Army-Chiefs during Pakistan’s 75 years-long history

Introduction

The most senior position in the Pakistani military to serve as a distinct member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is this one. As the prime minister’s military advisor, it consults with the chairman of the joint chiefs. As the chief of army staff of Pakistan throughout this time, all chiefs have had exercised their duties differently.They have exercised their authority to command and manage the operational, combatant, logistical, and training commands within the army.

What is the role of army chief in Pakistan?

The chief of army staff is in charge of leading and directing the army’s operational, combatant, logistical, and training commands. Due to its prominence and the breakdown of civil military relations over the past few decades.The chief of army staff has played a key role in enforcing martial law against the civilian administration.

For this reason, the arm leader must be a guy with a morally upright and responsible disposition. When doing his obligation to uphold justice, he must act impartially.

Foreshadowing forces of Pakistan

1-General Frank Walter Messervy

His nationality was British. He received a commission in the Indian Army in 1913.In 1914, he enlisted in the 9 Hudson’s Horse. He had the distinct privilege of being the first commander-in-chief of the Pakistani army. At the time when country was originally established. The period spanned 15 August 1947 and 10 February 1948.

The daily management of Pakistan’s Kashmir War was reportedly handled by both Messervy and Gracey, according to Pakistani officers. To lead the rebel forces, officers were accommodated. However, their absences were noted in the records. Messervy did, however, make a statement on November 12, 1947. In the statement, he denied that any “serving Pakistan Army officers are leading operations in Kashmir,”. Pakistan highlighted this during discussions at the UN Security Council as evidence of Pakistan’s innocence.

In less than a year, he left his position. His alleged defiance of Governor General Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s order is seen to be the primary factor in his resignation. When he claimed that India was prepared to act militarily in Kashmir some weeks prior to the incident in an influential piece he published on Kashmir in his article Asiatic Review.

2-General Douglas David Gracey

General Douglas Gracey was appointed as the second Commander-in-chief of Pakistan Army on 11 February 1948. He served in the British-Indian army. Both the First and Second World Wars saw him serve. Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan commanded what has been referred to as “The Pakistan army on leave” during the Kashmir dispute of 1947–1948. Governor General Jinnah had ordered a direct military intervention at that time, but Gen Sir Douglas Gracey. The second of the two British Commanders-in-Chief of the Pakistani army (the first was Gen Sir Frank Messervydid not carry it out. Instead, he forwarded the matter to Field Marshal Auchinleck, the top commander.

 Following Prime Minister Liaquat AliKhan’s murder, Akbar Khan was subsequently linked to the Rawalpindi plot. He died in an aero-plane crash close to Karachi. When he was to appoint a second senior commander, Maj-Gen Muhammad Iftikhar Khan, who was generally expected to succeed General Gracey.

This battle was significant because it exposed Pakistan’s military establishment’s delusion of superiority. The Optimism regarding its ability to confront the Indian Army.

Like his successor, he rejected Governor General Jinnah’s request to send soldiers to the front lines in Kashmir. He was the final British army commander in Pakistan before he abruptly retired.

3-Field Marshal Ayub Khan

The transitional role of British military commanders came to an end. ThenAyub was appointed as the commander in chief of the Pakistan Army. He changed the military tradition to one of preference for native Pakistanis.Although the Pakistani government announced the appointment of the first local navy commander in chief in 1951, Vice-Admiral M.S. Ayub Khan made it possible to appointment him, Choudhri’s, as the first native navy commander in chief, which occurred in 1953. The circumstances surrounding Ayub’s appointment established the precedent for a native. General was unexpectedly promoted.Apparently because he was the most obedient to the time’s civil authority, And also least ambitious of the generals in the line of advancement.

When American military advisers were sent to Pakistan’s military in 1955–1956, Ayub and Admiral Choudhri abolished the British military heritage in the navy and the army. Only because the air force had a British commander. However, a major staff made up of Royal Air Force personnel were British military traditions preserved.

He was the sole self-appointed field marshal and the country’s first homegrown four-star general. After the coup of 1958, he was elected president.He got retired in 1958 after serving as an army chief of Pakistan for six years.

