Raja Nadir Pervez

Major Raja Nadir Pervez Khan (born 11 November 1940) is a Pakistani politician, ex-MP of the Parliament, and former Pakistan Army officer. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he was an alleged perpetrator of the Barguna massacre, among other war crimes. Later, Parvez served as a minister in the Nawaz Sharif government during his second tenure. He is the brother-in-law of the former Corps Commander of Quetta Lieutenant-General Tariq Pervez.

Military career

Training and early deployments

He graduated from the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, in 1963 and served in Army until 1974. He had served in the army and fought against India in both Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the 1971 Indo-Pak Winter War. Parvez was posted to East Pakistan and was the Company Commander of the 6 Punjab Regiment troops which had boarded PNS Rajshahi, a Pakistan Navy vessel. However, his team had gotten off the vessel and took the position in a designated area. Pervez was inducted in Pakistan Marines Battalion as a weapon specialist. During the conflict, Pervez was informed of the attack on PNS Rajshahi, immediately directed an MI-8 helicopter in the vicinity to evacuate the wounded Commanding Officer of Rajshahi and the same was done soon thereafter. Nadir was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat for his service in the 1965 war.

1971 Bangladesh War and war crimes allegations

During the 1971 Bangladesh War, he was deployed as a Major of the 6 Punjub Regiment in the southern parts of East Pakistan. He is alleged to perpetrate widespread genocide and rape against the Bangali people in Patuakhali, Barguna and Pirojpur during that time. He served as the martial law administrator of Patuakhali district and directly ordered the a massacre of 29 and 30 May. Nadir and his company occupied Patuakhali till December, while bulk of his regiment moved to Jessore to halt the Indian advance. He fled Patuakhali on 7 December via the waterways as Mukti Bahini surrounded the town. He later surrendered to the Indian Army personnel in the area after the surrender of the Pakistan Army Eastern command in Dhaka. Nadir was evacuated to India and interned in a prison camp in Fateh Garh (Camp Number 45). Seven months later, he escaped from the camp with four other officers, and returned to Pakistan via Bhutan and Nepal. The government of Bangladesh identified Nadir as one of the 195 Pakistan Army officers primarily responsible for 1971 Bangladesh atrocities.

Political career

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Raja Nadir Pervez along with Chaudhry Muhammad Barjees Tahir

Nadir joined the Pakistan Muslim League. He has since been elected Member of National Assembly (MNA) for the terms of 1985–1988, 1990–1993, 1993–1997, 1997–1999 and 2002–2007. He has also served as Federal Minister for Interior during 1987–1988; Minister of State for Water and Power during 1991–1993 and Federal Minister for the Communications during 1997–1999. He left PML-N on 2 April 2013 due to grievances over the allotment of party tickets in Faisalabad. Almost a month later, on 5 May, he joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a public gathering [jalsa] in Faisalabad.

In 2021, the Pandora papers named Nadir as one of the former military officers turned politicians using offshore holdings to transfer their wealth outside of Pakistan. He was alleged to own a British Virgin Islands-registered company that was connected to major transactions “in machinery and related businesses to India, Thailand, Russia and China”. In 2003, his shares in the company were transferred to a trust controlling several offshore accounts.

See also

• Prisoners of war during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971