Rao Farman Ali

Major-General Rao Farman Ali Khan (Urdu: راؤ فرمان علی; English IPA: Rəoʊ Fərmən ɑlɪ ; 1923 – January 21, 2004) was a senior and high profile officer who commanded combatant assets and elements of the Corps of Military Police during the East-Pakistan war and following the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. As commander of Military police and senior military adviser as well, Ali executed and oversaw the internal and external deployment and operations of military police in East-Pakistan and security forces including the Volunteers unit. Initially a forward observer in Regiment of Artillery and later as military adviser in East Pakistan, Ali was one of the most powerful men in East-Pakistan and one of the persons allegedly or directly responsible for 1971 atrocities.

Though Ali has denied such allegations, the Hamoodur Rahman Commission proved the involvement of misconducts and atrocities of Pakistan Armed Forces personnel. Ali remains a controversial figure with many of his colleagues and his superior officers accusing Ali for being a "conspirator" of the war in East Pakistan. After the war, Ali was forced out of the military and was dishonored by the government, withdrawing all of the military badges bestowed him earlier. However, after Bhutto's death in 1979, General Zia-ul-Haq appointed him as his adviser and is widely held responsible for crushing down the MRD movement, with many activists were tortured and killed. After Zia's death, Ali went underground and died in 2004 after a brief illness in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Doubts on Rao's version of 1971
Mr Altaf Gohar, recounted an incident from his memory. One of Gohar's friends told him that a hit list had been drawn up for elimination of certain Bangalis. A friend of his was also in the list and he requested Gohar if he could do something to save his friend. Gohar then took the matter to one of his close friends who was a common friend with Farman. Gohar's friend met with Farman and requested him to drop the name from his hit list. " Farman took, said Gaohar's friend, a diary out of his drawer and crossed the name out. The name was of Mr Sanaul Huq and he was spared." After civil war of 1971 Farman's diary was recovered from the ruins of the Governor's house. The copy of a page from the diary shows the list of intellectuals from Dhaka University. 14 of them were killed on 14 December 1971.