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LT. GEN RAJA MOHD. IQBAL

Date of Birth: 11 November 1930

Died: 4 August 2012

Place of Birth: Sargodha, Pakistan

Father: Raja Jalal Khan

Awards: Sitara-i-Imtiaz

Command: 25th Cavalry of Armored Corps

Battles: 1965 war, 1971 war

Early Life

As a student, he participated in the Pakistan Muslim League Student Federation/Union.
He was elected as secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League Student Federation/Union Sargodha district in 1950.

Military Career

He wanted to become a lawyer but his father, then a retired captain from the Indian Army, forced him to appear for the ISSB test which he half-heartedly attended and later on got selected for the PMA 9th Long Course.
He went to the PMA and eventually after 2 years of training in 1952, he joined Armored Core 11th Cavalry FF as a second lieutenant and there he served till Major as a 2IC to his CO Colonel K.M. Arif who later on became General and served as Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
As a lieutenant colonel, he was the CO of the 25th Cavalry and participated in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.
In 1974, he did his war course from the National War College Rawalpindi and became Chief Instructor in the National War College.
In 1976 he became Brigadier and posted in Multan in the 5th Armored Brigade and from there he was posted to Mangala as Chief of Staff in 1 Corps of the Pakistan Army.
Later on, he became Major General in 1978 and went as the GOC of the 33rd division of Quetta for 4 years and from there he was posted as GOC 6th Armored Division in Kharian Cantt and in 1983 he was posted as Additional Secretary Defence, Ministry of Defence Government of Pakistan.
In 1988, he was made lieutenant-general and served as Acting Secretary Defence, Government of Pakistan for a few months.
In 1990, he retired from the Army, and later on, he was appointed as Additional Secretary Incharge, Ministry of Defence, and Government of Pakistan till November 1993.

Achievements

In the 1965 Indo-Pak war, he was a major who commanded Squadron B of 11th Cavalry FF at Chamb Jaurian in the tank battle which is known in the world as the second largest tank battle after the Second World War till date to have ever been fought in the world.
The 11th Cavalry All Squadron were wiped out during this battle except Squadron B of then Major Raja Muhammad Iqbal and he was recommended for Sitara Jurat after the 1965 war by his GOC to the GHQ Rawalpindi but unfortunately for some technical reasons he was not awarded the Sitara Jurat.
He was among very few General Officers of the Pakistan Army who have commanded two divisions, especially one armored division and the other infantry division.
He was the instrumental member of the Pakistani Delegation sent to New Delhi by the Government of Pakistan to defuse the tension on the Indo-Pakistan borders where the skirmishes were turning into a literal war
In 1984, the Brass-tacks exercises of the Indian army were so hostile that they were about to attack Pakistan. At that time the Chief Martial Administrator of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq decided to send the Foreign Minister of Pakistan to New Delhi for negotiations to normalize the tension and he appointed then Major General Raja Muhammad Iqbal Khan to accompany the Foreign Minister and assist him in dialogues. There General Raja Iqbal proved his caliber and convinced the Indian Army Representatives in the discussions that war is not in the interests of either of the countries and because of this effort the Indian side asked General Raja Iqbal to speak to his counterparts in Pakistan and assure them that Pakistan Army will not be hostile if Indian troops are withdrawn. This is on record as the then foreign minister also spoke to General Zia from New Delhi and then General Zia spoke to Raja Iqbal and the major issues were discussed and resolved.
He is among few armored core generals who have been acknowledged and recognized by their seniors in different exercises like in 1989, then Major General Raja Iqbal was Additional Secretary Defence but the then Army Chief General Aslam Baig requested him to come and participate in Pakistan’s army exercise Zarb-e-Momin where the two Pakistani armored divisions were to participate in tank battle exercise and there General Raja Iqbal was the observer and mentor to make the readiness of Pakistan Army in a real war scenario.
He was nominated as an Ambassador to France in 1995 but he refused due to his domestic and health issues.