Khadim Hussain Raja

Military career Commission He joined the British Indian Army in 1942 and received the King's Commission from the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun.

World War II deployment He served in an infantry battalion in the Burma campaign of World War II until the end of the war.

Pakistan Army After the Partition of British India in 1947, he opted to join the Pakistan Army. He volunteered in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948 where he saw action in Kashmir.

Military education He graduated from the Staff College, Quetta and afterward from the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

Commands He commanded the 1st Pakistani Battalion (Quaid-i-Azam's own) at the Pakistan Military Academy.

1971 War He was in charge of planning the military operation known as Operation Searchlight which was executed on 25 March 1971. Other generals were present in Dhaka along with Yahya Khan, who secretly departed on the evening of that day after setting the deadline for the military action. Lt Gen Tikka Khan, Maj Gen Rao Farman Ali and Maj Gen Khadim Hussain Raja were associated with the planning of the military action.

Retirement and later career On 11 April 1971, he was relieved of his duties as general officer commanding of 14th Division. He later retired the same year after serving as DG Artillery.

In 1972 he was appointed to Army Welfare Trust and became its first managing director. He held the position for five years before he eventually retired and became Ambassador of Pakistan to Mozambique on 1 August 1982 also accredited to Angola, Swaziland, and Lesotho.

Death Raja died on 9 December 1999 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Posthumous book release Before his death, he authored a book and instructed his family to not publish it until after he died. The book was later released 13 years after his death.

The book detailed their actions in the early hours of 26 March 1971 known as Operation Searchlight. He wrote a book, A Stranger in My Own Country: East Pakistan, 1969-71 (Oxford University Press, 2012), in which he revealed secrets about the nine-month liberation war of Bangladesh.

The Mukti Bahini's (under M. A. G. Osmani) initial success in capturing a portable radio-transmitter near Rangamati was short-lived due to Raja's accidental discovery of the transmitter—he had authorised a search for it, and directed it from his personal helicopter through radio-contact when it was fired-upon.

Awards and decorations

Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam (SQA)Sitara-e-Khidmat (SK)Tamgha-e-Diffa (General Service Medal)

1. 1965 War Clasp

2. 1971 War ClaspTamgha-e-Jang 1965 War (War Medal 1965)Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War (War Medal 1971)Pakistan Tamgha (Pakistan Medal)

1947Tamgha-e-Jamhuria (Republic Commemoration Medal)

1956Burma StarWar Medal 1939-1945Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

(1953)

Foreign decorations Foreign AwardsBurma StarWar Medal 1939-1945Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal