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	{{Short description\|British Indian general (1913–2004)}}		{{Short description\|British Indian general (1913–2004)}}
	{{For\|the Pakistani general who was Governor of Punjab\|Ghulam Jilani Khan}}		{{For\|the Pakistani general who was Governor of Punjab\|Ghulam Jilani Khan}}
	{{Use Pakistani English\|date=December ~~2022~~}}		{{Use Pakistani English\|date=December 2015}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=December ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=December 2015}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| name = Mian Gulam Jilani		\| name = Mian Gulam Jilani

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{{For|the Pakistani general who was Governor of Punjab|Ghulam Jilani Khan}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox military person
| name =Mian Gulam Jilani
| image =MG Jilani.jpg
| caption =[[Major General]] Mian Ghulam Jilani
| birth_date ={{Birth date|1913|03|01}}
| death_date ={{Death date and age|2004|03|01|1913|03|01}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =[[Fairfax, Virginia]], United States
| birth_place =[[Sibi]], [[Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province)|British Balochistan]]
| death_place =[[Fairfax, Virginia]], United States
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| birth_name =Mian Ghulam Jilani
| allegiance ={{Flag|British India}} {{PAK}}
| branch =British Indian Army {{army|PAK}}
| serviceyears =1936–1962
| rank =[[File:US-O8 insignia.svg|20px]] [[Major General]]
| servicenumber =PA-42
| unit =4th battalion [[19th Hyderabad Regiment]]
| commands =[[Frontier Force Regiment]] 14th Infantry Division Commandant of the [[Command and Staff College]] 15th Infantry Division 7th Infantry Division
| battles =World War II
*[[Battle of Singapore]]
[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]]
*[[Military operations in Poonch (1948)|Poonch Military operations]]
*[[Military operations in Ladakh (1948)|Ladakh Military operations]]
| battles_label =
| awards =[[Civil decorations of Pakistan|Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam]] [[Imtiazi Sanad]] [[Legion of Merit]]
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
[[Major General]] '''Mian Gulam Jilani''' (SQA, [[Imtiazi Sanad]]) (1 March 1913<ref>Indian Army List October 1936</ref> – 1 March 2004) was a [[two-star rank|two-star]] general officer in the [[Pakistan Army]] who, as an [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] officer during the [[World War II|Second World War]] had survived a Japanese PoW camp at [[Singapore]]. He subsequently rose to help negotiate Pakistan's membership in the [[Baghdad Pact]] and the [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]]. An ethnic [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]], he retired from the Pakistan Army in 1962 and was jailed 1973 for his political beliefs. [[Amnesty International]] declared him a prisoner of conscience in 1974. He escaped from custody and took political asylum in the United States in 1975.

==Early life==
Jilani was born in [[Sibi]], [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]], when the British ruled the [[Indian subcontinent]]. He was educated at Forman Christian College in [[Lahore]] and later finished Law at [[Aligarh University]] in India. He completed his officer’s training at the [[Indian Military Academy]] at [[Dehra Dun]] in India and was commissioned as second lieutenant on to the Special List, Indian Land Forces on 1 February 1936 and attached to the 2nd battalion the [[Royal Scots|Royal Scots Regiment]] on 24 February 1936 for a years experience before joining his Indian Army regiment.<ref>Indian Army List October 1936</ref> He was accepted for the Indian Army on 24 February 1937 and posted to the 4th battalion [[19th Hyderabad Regiment]]. His seniority as a second lieutenant was antedated to 3 February 1935 and he was promoted Lieutenant 3 May 1937.<ref>Indian Army List October 1937</ref> He was later appointed acting Captain and then appointed Adjutant of the 4/19th 1 October 1940.<ref>Indian Army List October 1942 most secret edition, p590</ref>

==Captured at Singapore==
During the Second World War the 4th battalion [[19th Hyderabad Regiment]] was sent to [[Singapore]] with the British Indian Army and he was captured and taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1942. He was a prisoner of war for nearly forty months. He was tortured and kept in solitary confinement for seven months during this period. Whilst a prisoner of war he was promoted Captain.<ref>Indian Army List April 1944</ref> He was mention in despatches in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Malaya in 1942.<ref>London Gazette 19 December 1946, p6165</ref>

Shortly after World War II, the movement for independence from the British resulted in the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Jilani threw his energy and enthusiasm behind it.

==Pakistan and the Kashmir Operations==
He joined the newly formed Pakistan Army and was the 42nd senior most officer (PA – 42), commanding a unit of the [[Frontier Force Regiment]]. A few weeks later he took a leave of absence from the army to volunteer as a fighter in [[Kashmir]], allegedly fighting for its "independence" and "right to join Pakistan". In April 1948, he was appointed Commanding Officer at [[Gilgit]] where he remained until the ceasefire.

