Hamoodur Rahman Commission - Aftermath

Aftermath

The final report was submitted on October 23, 1974 by Chief Justice Hamood Rahman to the Prime minister Secretariat to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Following its submission, Bhutto classified the entire report as he was afraid that the report, which was highly critical to the role of Pakistan Defence Forces (especially Army) in politics, would contribute furthermore demoralization and humiliation in Pakistan Armed Forces. However, in 1975, Bhutto told Chief Justice Rahman that the report was either lost or stolen from the Prime minister Secretariat's record section, and it was nowhere to be found. Chief Justice Rehman then turned to Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq for the apprehension of the report to make it published in public. General Zia-ul-Haq also commented that the original report is no where to be found, and nobody knows where the report actually went missing. It was in 2000, when Pakistan Media on aired the news that the report was actually stored at the Generals Headquarter (GHQ), the Combatant headquarter of Pakistan Army. The report was later found in Army's report and records section by the Chief of Staff of the office. The media also quoted it was General Zia-ul-Haq who had given standing orders to the members of the Naval Intelligence who stole the report and submitted the report to him.

No action was ever taken based on this report, the report was classified and its publication disallowed at the time. General Yahya Khan died in 1980, but some of his key colleagues were living in retirement on pensions as of 2000. Parts of the report were leaked and published in Indian magazine India Today in August 2000. The following day Pakistan's leading English language newspaper Dawn Newspapers also published the supplementary report. General Pervez Musharraf said in October 2000 that the incidents in 1971 were a political as well as a military debacle, and that calls for generals to be tried were not fair. Subsequently Bangladesh requested a copy of the report. In December 2000, 29 years after the inquiry was completed, the full commission report was finally declassified in Pakistan by President Musharraf's Military government in December 2000.