4-General Muhammad Musa Khan 

From 1958 to 1966, under President Ayub Khan, General Muhammad Musa Khan was the 4th Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army. He later entered politics after leaving his position as Army Chief of Staff.Khan distinguished himself throughout the Allied wars in Burma and North Africa during World War II. When he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the British Indian Army. He chose the Dominion of Pakistan after India was divided in 1947. Although, changed his military duty to the newly formed Pakistan Army in the process.

 After the Pakistan Army declared martial control in the nation following the 1958 coup d’état.He gradually rose the ranks to become C-in-C. During the First Kashmir War.It lasted from 1947 to 1948, he led front combat brigades against India.

When Khan led the Pakistan Army in the 1965 Second Kashmir War with India, he rose to prominence and became well-known in the country.

Khan left the military soon after the 1965 conflict to begin a career in politics. He was then appointed governor of West Pakistan.A position he held from 1966 until 1969. He was appointed governor of Balochistan in 1985 and served in that capacity till his passing in 1991.

5- General Yahya Khan

At the age of 34 and 40, respectively, he was Pakistan’s youngest brigadier general. After his active participation in the conflict with India over the Kashmir area.

In 1966 till 1971, Ayub named Yahya the fifth army chief of Pakistan. He extended an invitation for him to succeed him as president in 1969. A military regime was imposed by Yahya. After ceding the presidency to Bhutto in 1971, he was placed under house arrest.

He was urged by Ayub to take over the leadership of the government and protect Pakistan’s sovereignty. He was chosen as the martial law’s chief administrator and said, “I will not tolerate disorder. Let everyone return to his post.”

6-General Gul Hassan Khan

President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto summoned Lieutenant-General Gul Hassan to assume the position of Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Army following the 1971 war.It resulted in an unconstrained capitulation to India.However, he declined. He reluctantly accepted the position, though, subject to a number of his predetermined terms, and assumed control of the Pakistani Army. In a contentious decision, Bhutto refused to recommend Khan for promotion to the four-star level in favour of his forebears.

 At first, he offered President Bhutto his support, but soon he started to disrupt the Hamoodur Rahman Commission proceedings.There were rumours that Air Marshal A.R. Khan and Gul Hassan Khan were meddling in state affairs.And meanwhile, influencing the Hamoodur Rahman Commission.And he got deposed by Bhutto. He served as an army chief for two months and got retired in March 1972.

Gul Hassan says that by September ‘India’s intervention was a foregone conclusion.’ Yayha had reached out to the US and gotten nothing in return. The Chinese had told him to find a political solution. He was now praying that Pakistan would be rescued by angles.

7-General Tikka Khan

Commander of the Pakistani Army’s Eastern Command, General Tikka Khan. Because of the brutal military crack-down he led in 1971 in Dhaka to put an end to the Bangladesh freedom struggle.He became known as “the Butcher of Bangladesh”.

Tikka Khan was stripped of his duties as Eastern Command during the struggle to liberate Bangladesh. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the country’s former prime minister, promoted him to the rank of general.And appointed him army leader on 3 March 1972 following the establishment of Bangladesh in 1971. The selection was interpreted as evidence that Bhutto would be willing to employ force to oust his domestic rivals. Because Tikka Khan’s first mission was to oppress the Baluchistani people, he earned the nickname “Butcher of Beluchistan.”

In 1976, Tikka Khan joined the Pakistan People’s Party after leaving the military in 1974.And he was appointed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s special assistant on national security. His appointment as defense minister followed. In 1988, Tikka Khan was appointed governor of the Punjab province by Benazir Bhutto when she was still the country’s first lady.

8-General Muhammad Ziaul Haq

At the close of World War II, Zia served with the British armoured forces in Southeast Asia. It was a time-period when he graduated from the Royal Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun in 1945 and receiving his commission. Having held numerous staff and command positions for 19 years, Bhutto appointed him as a chief of army staff of Pakistan in March 1976.

On July 5, 1977, Zia overthrew Bhutto in a non-violent revolution and took over as main martial-law administrator while continuing to serve as Army chief of staff. After Fazal Elahi Chaudhry’s resignation, he became president. Following Bhutto’s execution in 1979 on accusations of attempted murder. Zia increased his grip on the country. Bhutto was a dynamic and still-popular leader. The following year, Zia prohibited strikes, severely censored the press, suspended political parties, and proclaimed martial law throughout the nation.

He launched a U.S.-financed military expansion in response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of nearby Afghanistan in 1979. He also strove to Islamize Pakistan’s political and cultural life and tried to increase his base of support.

