Iskander Mirza Politician
Major General Sahibzada Sayyid Iskander Ali Mirza', CIE, OBE English IPA: ɪskɑndæɾ əɪiː mi(ə)ɹzə (Bengali: ইস্কান্দার মীর্জা; Urdu: اسکندر مرزا; November 13, 1899 – November 13, 1969), was the first President of Pakistan, serving from 1956 to 1958. Prior to that, Mirza was the last Governor-General of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956. A great grandson of Mir Jafar, Mirza was a career army officer, having reached the higher rank of major-general in Pakistan Army.After a brief stint in the British Indian Army, Mirza joined the Indian Political Service. He became the Joint Defence Secretary of India in 1946. After the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan appointed Mirza as the first Defence Secretary, one of the most important government positions. He oversaw 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, he became the first president. His presidency saw great political instability, challenges in foreign policy, and the ouster 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. After only 20 days of martial law, Chief Martial Law Administrator Field Marshal Ayub Khan forced him out of the presidency. He was exiled to London.
Personal facts
| Alias (AKA) | Major-General Sahibzada Sayyid Iskander Ali Mirza |
|---|---|
| Birth date | November 13, 1899 |
| Birth place | |
| Religion | |
| Date of death | November 12, 1969 |
| Place of death | |
| Education |
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Office holder
| military operations | |
|---|---|
| military command | Army Corps of Military Police |
| military rank | |
| monarch | |
| office | Minister of the Interior Governor of East Bengal 1st Defence Secretary of Pakistan 1st President of Pakistan Governor-General of Pakistan |
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| prime minister | |
| service end | 1928 |
| service start | 1920 |
| successor |