24 Facts About Hamid Gul

Hamid Gul was a Pakistani former three-star general and defence analyst.

Hamid Gul appointed Nawaz Sharif as the leader of the IJI, who would later win the election with the help of the ISI.

Hamid Gul was born on 20 November 1936 in Sargodha in the Punjab Province into a Punjabi-Pathan family to parents Muhammad Khan and his wife, who originated from Buner Tehsil in Swat District.

Hamid Gul's father, who was a Subedar-major in the British Indian Army, moved from Swat to Lahore before settling down in Sargodha, where he got arable land, his grandfather was a Khilafat Movement activist while his great-grandfather Faiz Khan was a Deobandi who participated in the jihad of Syed Ahmad Barelvi and Shah Ismail Dehlvi.

Hamid Gul got his early education from a school in his village.

Hamid Gul then received admission into Government College Lahore, before being admitted to Pakistan Military Academy Kakul.

Hamid Gul was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in October 1956 with the 18th PMA Long Course in the 19th Lancers regiment of the Armoured Corps.

Hamid Gul was a squadron commander during the 1965 war with India.

Hamid Gul was promoted to Brigadier in 1978 and steadily rose to be the Martial Law Administrator of Bahawalpur and then the Commander of the 1st Armoured Division, Multan in 1982, his appointments expressly wished by Zia himself.

Hamid Gul was then sent to GHQ as the Director-General or DG Military Intelligence under General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq who then nominated him to be the ISI chief succeeding General Akhtar Abdur Rahman in March 1987.

Hamid Gul was later replaced as the ISI commander by PM Benazir Bhutto in May 1989 and Gul was transferred as the commander, II Corps in Multan.

Hamid Gul believed Pakistan would play into India's hands by doing so.

General Hamid Gul worked closely with the CIA during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, when he was the ISI head.

Hamid Gul was further disconcerted when the US began punishing Pakistan with economic and military sanctions for its secret nuclear program.

General Hamid Gul personally met Osama bin Laden in 1993 and refused to label him a terrorist unless and until irrefutable evidence was provided linking him to alleged acts of terrorism.

On 12 March 2007, Hamid Gul marched alongside activists from the liberal democratic parties and retired former senior military officers against General Pervez Musharraf.

General Hamid Gul faced down riot police when they tried to arrest him at a rally outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad protesting against attempts to dismiss Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Hamid Gul turned against the restored Supreme Court chief justice after a bench allowed Musharraf to contest the elections in uniform.

In 2008 Hamid Gul was informed by a senior official in Pakistan's Foreign Ministry that he had been placed on a US watch list of "global terrorists", along with several others.

Hamid Gul was shown a US document that detailed several charges against him, including allegations that he had ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Hamid Gul's father was a farmer who served in the British Army.

Hamid Gul was survived by his wife, who died in October 2019.

Hamid Gul's death was condoled by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif, Former General Kayani, Imran Khan and other high officials.

Hamid Gul is buried at the army cemetery in Westridge, Rawalpindi.