Pak’s ‘Tiger’ Niazi dead

Lt.Gen. Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the Pakistan Army commander who surrendered to the Indian Army along with 90,000 of his troops after the f...

Lt.Gen. Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the Pakistan Army commander who surrendered to the Indian Army along with 90,000 of his troops after the fall of Dhaka in 1971, died of a heart attack in Lahore.

The 89-year-old diabetic fell ill after breakfast and was taken to the hospital, where he died yesterday, family sources said. Born in 1915 in Mianwali, Niazi was commissioned in the United Indian Army in 1942 and opted to join the Pakistan Army in 1947. He was one of Pakistan’s most decorated Army officers.

Niazi’s surrender to Indian Lt. Gen. J.S. Aurora in 1971 was considered a national humiliation, as it resulted in the division of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. He returned home from captivity in 1974 and was held in detention by the Pakistani Army for about a year.

After his release, Niazi became a strong critic of the policies of the Pakistan Army. He made an unsuccessful bid to enter politics.

In 1998, he published a book, Betrayal of East Pakistan, in which he outlined his version of events that led to the division of Pakistan. Niazi is survived by two sons and three daughters.