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Third
Chairman Board of Governors
(1969-1971)
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Vice Adm. Muzaffar
Hasan - 1971 |
By Kazi Zulkader
Siddiqui, Kit no. 671, Latif
House
Vice
Admiral Muzaffar Hasan
was the third
Chairman Board of Governors of Cadet College Petaro
from 1969-1971.
He was
born in 1920 at Lucknow in British India.
As
Vice Admiral, he
retired from the Pakistan Navy as Commander-in-Chief of
Pakistan Navy in 1972.
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Muzaffar Hasan was commissioned in the Royal Navy as a
midshipman 1941 in the Exective Branch. He participated
in the II World War on the European front. He was sent
to the UK after the war where he attended the Britannia
Royal Naval College.
With
the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Muzaffar Hasan moved to
Karachi and joined the Royal Pakistan Navy as a
Lieutenant.
He
commanded the first destroyer PNS Tariq with the rank of
Commander in 1952.
During the
1965 war with India, he was a Rear Admiral. In 1967, he
was appointed commander of the Western Naval Command, and as
Commander Karachi (COMKAR) in 1968.
In 1969 he
was elevated to the rank of a Vice Admiral and appointed the
Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Navy. He led the Pakistan Navy
during the December 1971 war with India. The war had been
devastating for Pakistan Navy which lost a few vessels off the
coast of Karachi with no cover from Pakistan Air Force.
Karachi came under intense attack by the Indian Naval and Air
Forces, and the Pakistan Navy was crippled. The submarine PNS
Ghazi, destroyer PNS Khaibar, merchant vessel Venus Challenger
carrying ammunition, destroyer PNS Shahjahan, PNS Muhafiz, PNS
Dacca were among the casualties of the war. 408 Naval
personnel were dead at sea and over 1,300 naval officers and
men were prisoners of war.
Right after
the war, the new President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (who became
Chief Martial Law Administrator as well) removed him from the
position of Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Navy on 22 December
1971 along with the chiefs of the other two forces Lt.Gen. Gul
Hassan Khan and Air Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan. All three
ex-chiefs were forcefully retired on 3 March 1972 by President
Bhutto in a stand up military trial led by the Judge Advocate
General Branch.
The admiral was also
decorated with Hilal-e-Pakistan and Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam
while he was in service.
After his forced
retirement, Vice Admiral Muzaffar Hasan settled down in
DHA, Karachi. He was the first president of the Defence
Society Residents Association (DSRA) from 1981 to 1990.
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