Honors, Dishonors and Death
In the course of his military career, he was awarded the Hilal-i-Jur'at, Sitara-i-Pakistan, and Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam. After retirement he was stripped of his medals and pensions without due cause, and that was quite a surprise to the public as he was never court-martialed. But Maj Gen Mitha gained more popularity by this due to which he was kept under surveillance by the Bhutto Administration as he was also hero worshipped by his juniors in the SSG. He remained under surveillance through the Bhutto years.
He had a hard time finding any kind of employment. Had it not been for the generosity of a friend living in Britain, who asked Mitha to manage his farm for him, he would have been on the street.
Maj Gen AO Mitha died in December 1999. After he died, one of his friends wrote to his wife, "At the end of a tumultuous life, all he wanted was a room to sleep in, one to write and eat in - a space to walk, reflect and gaze across the fields to the distant hills."
Read more about this topic: Aboobaker Osman Mitha
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