M. I. Karim

M. Iskander Al-Karim, awc, psc, natively known as Bacchu Karim, was a Bengali Major General. He most notably was the commander of the Pakistan Army's 6th Armoured Division in Gujranwala.^[1]

Karim graduated from the Indian Military Academy. He was commissioned into the Central India Horse on 20 January 1945 in Greece. During his illustrious military career he served in 19 Lancers. As a Major, he served in the Pakistan Military Academy as the Company Commander of Khalid Company. On 4th September 1965, he was appointed Commanding Officer of 15 Lancers. He served till 27th February 1967. Later he served as the Commander of 5th Armoured Brigade. He eventually reached the rank of Major General in the Pakistan Army.^[2]

Prior to Operation Searchlight, then-Brigadier Karim was the officer-in-charge of civil affairs at the HQ, CMLA.^[3]

Later on, in 1971, he was promoted to Major General and made GOC of the 6th Armoured Division in Gujranwala.^[1] During the war, he was kept under the close surveillance, with Major General Bashir Ahmad openly telling his staff officers that he was to keep an eye on Bacchu Karim.^[4]

After the defeat of Pakistani forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War, his juniors officers revolted against Yahya Khan. They made him send a following flash message to Chief of General Staff Lt. General Gul Hassan Khan, which stated their demand for the army top brass to be changed.^[1] During the revolt, he was confined to a caravan and forcibly relieved of his command.^[1][4] Afterwards, Brigadier F.B. Ali took control of the division and successfully got Yahya Khan to resign.^[4]

After Bangladesh became independent, he was repatrated to Bangladesh in 1973.^[2] He was forcibly retired upon repatriation because of his continued involvement with the Pakistan Army's higher command, up until the military officer's revolt.^[5][6] After retirement, he founded the Vantage Group of Companies.^[2][7]

In 2018, he died at the age of 94.^[2]