9-General Mirza Aslam Beg

On August 17, 1988, President General Zia-ul-Haq was killed in an aero-plane accident, which led to his nomination as chief of army staff. At Beg’s administration, the country’s military was under civilian authority and democracy had been restored. Benazir Bhutto was also elected prime minister during this time. He was accused of funding the conservative and right-wing opposition coalition known as the Islamic Democracy Alliance (IDA).Which stood up against the left-wing PPP, and of rigging the general elections that followed in 1990.

In 1990, Nawaz Sharif was chosen as the country’s prime minister following national elections.But they later spat over Beg’s advice to back Iraq during the Gulf War. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan promptly after in 1991 rejected Beg’s request for an extension. In August 1991, he retired from service.

10-General Asif Nawaz Janjua

Four senior army generals were competing for four-star appointments in the Pakistani military. It was a time when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accepted Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg’s prompt retirement in 1991.

When Lt. Gen. Shamim Allam, the second-highest ranking military commander, was eventually raised to the position of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen. Rahimuddin Khan, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, recommended Lt. Gen. Asif. On June 11, 1991, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan approved Lt. Gen. Asif’s four-star elevation.

When he successfully led Pakistan out of what he saw as the failed legacy of Islamism by former conservative President Zia.His political views reflected libertarianism and he attempted to strengthen the military-to-military relations with the Indian Army. During Nawaz’s rule, the army unexpectedly assumed the function of defending a free press and liberal values of criticism.

As the head of the army, Gen. Asif was instrumental in supplying Pakistan’s civilian government with military assistance.His employment was terminated when he passed away from a heart attack.

11-General Abdul Waheed Kakar

In January 1993, he was appointed as chief of army staff of Pakistan. In 1993, at the height of the political and constitutional crisis,Kakar took over as COAS.He was responsible for forcing both Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Nawaz Sharif to submit their resignations. In 1993, as a result, Benazir Bhutto won the general elections and took office. A National Assembly member said that “the era of the Pakhtoons has begun” following his appointment. The new Chief of Army Staff, like the president, was a native of the Frontier province.

The Shaheen Nuclear Missile Project was started by General Kakar during his time-period.

In 1993, the then-MNA Mahmood Khan Achakzai said the following about the new COAS:

 “This is not a General of the colonial Sandhurst line. I’d like to greet a wise man from the Zhob highlands. He possesses the professional abilities to raise the Pakistan Army’s efficiency. But more than that, he has the intellect to understand politics and support democracy. Not being a religious zealot, General Waheed.”

January 1996 saw his retirement.

12-General Jehangir Karamat

When General Abdul Waheed Kakar’s three-year term as Chief of Army Staff was about to expire.Then-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto approved Karamat’s appointment.And provided her approval to President Farooq Leghari on December 18, 1995.General Karamat attempted to collaborate with the Prime Minister and President simultaneously while serving as Chief of Army Staff.

In an effort to persuade Benazir Bhutto and President Leghari to overcome their differences. General Karamat spoke with Yousaf Raza Gillani, the National Assembly’s then-speaker, and “leaked” an intelligence report. He also stressed the importance of good governance.

General Karamat once penned the following:

“In my opinion, if we have to repeat of past events then we must understand that Military leaders can pressure only up to a point. Beyond that their own position starts getting undermined because the military is after all is a mirror image of the society from which it is drawn”

In October 1998, he announced his retirement as the Chief of Army Staff.

13-General Pervez Musharraf

In 1998, Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister at the time appointed him as a chief of army staff after a long-serving in military. In an effort to exercise control over the military. Mr. Sharif promoted him over the heads of more senior generals making his appointment a risk.

He took control in a coup in 1999, endured multiple attempts on his life.And eventually found himself in the middle of the conflict between the West and militant Islamists.

He dismissed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at the beginning of 2007, setting off nationwide demonstrations.The Pakistani Taliban were founded as a result of the fury over that incident.Which also sparked a bombing and attack campaign that claimed hundreds of lives.The end of the Musharraf era officially began in late 2007 when Nawaz Sharif made his way home from exile.

By instituting emergency rule, the former general attempted to prolong his term.But his party lost the parliamentary elections in February 2008. He departed the country after resigning six months later in order to avoid being impeached.

Then, 20 years after gaining power, he was convicted guilty of treason and given a death sentence in absentia.However, this decision was later overturned less than a month later. He was known as the “man of war and peace”.

14-General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani

Following Musharraf’s retirement on November 28, 2007, Kiyani assumed control of the army. Near General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the ceremony took place at a sports stadium. General Kayani is the first four-star commander in Pakistani history to have held the post of ISI director before rising to the rank of Chief of Army Staff.

Military officers were not to keep in touch with politicians after General Kayani issued a directive prohibiting it in January 2008.On March 7, 2008, General Kayani reaffirmed that Pakistan’s armed forces would support the new administration while avoiding politics.

As army commander, Kayani’s first action was to travel to the front lines in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). He celebrated Eid with his comrades rather than his family, which led American military officials to refer to him as a “soldier’s soldier.”

Kayani is alleged to have said regarding the Afghan war:

“The Pakistani people believe that the real aim of U.S. [war] strategy is to denuclearize Pakistan.”

General Kayani announced his impending resignation on October 6, 2013, the day before his official retirement date.

Forbes stated about him:

“The most powerful man in an unstable country”.

15-General Raheel Sharif

He served from 29 November 2013 to 29 November 2016 as the 9th Chief of Army Staff.An offensive strategy against militants involved in the War on Terror was developed in large part thanks to General Sharif. Over 80,000 Pakistanis have died as a result of the War on Terror, which has also cost Pakistan $118 billion.

Spearheading Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Implementing NAP

General Sharif’s appointment in 2013 proved to be beneficial for the nation.Because he completely changed Pakistan’s strategy for battling extremists. A crucial operation known as Zarb-e-Azab, was initiated in North Waziristan in 2014.A mountainous territory where terrorists are said to be hiding out.

In response to the tragic attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014 that claimed the lives of over 144 kids and teachers.The civilian and military leadership decided that a national strategy to combat terrorism was required. The National Action Plan served as the capstone of these efforts (NAP). Similar to Zarb-e-Azb, General Sharif worked to put NAP into practise in its original intent.

General Sharif frequently expressed a hard line toward India. He stated that Baluchistan was being destabilized by the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).And that the Pakistan Army was prepared to thwart any overt or covert attempts.

In contrast to General Ashfaq Kyani, who was his predecessor, General Sharif was engaged in both professional concerns.And effort to maintain a balance between the military and civilian authorities.

General Raheel Sharif, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), retired in November 2016 defying all predictions and conspiracies. Since 1996, only General Sharif has retired after serving just one three-year tenure in command.

16-General Qamar Javed Bajwa

In November 2016, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif selected Bajwa as the 16th Chief of the Army Staff of the Pakistani Army. Raheel Sharif had previously held the position.His record and opinions in favour of democracy had a role in his selection as COAS.Under Bajwa’s direction, operations Radd-ul-Fasaad and Khyber 4 were initiated in February 2017 and July 2017, respectively.

During the 2017 Tehreek-e-Labaik protest, Bajwa was criticised by the Islamabad High Court for his role. For refusing to carry out Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s orders to send troops to Islamabad to put an end to the demonstration. Instead, Bajwa acted as a mediator and suggested that the Prime Minister negotiate with the protesters, which prompted Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid to resign.

Reuters reported:

That Prime Minister Sharif picked Bajwa because of his low-key style.

In the Forbes list of the World’s Most Powerful People in 2018, he came in at number 68. On November 29, 2022, he officially retired after a lengthy and unexpectedly extended tenure.

17-General Syed Asim Munir

As a brigadier, Lt. Gen. Munir oversaw soldiers in the Force Command Northern Areas for Gen. Bajwa.Who was then the Commander X Corps. Early in 2017.He was named director general of the military intelligence. In October 2018. He was named director general of the ISI.

Lt. Gen. Munir was appointed Gujranwala Corps Commander eight months later. Two years later, he was appointed Quartermaster General at the GHQ.From 17 June 2019 to 6 October 2021, he served as the XXX Corps (Pakistan) commander in Gujranwala. Until Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed succeeded him as the ISI’s 23rd Director-General on June 16, 2019, he held that position. He possesses the Sword of Honour as well

The Pakistani Army’s Quartermaster General, General Asim Munir Ahmed now is a four-star rank general. On November 24, 2022, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif officially named him the 11th Chief of Army Staff, serving a three-year term. He is a ‘hafiz-e-Quran’.