Abdul Qayyum () is a retired

three-star general Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One-star A one-star rank is usually ...

of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

who has been the chairman of the

Pakistan Ordnance Factories The Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) is a major firearms and a defence contractor headquartered in Wah Cantt, Punjab, Pakistan. Described as "the largest defence industrial complex under the Ministry of Defence Production, producing convent ...

and chairman of board of

Pakistan Steel Mills The Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation, colloquially referred to as ''Pak Steel'', is a Pakistani state-owned company that produces long-rolled steel and heavy metal products in the country. Headquartered in Karachi, Sindh, the PSMC is currently ...

Early life

Abdul Qayyum,

Hilal-i-Imtiaz The ''Hilal-e-Imtiaz'' (; ), also spelled as ''Hilal-i-Imtiaz,'' is the second-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") civilian award and honour given to both civilians and military officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces by the Government of Pakist ...

(Military), is a retired lieutenant general of the

Pakistan army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. He hails from the rural areas of

Chakwal District Chakwal District () is a district located on the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the northwestern area of the Punjab province, bordered by Talagang to its west, Rawalpindi to its northeast, Jhelum to its east. The distr ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Career

He entered the

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) is a military academy located nearby Kakul village in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Established in October 1947, it is the only service academy in Pakistan that trains cadets to serve as army of ...

Kakul Kakul (Kakol) is a village situated in the Tehsil and District Abbottabad, at an elevation of 1300 metres, 5 km northeast of center of Abbottabad city near the Thandiani Hills. Abbottabad is a District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pa ...

, in May 1966 as a cadet and was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in April 1968 and retired as a three-star general in January 2004. He remained the chairman of the

from September 1998 to January 2004.

Retirement

After his retirement, he became chairman of the board of

in 2004 and remained there until September 2006. He resigned from there under protest against a privatization attempt of Pakistan's largest integrated steel plant which was later cancelled by the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan (; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the Judiciary of Pakistan, judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance witPart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it h ...

. General Qayyum is also the president of Nazria Pakistan forum Islamabad chapter which was being run under the patronage of renowned journalist late Majid Nizami. He contributed a column to daily Nawa-i-Waqt every Friday under the title ''Fikr-o-Khayal'' for about 7 years from 2007 to 2014. He appears frequently in television talk shows as a politico-defense analyst. The retired general joined politics in April 2012 and is now part of the ruling

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

. He has also been a member of the senate of Pakistan since March 2015. He has been chairman of Senate standing committee on Defence production for the last four years and is also member of senate Defence, Kashmir, Antinarcotics and Statistics. As a politico-Defence analyst Senator Lt General Qayyum is known for his balanced and objective inputs in both cold and print media on important national and international issues. The Senator was also sent to Britain in 2016 as a special envoy of the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Kashmir where he effectively highlighted the details of human right violations and blatant atrocities being committed by a seven-hundred-thousand-strong Indian Army to suppress the voice of unarmed Kashmiris demanding their right of self determination as promised by the United Nation. The general is a keen golfer with 14 handicap.

Bibliography

Qayyum is an author of four books: *''Islam in Perspective'' *''Fikr-o-khayal Parts 1 & 2'' *''Pakistan Kay androoni Masail'' *''Pakistan Aalmi Tanazur Main''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qayyum, Abdul Living people Pakistan Army lieutenant generals People from Chakwal District Pakistani senators (14th Parliament) Year of birth missing (living people)