Major GeneralIftikhar Khan JanjuaHJ & BAR[note 1]SPkSQA (Urdu: افتخار جنجوعہ; died 9 December 1971) of the Pakistan Army is one of the most senior Pakistani officers to have been killed in action. He is known in Pakistan as the hero of Rann of Kutch, as he was a brigadier in command of 6 Brigade, during the fighting in April 1965 prior to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was killed in a helicopter crash, in Kashmir, during the Battle of Chamb while in command of 23 Infantry Division during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. He is one of the only two Generals of Pakistan army to die in combat.
In April 1965, as part of a tri-service exercise (Arrow Head), Indian brought in 31 and 67 Infantry Brigades in area Karim Shahi - Kavda. The Indian Air Force and the Indian aircraft carrierINS Vikrant, supported by other naval vessels, also moved into the gulf. On 8/9 April, in a series of events not entirely clear, clashes broke out between the Indian forces and the Pakistani forces at a post near Ding, Rann of Kutch. On 23 April Brigadier Iftikhar Janjua ordered the 4 Punjab to capture point 84 by first activity around Chad Bet. Since the progress of 6 Punjab was slow 2 Frontier Force (FF) was directed to join them. By first light, the battalion reached its objective without suffering too many casualties. 2 FF later attacked Biar Bet along with a squadron of 12 Cavalry. Biar Bet was captured by 0600 hours on 26 April.[2][3]
The outcome of the Rann of Kutch was considered as a positive for the Pakistan Army. As described by Lt General Gul Hassan Khan, then Director of Military Operations, in his later memoirs - "the set back in Kutch proved immeasurably disconcerting to the Indian army. As a result, the Government of India was in a quandary. On the other hand, ours was in a state of euphoria. The high command of our army was intoxicated by our showing and our morale could not possibly have been higher. We were ready for any task that may be assigned to us without any question.".[4] The restraint shown by India would later convince Field MarshalAyub Khan that the Indian Government was in no mood to fight. This encouraged them into launching the Kashmir offensive, which led to the War in September 1965.[4] After the 65 War, Janjua was the divisional commander of 6 Armoured Division even though he himself was an infantry officer [5] - no mean feat. He spared himself the time to learn about the nuances of armoured fighting vehicles and their operations. Soon after, Janjua would command 23 Division based at Jhelum.
In the 1971 War, Janjua was divisional commander of 23 Infantry Division. He was assigned the task of capturing Chhamb, a strategically important town in Kashmir, which would turn out to be the only decisive victory for Pakistan on the Kashmir front of 1971. The fighting around Chhamb was fierce and took toll on both the advancing Pakistani troops and the fiercely resisting Indian regiments. Although Janjua was advised by high command to try to take Chhamb from the south, Janjua said it was a better to take Mandiala bridge his troops would outflank the Indians eventually forcing them out of Chhamb and all the area west of Tawa.[6]
After intense fighting Mandiawala was captured, then Pallanwala and Chak Pandit, and on 9 December 1971, the first Pakistani troops entered the surrounding area around Chhamb under the personal supervision of Janjua. In the middle of fighting around Chhamb proper, on 9 December 1971, Janjua was killed when his OH-13S (Sioux) light helicopter, in which he was travelling on to coordinate and position his troops, was attacked.[7] Iftikhar Khan Janjua Road is named after him in Rawalpindi, Cannt.
Memorial of Iftikhar Khan Janjua at Chammb
Iftikhar Janjua was a brilliant and charismatic leader who inspired his troops to continue to fight. It was leading from the front for which General Iftikhar Janjua is remembered even today by the troops who served in 23 Division during the Battle of Chhamb. It was this quality which enabled him to arrive at a realistic appraisal of the actual situation without undue reliance on exaggerated reports from lower echelons and successfully take Chhamb.[6]
Major General Iftikhar Janjua was known for his boldness and for the confidence he inspired among his men by being in the front lines during the heat of the battle. His father Raja Mehmood Amjad was a barrister and the family was settled in Sargodha District. He is brother of Major General Ijaz Amjad the father in law of Qamar Javed Bajwa.
John H. Gill, An Atlas of the 1971 India - Pakistan War:The Creation of Bangladesh, Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies, accessed at July 25, 2006 - pp. 46–47 mention death of Iftikhar Janjua.
