Mirza, Iskander

Mirza, Iskander (1899-1969), Pakistani soldier, civil servant, politician, and first president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan created in 1956.

Mirza, born in 1899, was the first cadet from the Indian subcontinent to enter the British army from Sandhurst. After army service he joined the Indian Political Service in 1926, rising to become a political agent in the Khyber and then Orissa before becoming Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Defence in 1946. After Pakistan’s independence from Britain in 1947 he served as Defence Secretary. He helped foil a coup attempt in 1951 and urged the government to take a strong line in quelling public order disturbances in the Punjab in 1953. In 1954 he was appointed Governor of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and his reputation as a strongman contributed to his appointment as Interior Minister later that year.

In 1955 Mirza became Governor-General of the country. At his insistence, Chaudhuri Mohammad Ali remained as Prime Minister and introduced the 1956 constitution under which Pakistan became an Islamic republic, with Mirza as its first president. Growing political instability and demands for autonomy in East Pakistan led Mirza to announce the abolition of political parties in October 1958. The constitution was abrogated and the country placed under martial law. This, however, led to Mirza’s own downfall immediately afterwards. His chosen martial law administrator, General Muhammad Ayub Khan, forced him to resign and took the presidency for himself. Mirza then retired to London, where he died in 1969.