Tariq Majid
Encyclopedia
General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Tariq Majid, NI(M), afwc, fsc(m), psc, (Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

: طارق مجید; born 23 August 1950 at Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

) is a retired Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

's four-star general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 who served as the Supreme Commandant of the Pakistan Defense Forces as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) from 2007 to 2010. In addition to this, he also served as Rawalpindi based X Corps
X Corps (Pakistan)
The X Corps is an active military administrative corps of Pakistan Army, currently assigned in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province of Pakistan. Its one of two brigades are currently active in Kashmir. One of its brigades, the 111th Infantry Brigade in Rawalpindi, has been frequently involved in military...

 Core Commandant
Colonel Commandant
Colonel Commandant is a military title used in the armed forces of some English-speaking countries. The title, not a substantive rank, could denote a senior colonel with authority over fellow colonels...

, Chief of General Staff (CGS)
Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)
Chief of General Staff, shortly abbreviated as CGS, is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army. Although four-star Chief of Army Staff is the nominal head of the land forces, CGS is the operational and intelligence lead of the institution...

 and DG
Director-general
The term director-general is a title given the highest executive officer within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution.-European Union:...

 Military Intelligence
Military Intelligence of Pakistan
In Pakistan Defence Forces, the Directorate-General for the Military Intelligence , is a Pakistan Defence Forces intelligence agency and that is responsible for the military counter-intelligence. It also refers specifically to the intelligence components of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Unlike the...

 (DG MI), all premier posts of the Pakistan Army. He was replaced as CJCSC by another four-star rank general officer General Khalid Shameem Wynne
Khalid Shameem Wynne
General Khalid Shameem Wynne, PA, NI, afwc, fsc, psc, , is a four-star general in the Pakistan Army and the current and 14th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. The official statement noted that "Gen...

.

Army career

Tariq Majid, originally from Lahore, joined Pakistan Military Academy
Pakistan Military Academy
The Pakistan Military Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service military academy. It is located at Kakul near Abbottabad in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan....

 as a cadet in 1970 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 28th (Light Anti Tank) Battalion of the Baloch Regiment
Baloch Regiment
The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of the Regiment to more than fifty battalions...

 of Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

 in April 1971. He is graduate of Command and Staff College
Command and Staff College
The Command and Staff College was established in 1907 at Quetta, Balochistan, British Raj, now in Pakistan, and is the oldest and the most prestigious institution of the Pakistan Army. It was established in 1905 in Deolali and moved to its present location at Quetta in 1907 under the name of Quetta...

, Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...

 (1982); Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

 (1985); Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
The is a United States Department of Defense regional study, conference, and research center established in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States on September 4, 1995. The Center supports the United States Pacific Command theater security cooperation strategy of maintaining positive security...

, Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

; Armed Forces War Course (1991) from National Defence College
National Defence University, Islamabad
The National Defense University is an institution of higher education funded by the Ministry of Defence of Government of Pakistan, intended to facilitate high-level training, education, and the development of national security strategy...

, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

, and holds masters of science in War Studies from Quaid-i-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University
The Quaid-i-Azam University is a public, research university in Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan. It was initially founded as the "University of Islamabad" in July 1967...

. He is a war veteran of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...

.

Command experience

On promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in January 1988, he had the privilege of commanding the Battalion in which he was commissioned and later he also commanded a regular Infantry Battalion. In February 1994, he was promoted Brigadier-General, a first star general, and commanded two Infantry Brigades. On elevation to the rank of Major General in February 1999, he was appointed General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...

 of 10th Infantry Division at Lahore.

Staff and instructional experience

The major staff and instructional appointments include serving as a Brigade Major of an infantry brigade and as a Lieutenant Colonel, he held the appointment of a General Staff Officer Grade 1 at Military Operations Directorate, General Headquarters. He has been on various instructional appointments at prestigious training institutions like School of Infantry and Tactics and Command and Staff College
Command and Staff College
The Command and Staff College was established in 1907 at Quetta, Balochistan, British Raj, now in Pakistan, and is the oldest and the most prestigious institution of the Pakistan Army. It was established in 1905 in Deolali and moved to its present location at Quetta in 1907 under the name of Quetta...

, Quetta. As a Brigadier, he was appointed Director Military Operations (Plans) in the Military Operations Directorate at General Headquarters and Deputy Commandant of Pakistan Military Academy
Pakistan Military Academy
The Pakistan Military Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service military academy. It is located at Kakul near Abbottabad in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan....

. He served as the Director General of Military Intelligence
Military Intelligence of Pakistan
In Pakistan Defence Forces, the Directorate-General for the Military Intelligence , is a Pakistan Defence Forces intelligence agency and that is responsible for the military counter-intelligence. It also refers specifically to the intelligence components of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Unlike the...

 (DGMI) from April 2001 to December 2003.

Chief of General Staff

Tariq Majid was promoted to Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 in December 2003, and given the post of Chief of General Staff
Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)
Chief of General Staff, shortly abbreviated as CGS, is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army. Although four-star Chief of Army Staff is the nominal head of the land forces, CGS is the operational and intelligence lead of the institution...

, in place of Lt Gen Shahid Aziz, who proceeded as the corps commander Lahore. The post of CGS is important in a sense that it heads the bureaus of Military Intelligence
Military Intelligence of Pakistan
In Pakistan Defence Forces, the Directorate-General for the Military Intelligence , is a Pakistan Defence Forces intelligence agency and that is responsible for the military counter-intelligence. It also refers specifically to the intelligence components of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Unlike the...

 and Military Operations. In fact, the corps commander Rawalpindi and the CGS are to be staunch loyalist to the army chief, in order for him to carry a successful military coup, as in the case of military coup of 1999. He was swapped by Lt Gen Salahuddin Satti as the CGS in October 2006 as the Rawalpindi Corps Commander.

Corps Commander Rawalpindi

Tariq Majid's one year stint as the corps commander was eventful as it featured the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the current Chief Justice of Pakistan.He became chief justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court in 2005 and soon became not only a central figure in the nation's political struggles but an icon to the country's legal profession and others campaigning for the rule of law...

 and the following mass protests
Lawyers' Movement
The Lawyers' Movement was the name given to the popular mass protest movement started by the lawyers of Pakistan in response to the dictatorial actions of 9 March 2007, by the country's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, when he unconstitutionally sacked Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief...

, and the Siege of Lal Masjid
Siege of Lal Masjid
The siege of Lal Masjid was a confrontation in July 2007 between Islamic fundamentalist militants and the Government of Pakistan led by General Pervez Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz Administration, then Prime minister of Pakistan...

. In the latter occasion, he was himself in charge of the armed forces who were to take down the armed militias stationed inside the mosque. He gained significant publicity from this event, and was soon predicted by the media and the analysts to be given the four-star posts of either VCOAS or CJCSC. These predictions were true, when in October 2007, he was made the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

Tariq Majid was promoted as four-star general on 8 October 2007, the only officer from the Baloch Regiment
Baloch Regiment
The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of the Regiment to more than fifty battalions...

 after Rahimuddin Khan
Rahimuddin Khan
Rahimuddin Khan Afridi is a retired four-star general of the Pakistan Army who was the fourth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1984 to 1987. He was also the longest-serving Governor and martial law administrator of Balochistan, from 1978 to when he resigned in 1984...

 to ascend to CJCSC, in place of outgoing General Ehsan ul Haq
Ehsan ul Haq
General Ehsan ul Haq , is a retired four-star general in the Pakistan Army who served as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Military until October 8, 2007...

 who was due for retirement. At the time of promotion, Tariq Majid was fourth on the seniority list. Lieutenant Generals Khalid Kidwai, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, NI, HI is a four-star general in the Pakistan Army, and the current Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. He replaced General Pervez Musharraf as the Chief of Army Staff and the commandant of the army on November 29, 2007...

 (who was also promoted as four-star and made VCOAS), and Malik Arif Hayat were all senior to him, all of whom stood superseded and sought retirement. It is noteworthy that Lt Gen Khalid Kidwai was already on a year's extension and Lt Gen Malik Arif Hayat had never commanded a corps thus virtually taking him out of the race for the top two slots in the army. Majid's three year term ended in October 2010, when he was replaced by General Khalid Shameem Wynne
Khalid Shameem Wynne
General Khalid Shameem Wynne, PA, NI, afwc, fsc, psc, , is a four-star general in the Pakistan Army and the current and 14th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. The official statement noted that "Gen...

 who was the senior-most general serving as Chief of General Staff (CGS) at the GHQ.

Suicide Attack near Majid's Residence

On October 30, a suicide bomber struck a police checkpoint in the high security zone of Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

, less than a kilometer from President General Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...

’s camp office, killing seven people, three of them policemen, and injuring 31 others. The blast splattered check post of General Tariq Majid's official residence.

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