Sawar Khan
Sawar Khan was a former four-star general of the Pakistan Army, twentieth Punjab |Governor of Punjab] from 1978 to 1980 and the first Chief of Army Staff |Vice Chief of Army Staff] of the Pakistan Army from 1980 to 1984, in the military regime of President General Zia-ul-Haq who simultaneously served as the Chief of Army Staff. After retiring, Khan became the President of the Northern University, Nowshera.
Khan died in November 2023, at the age of 99.
Early life and military career
Sawar Khan was born on 1 December 1924 into a Muslim Gujjar family to Chaudhary Khuda Bukhsh, the Numberdar of Raman, Rawalpindi. He was commissioned before the independence of Pakistan in 1947 into the Indian Army's Corps of Artillery. He later opted for Pakistan Army in 1947. As a captain, Sawar became the Instructor Gunnery at the Artillery School.General officer
Khan was promoted to Lt. General on 24 March 1976 by General Zia-ul-Haq after he became the Chief of Army Staff superseding five other generals. Sawar Khan who at the time was serving as Adjutant General at the GHQ was sent as the Commander XI Corps, Peshawar, where he replaced the recently superseded Lt. Gen. Majeed Malik. He continued to serve in Peshawar until January 1978 when he was replaced by Lt. Gen. Fazle Haq. In 1978, Lt. Gen. Sawar Khan moved to Lahore to take over IV Corps as its Corps Commander. He took over from Lt. Gen. Iqbal Khan who proceeded as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, a newly created post.Martial law administrator of Punjab
When Zia imposed martial law, the then Lt. Gen. Sawar Khan was sent as the governor of Punjab province in 1978, in addition to his responsibilities as Commander IV Corps, Lahore. He was part of small coterie of generals under General Zia ul-Haq, who determined the national security policies in the martial regime. The other generals were Lt. Gen. Faiz Ali Chishti, Lt. Gen. Jehanzeb Arbab, Lt. Gen. Iqbal Khan, and the other military governors of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan Fazle Haq and Rahimuddin Khan.After a two-year stint, he was replaced by Lt. Gen. Ghulam Jilani Khan and promoted to four-star general.