His troops played a major role in establishing what became the line of control between India and Pakistan, which has become the ''de facto'' international border and is likely to be formalized as the permanent border in the times ahead. He fought a guerrilla war in northern [[Kashmir]], engaged two divisions of the Indian Army and "conquered" the whole of [[Baltistan]], when the government of [[Pakistan]] agreed to a ceasefire at the behest of the [[United Nations]].

==Relations with the United States==

In 1952, as a Brigadier, he went to Washington as Pakistan’s first Military Attaché to the US in Washington. He was also Military Attache for Canada and Mexico. He brought about the military aid treaty between the United States and [[Pakistan]], for which in 1955 he was awarded the [[Legion of Merit]] by President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. Pakistan awarded him the Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam, or Star of the Quaid, named after the founder of Pakistan.

==Senior Commander==
On promotion to [[Major General]], he served as GOC [[East Pakistan]] commanding 14th Infantry Division ([[Dhaka]]), Commandant of the [[Command and Staff College]] ([[Quetta]]) (July 1957 – December 1958), [[Master General of Ordnance (Pakistan)| Master General of Ordnance]] (GHQ) and GOC 15th Infantry Division ([[Sialkot]]).<ref>http://armystaffcollege.gov.pk/Hist_comdts.php</ref>

As GOC 15th Div he along with (then) Brig Rakhman Gul MC Inspector General Frontier Corps served under (then) Maj Gen [[Attiqur Rahman]] [[Military Cross|MC]] [[General Officer Commanding|GOC]] 7th Infantry Division who was the Force Commander for the [[Dir-Bajaur]] operation of October 1960. After [[Nawab Sir Shah Jehan Khan]] and his son [[Khan Shahabud Din Khan]] of [[Jandol]] were captured on 28 October, Maj Gen Attiqur Rahman MC moved back to Peshawar and Maj Gen Mian Gulam Jilani took over as Force Commander.

==Political struggle==
After retiring from the army, he entered politics and became a member of the provincial assembly in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP). He was an outspoken critic of the government of [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]].

On retirement from the army, he was hired by [[Fakhrudin Valika]] as a General Manager with the [[Valika Group]] in Karachi, until his entry into politics. He joined the [[National Awami Party]], and was elected to the [[Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Provincial Assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]] from his home constituency in [[Swabi]] (now [[Mardan]]) in the General Elections of 1970. During his National Awami Party years, he was the head of the Zalmay Pakhtun, and was arrested by the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] government on 15 February 1973.

His wife Mrs. Nancy Habiba Jilani filed a writ petition against his detention, and the judgment of the Lahore High Court was authored by [[Nasim Hasan Shah]], J. and is reported as: ''Mrs. Habiba Jilani V Federation of Pakistan (PLD 1974 Lahore 153)''

A smear campaign was launched against him. In a crackdown on his party, Jilani was arrested in 1973. Bhutto then attempted to bribe Jilani with offers of high positions—all to no avail. He was frequently arrested, but all charges against him were repeatedly dismissed by the courts. [[Amnesty International]] adopted him as a "prisoner of conscience" in 1974.

In jail, Jilani managed to escape from his guards during a hospital visit in 1975 and got political asylum in the United States. He became a US citizen in 1981, and died at his daughter's home in Fairfax, Virginia on 1 March 2004.

Member Provincial Assembly (NWFP) 1970–77

==Bibliography==
*''Judgments on the Constitution, Rule of Law, and Martial Law in Pakistan'' by Chief Justice Dr Nasim Hassan Shah, edited by Prof Dr M A Mannan (OUP 1993)
*''Pakistan. Problems of Governance'' by Mushahid Hussain & Akmal Hussain (Vanguard Books 1993) (p. 30, 87 & 90)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Pakistan Army template}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jilani, Mian Ghulam}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Aligarh Muslim University alumni]]
[[Category:Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Pakistan]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Forman Christian College alumni]]
[[Category:Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Frontier Force Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Indian prisoners of war]]
[[Category:People with acquired American citizenship]]
[[Category:Pakistani emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Pakistani generals]]
[[Category:People from Sibi District]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan]]
[[Category:Pakistani escapees]]
[[Category:Escapees from Pakistani detention]]
[[Category:Pakistani torture victims]]
[[Category:Indian Military Academy alumni]]

Mian Ghulam Jilani - Revision history

Pranav at 14:03, 3 July 2025

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