Afsir Karim
{{Short description|Indian Army general (1934–2019)}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix =Major General
|name =Afsir Karim
|honorific_suffix = AVSM
|native_name =
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|birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|01|26}}
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|02|12|1934|01|26}}
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|allegiance ={{flag|India|23px}}
|branch ={{army|India|23px}}
|serviceyears =1954 – 31 May 1989
|rank =20px Major General
|servicenumber =IC-6880{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=1533 |date=11 October 1986 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}
|unit =
|commands =Eastern Command
Northern Command
Southern Command
|battles =Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
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|laterwork =Author
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Major General Afsir Karim, was an Indian Army general and military scholar who has authored several books on strategic affairs & military studies. He was a graduate of the Defense Services Staff College, Wellington and the National Defence College.
Army career
General Karim was commissioned in the Indian Army in June 1954. He was a veteran of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars; he commanded a Para Battalion during the 1971 India-Pakistan War in the Eastern theatre. In 1978, he assumed command of an infantry brigade in Kashmir on the Line of Control. In May 1984, he took over command of an infantry division under India's Southern Army Command, and was promoted to major general on 16 September.
A specialist of issues related to terrorism, he has authored a number of books - Sri Lanka Crisis (co-author 1990); Counter-Terrorism: The Pakistan Factor (1991); Transnational Terrorism: Danger in the South (1995); Story of the Airborne Forces (1995) and Kashmir: The Troubled Frontiers (1994).He was also the founder-editor of AAKROSH, a journal on terrorism and internal conflicts and a former editor of the premier Indian defense publication Indian Defense Review. He was a life trustee of the Forum for Strategic & Security Studies.
Karim has written extensively on Kashmir and he authored Op-Topac, the semi-fictional account of Pakistan's game plan for Kashmir. In 2007 he wrote An analysis of the turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir.{{cite web |last1=Karim |first1=Afsir |title=An analysis of the turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir |url=https://fsss.in/occassional-papers/an-analysis-of-the-turmoil-in-jammu-and-kashmir.pdf |website=Forum for Strategic & Security Studies |access-date=21 May 2019}}
He was a member of India's National Security Advisory Board (1999–2001),{{cite news |title=National Security Advisory Board reconstituted |url=https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2000/06/01/stories/0201000d.htm |access-date=21 May 2019 |work=The Hindu |date=1 June 2000}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and was awarded the AVSM for distinguished service of an exceptional order by the Indian government for his military service.
He retired from the Indian Army on 31 May 1989 and died on 12 February 2019 after a struggle with cancer.{{cite web |title=In Memoriam : Major General Afsir Karim, AVSM |url=http://www.mpositive.in/2019/03/04/in-memoriam-major-general-afsir-karim-avsm/ |website=Mpositive |access-date=21 May 2019}}
References
{{reflist}}
- [http://www.fsss.in/ Editor AGNI - Studies In International Strategic Issues]
- [http://www.stratmag.com/Aakrosh/ahome.htm Akrosh - Asian Journal specialising in international counter-terrorism and conflict management]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928181219/http://www.himalayanaffairs.org/upload/interview-lo2.mp3 Audio interview on recent Indo-Pak peace moves]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071107101002/http://major-general-news.newslib.com/story/1151-2465194/ Lessons from the Indo-Pak war of 1965]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061212143822/http://www.himalayanaffairs.org/interviewdetails.asp?id=44 Interview detailing the various aspects of the J&K dispute]
- [http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/india/93asfir.htm Glimpse of the LTTE's Fortunes in Sri Lanka: Designs on India]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040410024926/http://bharat-rakshak.com/BOOKS/show_book.php?isbn=1+897829+06+X The Indian Armed Forces - a Basic Guide by Gen.Karim]
- [http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1822844&C=navwar Article from Defense News seeking comments on the Indo-Pak ceasefire in the Siachen Glacier]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061207142651/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE1/BR-MON3.html Article from the Indian Defence web-site Bharat Rakshak regarding the Kargil conflict with Pakistan]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karim, Afsir}}
Category:Generals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971