Muhammad Shariff (general)

General Muhammad Shariff (Urdu:محمد شريف February 22, 1921– August 6, 1999) NI(m), SI(m), was a four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who was the first Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, serving in this post from 1976 until tendering his resignation in 1977 over the disagreement with the military takeover of the civilian government by the Pakistani military.

Biography
Muhammad Shariff was born on 22 February 1921 into a Punjabi family in Lahore, Punjab in India. After educated at the Lawrence College in Murree, Sharif gained commissioned in the 3rd infantry battalion of the 2nd Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army in 1942. 2nd-Lt. Sharif saw actions in the Burma front during the World War II with the British Indian Army.

After the partition of India in 1947, Captain Sharif moved to join the newly formed Pakistan Army where his career progressed extremely well, having attended and graduated from the Imperial Defence College. In 1952, Major Sharif was promoted as a lieutenant-colonel and qualified as psc from the Command and Staff College in Quetta; later achieved promotion to the one-star rank in the army in 1959.

In 1960, Brig. Shariff played a crucial role when he commanded the tactical strike brigade to remove the Nawab of Dir and Khan of Jandol to prevent succession from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

In 1964–66, Brig. Sharif moved to the staff assignment at the Army GHQ, serving in the Corps of Education where he served on the army board to select the potential candidates to be educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In 1966, Major-General Sharif was appointed as the Inspector General Training and Evaluation (IGT&E) at the Army GHQ, and later appointed as the Commandant of the Command and Staff College in Quetta, which he served until 1970.

In 1970, Maj-Gen. Sharif was promoted to the three-star rank in the army, and took over the diplomatic assignment as opposed to the command assignment. Lieutenant-General Shariff was posted as the permanent representative at the CENTO's HQ in Ankara, Turkey, which he remained until 1971.

On 12 December 1971, Lt-Gen. Sharif returned to Pakistan and partially took over the command of the 33rd Infantry Division, stationed in Quetta, from its GOC, Maj-Gen. Naseer Ahmad, who was wounded in action against the Indian Army. After inspecting the infantry division, Lt-Gen. Sharif eventually handed over the command of the 33rd Infantry Division to then Maj-Gen. Iqbal Khan and departed to Turkey.

In 1972, Lt-Gen. Shariff was appointed as field commander of the II Corps, stationed in Multan. During this time, Lt-Gen. Shariff played a crucial role in his role as a secondment when he led his II Corps to provide the military aid to the civil power to maintain law and order in Karachi, amid the labour unrest. In 1974, Lt-Gen, Shariff was honorary appointed as a Colonel commandant of the Punjab Regiment.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
In 1976, General Tikka Khan's retirement as a chief of army staff was due, and Lt-Gen. Sharif was the most senior army general in the Pakistani military. Initially, Lt-Gen, Sharif was in the race for the promotion of four-star rank alongside six other army generals.

Eventually, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto promoted and elevated the junior-most Lt-Gen, Zia-ul-Haq, to the four-star appointment and appointed him as nation's second army chief in 1976. Prime Minister Bhutto moved to create the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and promoted Lt-Gen. Shariff to the four-star rank, posting him as first Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on 1 March 1976.

His relations with Gen. Zia remains officially business but seemed to have dislike General Zia personally. In 1974–75, Lt-Gen. Sharif had submitted a report to then-army chief General Tikka Khan that detailed the actions of Maj-Gen. Zia's actions bypassing the chain of command in the military but the report was overshadowed due Zia's dedication towards promoting the professionalism in the military. His duties as Chairman Joint Chiefs had been largely ineffective, and his deputy Admiral M.S. Khan had led the delegation to meet with Vice Chairman Li Xiannian paid a state visit to Pakistan on 22 January 1977.

His relations with Gen. Zia soured and was not supportive towards the actions by General Zia of military takeover of the civilian government, and regretted that this ultimate step had become inevitable. In July 1977, General Sharif prematurely sought retirement and he submitted his resignation to the President of Pakistan, asking him to relieve him of his duty.

In public circles, General Shariff privately made it clear that the martial law was in fact unconstitutional. Furthermore, General Shariff was of the view of strengthening the Chairman joint chiefs' role more assertive and power than the army chief but before the system could evolve itself, the July 1977 coup disturbed the power balance, and tilted it heavily in favor of the army chief.

In 1977, General Shariff left the chairmanship of the joint chiefs to his deputy Admiral Mohammad Shariff but it was not until 1979 when his resignation actually went effective. He died in Lahore on 6 August 1999.