Sahibzada Muhammad Sadiq ur-Rashid Ibrahim Abbasi (; 1928–2002), also known as S.M. Abbasi, was a three star general in the

Pakistani 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 ...

Governor of Sindh The governor of Sindh is the appointed head of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The office of the governor as the head of the province is largely a ceremonial position; the executive powers lie with the Chief Secretary of Sindh, Chief Secretary ...

(military administration) and member of the Bahawalpur royal family.

Early life and education

He was born in

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

into the Bahawalpur royal family and received his early education from

Aitchison College Aitchison College is an elite private, boarding school, boarding Junior School, Secondary School for boys in Lahore, Pakistan. It has educated Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime ministers, including Imran Khan, Feroz Khan Noon, president of Pakist ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Military career

He joined the Royal Pakistan Army. He was commissioned in the 1 Mountain Regiment of the Royal Pakistan Artillery on 25 November 1948 as a 2nd Lieutenant. During this time, he received his military education from the Royal Indian Military Academy in

Dehra Dun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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 ...

, Royal Pakistan Artillery School in

Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nowshera ( ; ; ) is the capital city of Nowshera District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the 78th largest city in Pakistan and ninth largest city in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, ...

and the Royal Artillery School in

Larkhill Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

Wilts Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. He remained Major General Artillery (now called DG Arty) and was promoted to rank of Lieutenant-General in 1978. He became commander of V Corps in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

from 1978 to 1980. During this time, he also served as martial law administrator Zone D (

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

) in General Zia ul Haq.

Military Governor

He served as Governor of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

(military administration) starting 18 September 1978. The same year on his orders, a protest in

Nawabshah Nawabshah is a headquarter of Nawabshah Tehsil in Shaheed Benazirabad District of Sindh province, Pakistan. This city is situated in the middle of Sindh province. It is the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 27th most populous city in P ...

(see: Human rights abuses in Pakistan under Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq) was crushed using military combat helicopters which resulted in hundreds of deaths of supporters of

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

. On 8 June 1982, he laid the foundation stones of the Al-Markaz Islami Centre with a goal of promoting Islamic traditions and culture in

. After the execution of

on 4 April 1979,

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

flew to

to discuss the burial arrangements of Bhutto with Abbasi who was then

Personal life

He married Begum Yasmin Sultana daughter of Mir Maqbul Mahmud, in

on 27 February 1960.

Death

He died from heart failure at the Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi on 21 March 2002. He is buried at Nawabi Cemetery, Fort Derawar. He had one son and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasi, S M 1928 births 2002 deaths Pakistan Army lieutenant generals Governors of Sindh Aitchison College alumni People from Bahawalpur Bahawalpur royal family Government Gordon College alumni Pakistan Military Academy alumni Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Pakistan Army Artillery officers