Iskander Mirza

Iskander Mirza

Major-General Sahibzada Sayyid Iskander Ali Mirza, CIE, OBE (Urdu: اسکندر مرزا; Bengali: ইস্কান্দার মীর্জা; 13 November 1898 – 12 November 1969), was the first President of Pakistan, serving from 1956 until being forced out from the presidency in 1958. Prior to that, Mirza was the last Governor-General of Pakistan from 1955 until 1956. A great-grandson of the last Nawab of Bengal Mir Jafar, Mirza was the first president of Bengali origin from East-Pakistan, and a retired career army officer, having reached the prestigious higher rank of major-general in Pakistan Army.

Starting his career in the government, Mirza was employed by Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan in the Ministry of Defence, being appointed as the first Defence Secretary (one of an apex bureaucratic post), overseeing the Indo-Pakistan war of 1947, and the Balochistan conflict in 1948. Serious disorder and civil unrest sparked in East Pakistan as a result of the Bengali Language Movement in 1952, prompting Prime minister Khawaja Nazimuddin to appoint him as the Governor of the province. He oversaw the success of the One Unit programme in East Pakistan in 1954, and succeeded Malik Ghulam as the Governor-General in 1955. After successfully promulgating the 1956 constitution, Mirza became the first president. But his presidency saw great political instability, challenges in foreign policy, and the ousture of four prime ministers in two years. He finally imposed martial law in 1958 after suspending the constitution and dissolving democratic institutions, including the Pakistan Parliament. Mirza has the distinction of being the first to bring in military influence in national politics after he appointed his army chief as chief martial law administrator of the country.

Problems with the Pakistan Armed Forces and the establishment escalated after relations with the United States deteriorated. Imposition of martial law only led to more civil unrest and political challenges, and also undermined Mirza's own position. After only twenty days of martial law, Mirza was forced out of the presidency by his Chief Martial Law Administrator Field Marshal Ayub Khan. He was exiled to London, where he resided until his death. When he died in 1969 after a long illness, President Yahya Khan denied him a burial in Pakistan. Out of respect, the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi gave him a state funeral in Tehran, Iran.