Explanatory footnotesedit
^ abc"Bar" refers to a second award of the same honour.
Notesedit
^ ab"Bar" refers to a second award of the same honour
^Bajwa, Farooq (September 30, 2013). From Kutch to Tashkent: The Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. Hurst Publishers. ISBN9781849042307 – via Google Books.
^Pakistan Review, Volumes 1-4 by S. Ahmad, 1985 pg.20-21
^ abQuoted by Altaf Gauhar in 1965 War: Boomerang (possibly from The Nation, September 24, 1999) retrieved from Pakistan Link website . Archived from the original on 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2006-07-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) July 26, 2006
Pakdef.info Conflict in the Rann of Kutch: A trial of strength[permanent dead link] by Lt Gen (retd) Kamal Matinuddin
by Major Agha Humayun Amin
April 13, 2024
iftikhar, khan, janjua, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, jul. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Iftikhar Khan Janjua news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Not to be confused with Iftikhar Khan Major General Iftikhar Khan Janjua HJ amp BAR note 1 SPk SQA Urdu افتخار جنجوعہ died 9 December 1971 of the Pakistan Army is one of the most senior Pakistani officers to have been killed in action He is known in Pakistan as the hero of Rann of Kutch as he was a brigadier in command of 6 Brigade during the fighting in April 1965 prior to the Indo Pakistani War of 1965 He was killed in a helicopter crash in Kashmir during the Battle of Chamb while in command of 23 Infantry Division during the Indo Pakistan War of 1971 He is one of the only two Generals of Pakistan army to die in combat Major GeneralIftikhar Khan JanjuaHilal e Jurat amp Bar 1 HJ amp BAR note 1 SPk SQAافتخار خان جنجوعہDiedDecember 9 1971 Chumb Azad Kashmir PakistanAlma materSt Anthony High School LahoreMilitary careerNickname s Hero of the Rann of KutchAllegiance British India 1943 47 Pakistan 1947 71 Service wbr branchBritish Indian Army Pakistan ArmyYears of service1943 1971RankMajor GeneralUnit10th Battalion The Baloch RegimentCommands held10 Baloch6 Brigade6 Armoured Division23 DivisionBattles warsWorld War II Indo Pakistan War of 1965 Operation Desert HawkIndo Pakistan War of 1971 Battle of Chumb AwardsHilal e Jurat amp BAR 1 Sitara e Pakistan Sitara e Quaid e Azam Contents 1 1965 War 2 1971 War 3 Personal life 4 Awards and decorations 4 1 Foreign Decorations 5 Further reading 6 Explanatory footnotes 7 Notes 8 External links1965 War editMain article Operation Desert Hawk In April 1965 as part of a tri service exercise Arrow Head Indian brought in 31 and 67 Infantry Brigades in area Karim Shahi Kavda The Indian Air Force and the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant supported by other naval vessels also moved into the gulf On 8 9 April in a series of events not entirely clear clashes broke out between the Indian forces and the Pakistani forces at a post near Ding Rann of Kutch On 23 April Brigadier Iftikhar Janjua ordered the 4 Punjab to capture point 84 by first activity around Chad Bet Since the progress of 6 Punjab was slow 2 Frontier Force FF was directed to join them By first light the battalion reached its objective without suffering too many casualties 2 FF later attacked Biar Bet along with a squadron of 12 Cavalry Biar Bet was captured by 0600 hours on 26 April 2 3 The outcome of the Rann of Kutch was considered as a positive for the Pakistan Army As described by Lt General Gul Hassan Khan then Director of Military Operations in his later memoirs the set back in Kutch proved immeasurably disconcerting to the Indian army As a result the Government of India was in a quandary On the other hand ours was in a state of euphoria The high command of our army was intoxicated by our showing and our morale could not possibly have been higher We were ready for any task that may be assigned to us without any question 4 The restraint shown by India would later convince Field Marshal Ayub Khan that the Indian Government was in no mood to fight This encouraged them into launching the Kashmir offensive which led to the War in September 1965 4 After the 65 War Janjua was the divisional commander of 6 Armoured Division even though he himself was an infantry officer 5 no mean feat He spared himself the time to learn about the nuances of armoured fighting vehicles and their operations Soon after Janjua would command 23 Division based at Jhelum 1971 War editMain article Battle of Chamb In the 1971 War Janjua was divisional commander of 23 Infantry Division He was assigned the task of capturing Chhamb a strategically important town in Kashmir which would turn out to be the only decisive victory for Pakistan on the Kashmir front of 1971 The fighting around Chhamb was fierce and took toll on both the advancing Pakistani troops and the fiercely resisting Indian regiments Although Janjua was advised by high command to try to take Chhamb from the south Janjua said it was a better to take Mandiala bridge his troops would outflank the Indians eventually forcing them out of Chhamb and all the area west of Tawa 6 After intense fighting Mandiawala was captured then Pallanwala and Chak Pandit and on 9 December 1971 the first Pakistani troops entered the surrounding area around Chhamb under the personal supervision of Janjua In the middle of fighting around Chhamb proper on 9 December 1971 Janjua was killed when his OH 13S Sioux light helicopter in which he was travelling on to coordinate and position his troops was attacked 7 Iftikhar Khan Janjua Road is named after him in Rawalpindi Cannt nbsp Memorial of Iftikhar Khan Janjua at ChammbIftikhar Janjua was a brilliant and charismatic leader who inspired his troops to continue to fight It was leading from the front for which General Iftikhar Janjua is remembered even today by the troops who served in 23 Division during the Battle of Chhamb It was this quality which enabled him to arrive at a realistic appraisal of the actual situation without undue reliance on exaggerated reports from lower echelons and successfully take Chhamb 6 Personal life editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Iftikhar Khan Janjua news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Major General Iftikhar Janjua was known for his boldness and for the confidence he inspired among his men by being in the front lines during the heat of the battle His father Raja Mehmood Amjad was a barrister and the family was settled in Sargodha District He is brother of Major General Ijaz Amjad the father in law of Qamar Javed Bajwa Awards and decorations edit nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Hilal e Jurat amp Bar note 1 Crescent of Courage 1 1965 War2 1971 WarSitara e Pakistan Star of Pakistan SPk Sitara e Quaid e Azam SQA Tamgha e Diffa General Service Medal 1965 War Clasp Sitara e Harb 1965 War War Star 1965 Tamgha e Jang 1965 War War Medal 1965 Pakistan Tamgha Pakistan Medal 1947 Tamgha e Jamhuria Republic Commemoration Medal 1956 1939 1945 StarAfrica Star Italy Star War Medal 1939 1945 Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953 Foreign Decorations edit Foreign Awards nbsp UK 1939 1945 Star nbsp Africa Star nbsp Italy Star nbsp War Medal 1939 1945 nbsp Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal nbsp Further reading editJohn H Gill An Atlas of the 1971 India Pakistan War The Creation of Bangladesh Near East South Asia NESA Center for Strategic Studies accessed at 1 July 25 2006 pp 46 47 mention death of Iftikhar Janjua Explanatory footnotes edit a b c Bar refers to a second award of the same honour Notes edit a b Bar refers to a second award of the same honour Bajwa Farooq September 30 2013 From Kutch to Tashkent The Indo Pakistan War of 1965 Hurst Publishers ISBN 9781849042307 via Google Books Pakistan Review Volumes 1 4 by S Ahmad 1985 pg 20 21 a b Quoted by Altaf Gauhar in 1965 War Boomerang possibly from The Nation September 24 1999 retrieved from Pakistan Link website Archived copy Archived from the original on 2006 10 30 Retrieved 2006 07 26 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link July 26 2006 Remembering Our Warriors Brig Retd Shamim Yasin Manto S I M S Bt Interview By A H AMIN Archived from the original on May 3 2013 a b The Battle of Chamb 1971 Archived from the original on 2009 03 23 Retrieved 2009 12 24 News article in Jang Archived 2007 03 12 at the Wayback MachineExternal links editPakdef info Conflict in the Rann of Kutch A trial of strength permanent dead link by Lt Gen retd Kamal Matinuddin Defence Journal The Battle of Chamb 1971 by Major Agha Humayun Amin Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Iftikhar Khan Janjua amp oldid 1214508325, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
