In West Pakistan, the homegrown criticism grew much farther and Tikka Khan’s action was widely disapproved that led to the President Yahya Khan replacing him with the populist civilian set-up.

He was again ordered to East Pakistan to defend the motherland against Indian conspiracies and an active rebellion. He was the martial law administrator of Punjab under President Yahya Khan who appointed him after replacing with Attiqur Rahman.

He has faced accusations of killing thousands of civilians. Finally, General Tikka Khan also believed that Soldiers should only do Soldiery and NOT get into politics. Thousands were killed in this operation, including the academia and members of civil society the country was plunged into a bloody civil war. He received a state burial with full military honors and his funeral was attended by thousands of people, including the entire top brass of the Pakistan Army. He was also a prisoner of war for more than two years during the war, before he and his fellow troops escaped.After his return from World War II, Khan was an instructor at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun for some time. He was awarded the Military Hilal-e-Jural and the civilian Hilal-e-Quad-e-Azam awards.He fought the enemies of Pakistan in Rann of Katch and surrounded more than 40,000 Indian Army. After making his successful escape, he saw military action in Burma front against Japan in 1945 where he was wounded and hospitalised for sometime. General Tikka was imprisoned numerous times for his political activities during the late 1970s and 1980s, until Zia-ul-Haq died in August 1988 in an airplane explosion over Bahawalpur. In 1980–88, Tikka Khan faced imprisonment numerous times for his political activities until President Zia-ul-Haq died in August 1988 in an aircraft explosion over He was immediately called back to Pakistan, and relinquished the unified Eastern Command to Lieutenant-General Amir Khan Niazi. President Yahya Khan after the resignation of Lieutenant-General Yaqub Khan appointed Tikka Khan as the governor of East Pakistan. General Tikka Khan died on March 28, 2002 after several years of illness. In a message to the General’s son, Col. Khalid M. Khan, Benazir Bhutto, who had spent many years campaigning with the General, remembered him as a person who, “rose to the highest offices of this country due to his hard work and respect for the rule of law.” After the partition that followed the independence of Pakistan, Tikka Khan opted for Pakistan and joined the Pakistan Army as a Major where he was the only artillery officer in the Pakistan Army’s Regiment of Artillery in 1947. He received a state burial with full military honors and his funeral was attended by thousands of people, including the entire top brass of the Pakistan Army.

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s July 1977 coup led to the arrest of both Bhutto and General Tikka Khan. He was also the commander IV Corps at Lahore during the same time, a time when he earned a reputation of being a tough administrator and strict disciplinarian. During the independence, Major Tikka Khan remained in what is now Pakistan, and became an officer in the Pakistan Army.After Independence, he served in only one Artillery Regiment of Royal Pakistan Artillery, where he raised and commanded the first post partition Medium Regiment of Royal Pakistan Artillery, i.e., 12 Medium Regiment Artillery.He was promoted to the rank of Major General in 1962.Tikka Khan was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1969. He ordered the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and outlawed the Awami League and ordered the attack on the University of Dhaka at midnight. He was laid to rest with military honours in the Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi. However, his tenure was short and terminated when the martial law was imposed by army chief General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1977. In March 1971, Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan arrived in Dacca took over the governorship of East Pakistan and to command the unified Eastern Command. Bhutto was executed in 1979, after which General Tikka Khan emerged as one of the leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), becoming its Secretary General, during a time when many party stalwarts abandoned it. His tenure as the Governor was cut short by the dismissal of the Benazir Bhutto government in August 1990, after which he retired from active politics. In his funeral attendance were the Chairman joint chiefs Aziz Khan, army chief, air chief, naval chief and other senior military and civil officials. After President Ayub Khan handed over the presidency to his army chief General Yahya Khan in 1969, Tikka Khan was promoted to three-star assignment and made Lieutenant-General to command the IV Corps, stationed in Lahore. He succeeded Air Commodore Mitty Masud, and assumed the command of Eastern Military High Command on 26 March 1971. Raja Tikka Khan was born in the village of Jochha Mamdot in Kahuta Tehsil near He participated in World War II and fought with the 2nd Field Regiment, Regiment of Artillery in Libya against Afrika Korps led by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in 1940. Acting on the instructions provided by President Yahya Khan’s administration, Tikka Khan began preparations of “direct-wise military operation” against the Awami League on the evening of 25 March 1971. He has the unique distinction of being awarded the highest Military and Civilian award allowed for a non-Shaheed person.

In the crisis that followed he was sent out by General Yahya Khan of Pakistan to put down unrest swelling in East Pakistan. Zulfiqar Bhutto was executed by Zia, but General Tikka Khan was spared and promptly declared himself as Secretary General of the PPP.