a combat diver unit. This company was subsequently trained by British SAS advisers in mid-1981. In 1980 however each battalion was given a diver unit. The battalion in East Pakistan earlier had a frogman platoon with which it was planned by Lieutenant-General A. A. K. Niazi (GOC Pakistan Eastern Command) to attack the Indian Farakka Barrage.

Since then SSG has come a long way. The current president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharaf, is an SSG-trained commando.