Muzaffar Hassan
Muzaffar Hassan | |
|---|---|
| مظفر حسن | |
 | |
| 5th Commander-in-Chief Pakistan Navy | |
| In office 1 September 1969 – 22 December 1971 | |
| President | General Yahya Khan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| Preceded by | S. M. Ahsan |
| Succeeded by | Hasan Hafeez Ahmed (as Chief of Naval Staff) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1921 |
| Died | 2012 (aged 90–91) |
| Party | Tehreek-e-Istiqlal (1977-1980) |
| Education | Joint Services Staff College (UK) |
Awards | _(1957-86).png){kind=small} Sitara-i-Khidmat[1] |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  Royal Indian Navy (1943–1947) Pakistan Navy (1947–1971) |
Years of service | 1943–1971 |
| Rank | Vice Admiral |
| Unit | Navy Executive Branch S/No. PN. 073 |
| Commands | Pakistan Navy |
| Battles/wars | |
Muzzafar Hassan[a] (1921 - June 2012[2]) was a three-star rank naval officer who served as the fifth and last Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Navy from 1969 until 1971, serving under first President Yahya Khan and then a few days under President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.: 199 [3] He commanded the Navy in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.
Early life
Muzaffar Hassan was born in 1921.[4]
Personal life
Muzaffar was married to Gohar Begum.[5]
Service years
Royal Indian Navy (1943-1947)
He was commissioned in the Royal Indian Navy in 1943 and participated in World War II.[4]
Pakistan Navy (1947-1971)
He opted for the Royal Pakistan Navy (RPN) following the Partition of British India in August 1947. Hassan was among the first twenty naval officers to join the RPN as a lieutenant with the service number PN.0073 that was listed in the seniority list sent by the Royal Indian Navy to Pakistan's Ministry of Defence.[6] He led the RPN hockey team during a match against the Indian Navy. The RPN won by a score of five to one against the Indian Navy.[7]
In 1952, he was promoted to commander and commanded the destroyer PNS Tughril.[7] He accompanied Governor of Punjab Abdur Rab Nishtar on Hajj to Mecca.[8] His career in the Navy progressed in the 1960s; he was promoted to rear-admiral in 1965 after participating in the second war with India.
He succeeded Vice Admiral S. M. Ahsan as Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Navy on 1 September 1969.[9] He frequently visited East Pakistan to review the operational readiness of the Navy between 1969 and 1971.[10][11] During this time, he also served as military adviser to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).[4]
Naval casualties included 408 personnel killed at sea, and around 3,000 personnel, including 1300 naval officers, were held as prisoners of war.: 140 [12] Many of his requests to retaliate against the Indian Navy were rebuffed by Air Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan, who reportedly said, "Well, old boy, this happens in war. I am sorry your ships have been sunk. We shall try to do something in the future.": 89–90 [12]
After the war, he was relieved of command of the Navy on 22 December 1971 and replaced with Hasan Hafeez Ahmed.[13]
Later life and death
In 1977, Hassan became a politician and was the Chairman of Asghar Khan's political party, Tehreek-e-Istiqlal, in Karachi in October 1977. He announced his decision to retire from politics in a letter to Asghar Khan in May 1980.[14]
Hassan was elected as the first president of the Defence Society Residents Association–a neighborhood watch– on 8 May 1981 and served until 1990.[15]
He died in June 2012.[2]
In popular culture
He is portrayed by Karan Chibber in the 2026 Indian film Border 2, which is based on various engagements during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 including the sinking of INS Khukri by PNS Hangor.[16]
Notes
References
- ↑ Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1970). A Year Book of the Commonwealth. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 331.
- ↑ Cheema, Pervaiz Iqbal (2002). The Armed Forces of Pakistan. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814716335. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- 1 2 3 SEATO Record. SEATO. 1969. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ↑ Anis ur Rahmaan (2024). The Pursuit of Knowledge: A Lifetime Journey. p. 30. ISBN 9798369433843.
- ↑ Kazi, AGN (11 January 2011). "The first few executive officers transferred to the Pakistan Navy on Partition". Flickr. Flickr, Kazi. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- 1 2 Shabbir, Usman. "The First Destroyer". pakdef.org. « PakDef Military Consortium. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ↑ "Commander (Later Admiral) Muzaffar Hussain welcomes Sardar Nishtar during Hajj, 1952". Flickr. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ↑ "Navy Chief Named". Lincoln Star. 5 September 1969.
- ↑ "Admiral Muzaffar with senior naval officers in East Pakistan, 1971". Flickr. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ↑ "Admiral Muzaffar with General Niazi in East Pakistan, 1971". Flickr. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- 1 2 Goldrick, James (1997). "§The 1971 Indo-Pakistan war at sea" (PDF). No Easy Answers: The Development of the Navies of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, 1945-1996. Melbourne, [au]: Lancer Publishers. ISBN 9781897829028. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ↑ S. N. Prasad, ed. (1992). History of the 1971 India-Pakistan War. History Division, Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
- ↑ Asghar Khan (2008). My political struggle. p. 121, 211.
- ↑ "History". Defence Society Residents Association. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ Singh, Anurag (2026). Border 2 (Motion picture) (in Hindi). T-Series Films, J. P. Films.
