When Pakistan Army Chief Bajwa Backed Peace Over Conflict With India

As he settled down to his job as army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa -- rumours of whose death swirled last week -- developed a vision of reducing his country's and his institution, the army's traditional hostility toward India, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.

Pakistan's former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was rumoured to have died, aged 65 sometime last week, after a fall at his residence earlier in the year, which led to a brain concussion.

Though the Iran war is currently grabbing all the media attention, it is perhaps characteristic of the country that is Pakistan that Bajwa's condition went unreported in major print or electronic media in that country.

Ranked in the 2018 Forbes list as one of the world's most powerful, Bajwa had a fairly controversial six year tenure as army chief from November 2016 to November 2022.

An infantry officer of the Baloch regiment (16 Baloch), he joined the army in 1978 and progressed through a professionally well oriented military career to attain three star rank, though he was last in his batch at that level.

He served as force commander, Northern Areas as a major general before having a long stint as corps commander in the prestigious X Corps, Rawalpindi.

He did training stints at the Canadian army's Command and Staff College as also at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monteroy, USA, and with a UN peacekeeping contingent in the Congo (2003).

A Jat hailing from heartland Punjab's Ghakkar Mandi village in Gujrat district, he was well connected within the province's feudal oligarchy.

His father-in-law Major General Ejaz Amjad (retd) reportedly had close ties with the family of Nawaz Sharif, which helped in Bajwa's selection as army chief over claims of professionally better candidates senior to him.

In the lobbying that is common in Pakistan before the selection, a canard was spread, possibly from within, over Bajwa's alleged Ahmediya links, referring to his wife's uncle, Major General Iftikhar Khan Janjua, who fought valiantly and was martyred in one of the wars against India.

After his elevation, Bajwa promptly shunted out the well regarded ISI chief, Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar to an inconsequential slot, possibly out of ire for involvement in such machinations.

Bajwa's Vision for India Ties

As he settled down to his job as army chief, Bajwa developed a vision of reducing his country's and his institution, the army's traditional hostility toward India.

Addressing the Islamabad Security dialogue in March, 2018 he averred, 'the contemporary concept of national security is not only about protecting a country from internal and external threats but also providing conducive environment in which aspirations of human security, national progress and development could be realised.'

He believed rightly, that 'a nation at peace and a region in harmony are thus essential prerequisites for attainment of national security'.

He acknowledged that 'stable Indo-Pak relations were key to unlock the untapped potential of South and Central Asia'.

He had to qualify though, that 'this potential for peace had forever remained hostage to disputes and issues between two nuclear neighbours'.

'The Kashmir dispute was at the head of this problem and it was important to understand that without its resolution through peaceful means, the process of sub-continental rapprochement will always remain susceptible to derailment due to politically motivated bellicosity'. 'However, we feel that it is time to bury the past and move forward.'

During his tenure, track two contacts with India presaged a ceasefire along the Line of Control, which survived for a fairly long period (February 2021 to April 2025).

In March 2018, addressing print and electronic media editors in a closed door session at GHQ, Bajwa talked of a 'deweaponised' Pakistan, where only the State is authorised to use force for 'jihad'.

He reiterated a commitment to 'mainstream' terrorists and hinted that there would be no differentiation between 'good' or 'bad' terrorists.

Admittedly, his efforts in this direction did not meet with much success though he did encourage the likes of Hafiz Saeed to put up proteges and front political groups in the 2018 elections.

Though he had been appointed army chief by Nawaz Sharif, Bajwa fell in line with pressure from his army peers and retired officers, as well as from high placed members of the judiciary and civil society to ease out the Sharifs from power.

The promotion of Imran Khan as a political alternative had begun before his elevation as chief by then army chief General Raheel Sharif and other powerful bosses of the Inter Services Intelligence, Lieutenant Generals Pasha and Zaheer ul Islam encouraging such moves.

Bajwa carried this forward, bringing Imran to power in the 2018 elections to the national assembly.

Bajwa Tenure Extension and Backlash

This helped him get an extension of tenure in November 2021 as his first term drew to a close.

There was a minor flutter when Pakistan supreme court then chief justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa suspended the extension during a petitioner (Riaz Rahi)'s public litigation on November 25, commenting sarcastically on this 'proclivity of generals to give themselves 'year after year' of extensions'.

The objections of the judiciary were taken in the stride by amending the Army Act 1952 through consensus with the political Opposition (then the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz mainly) in January, 2022.

As with every other chief on extended tenure, in time Bajwa too became somewhat unpopular within his main constituency of serving and retired army officers.

In particular, his punitive actions against former ISI chief Lieutenant General Asad Durrani (retd), stopping his pension after the latter's association in writing a book with India's intelligence officer A S Dulat became subject of criticism.

In Durrani's book, Honour among Spies, he was disparagingly nom-de-plumed as 'Jabbar Jatt'!

He also fell out with Imran Khan, over the latter's insistence to keep Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed on as DG, ISI even when the latter became due for a mandatory stint as corps commander.

This rift eventually led to Imran's ouster as prime minister in April 2022 through a no-confidence motion of the combined Opposition, which was blessed by the army.

Just before he retired, Bajwa perhaps realised the predicament of the army controlling hybrid dispensations for years despite persisting civil society opprobrium and disenchantment among urbanised youth.

Addressing the Defence and Martyrs day ceremony at Rawalpindi (November 23, 2022), he lamented continuing criticism against the army, acknowledging that 'a major reason for this is the army's interference in politics for the last 70 years, which is unconstitutional'.

He went on to say, 'that is why the army decided in February last year (2021) not to interfere in politics'.

Yet, instead of welcoming the military's decision, 'many sectors used very inappropriate and undignified language while making the army the target of severe criticism', and a 'false narrative was created', from which 'an escape is now being attempted'.

This realisation remains on paper as his successor regime, under now Field Marshal Asim Munir consolidated power again.

Yet, it may perhaps have served a purpose if it found mention in an obituary of a prominent serviceman who served his country long and well.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff