Hamid Javaid

Lieutenant General Hamid Javaid, HI, HI(M), afwc, psc, ( حامد جاوید ) (born October 1947) is a former Pakistan Army general who served as Chief of Staff (COS) to President Pervez Musharraf for six years from September 2001 to December 2007. Considered to be the real brain behind the president in his handling the affairs of government, he is known to have played a major role in ensuring that governance was transparent at the highest level. He played a key role in ensuring harmonious and smooth relations between the civil and the military bureaucracy. He also started the Al-Zarrar and Al-Khalid main battle tank projects while working as the director-general of Heavy Industries Taxila.

He is currently president of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital in Rawalpindi since February 2011 after the founding president Lt Gen (R) Jahan Dad Khan died the same month.

Military career
Hamid Javaid is the son of Late Mohammad Ashraf (prominent leader of Allama Mashriqi's Khaksar Tehrik). Before joining the army, he attended Cadet College Hasan Abdal. He was commissioned in the Armoured Corps of the Pakistan Army on 31 October 1965. He received his basic training from the School of Armour at Nowshera followed by training in the United States Army Armor School, Fort Knox, Kentucky. He is a graduate of Command and Staff College, Quetta and National Defence College, Rawalpindi.

In his military career, Javaid served as the military attache to the United States for four years from 1986 to 1990. He later commanded the XXXI Corps Reserve at Bahawalpur for two years after which he was shifted to head the Heavy Industries Taxila. There, he is credited to have started the Al-Zarrar and Al-Khalid main battle tank projects. In 2001, he was shifted as the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President-General Pervez Musharraf after the former COS Lt-Gen Ghulam Ahmed died in a car accident on August 2001.

Chief of Staff to the President
As COS, he advised President Musharraf on reconciliation with the leading political parties so that smooth transition could be ensured at the time of 2008 elections. He played an important role in negotiating the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and a working arrangement with Benazir Bhutto. He maintained a very low profile, refused to take an official residence or even a security guard and traveled in a private car unlike other government officials.

In spite of his close association with Musharraf, Hamid Javaid is thought to have been against the idea of the emergency imposed in the country on 3 November 2007, and this is considered the main reason for his resignation. He served president Musharraf till 1 November 2007 where after he is living a retired life.

Views of the President
President Musharraf in the farewell speech to Hamid Javaid said this of him, "whether it was the situation after the 9/11 attacks, the confrontation and rapprochement with regard to confidence building measures (CBMs) with India, the law and order problem, domestic political situation, the passage of 17th Amendment, or the encouragement of foreign direct investment (FDI), Lt-Gen Hamid Javaid made vital contribution in tackling these issues very intelligently and prudently for the benefit of the country and nation.... Had he not been there, the project of Al-Khalid tank could not be achieved."

The same evening, the president hailed Lt-Gen Hamid Javaid as an honest, upright, dedicated, hard-working and a balanced officer and man, with clarity of approach and thinking.

President Al-Shifa Trust
After retirement, Hamid Javaid stayed as Chairman Pakistan Arab Refinery (PARCO) in 2008. He was later made the second President Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital after its founding president Lt Gen (R) Jahan Dad Khan died. The trust is running four state-of-the-art eye hospitals in Rawalpindi, Sukkur, Kohat and Muzaffarabad. Javaid was appointed to this post after Jahan Dad Khan recommended him before his death.