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Wilson John and Kaustav Chakrabarti
The long awaited reshuffle in Pakistan Army’s top hierarchy clearly establishes General Ashfaq Kayani’s coming of age, almost 10 months after he took over as the Chief of Army Staff, cleansing the force of General Pervez Musharraf’s controversial legacy by sidelining officers who were closely aligned with the former President’s politics and military policy, particularly in the tribal areas.
The reshuffle reestablishes Kayani’s priorities—Kashmir and the tribal areas. There is unlikely to be any change in the army’s traditional Kashmir policy but a certain course corrections will be visible in the military strategy in the tribal areas which is, for the moment, where the global (read US) focus is.
The new appointments also reinforces the army’s attempts to consolidate its position in the decision making process, particularly after the election of Asif Ali Zardari as the President. Zardari’s confidantes had made it known that the new President, elected with a majority, would decide the key appointments in the armed forces, including that of the COAS. Zardari’s attempts to undermine the Army by shifting the control of ISI to the Interior Ministry had only confirmed the fears within the military. Kayani’s appointments, with more to come in the near future, are a firm reminder to the civilian leadership about the army’s superiority in strategic and foreign policy matters.
The key appointments (September 29, 2008) include Lt. General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha as the Director General of ISI and new Corps Commanders for Karachi, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala and Bahawalpur.
The fact that some key positions—Vice Chief of Army Staff, Director General Military Operations and Director General Infantry-- were yet to be filled indicate another round of appointments in the near future.
A closer look at the appointments would also show how more things change in Pakistan, they remain the same. Any change in Pak Army’s Kashmir policy is highly unlikely. This inference can be safely drawn from the appointment of Lt. General Tahir Mahmood (Infantry) and the new Rawalpindi Corps Commander.
General Tahir Mahmood from Punjab regiment, till recently, was the General Officer Commanding Special Services Group (SSG), a special forces unit, mostly trained by the US Army, and once led by General Pervez Musharraf. Mahmood has another link to the former General. He was one of the Brigadiers who led the Pakistani intrusion in Kargil in 1999. He was then commanding 62 Brigade at Skardu. The Kargil operation was executed by 62 Infantry Brigade at Skardu along with 82 Brigade at Minimarg, 32 Brigade at Kel. In 2000, Mehmood was appointed as the Chief of Staff at 10 Corps from where he went as the FCNA Commander at Gilgit in 2003. Incidentally, Kayani too has served in most of these positions and is well acquainted with Mahmood.
Another critical appointment is that of Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha as the DG ISI. He replaces Lt. General Nadeem Taj, a Musharraf confidant. Pasha’s appointment as the ISI head comes at a time when the intelligence agency is under a global scanner for its involvement in promoting terrorist groups, particularly the Taliban. The US had recently accused ISI of facilitating the Taliban attacks on the coalition forces in Afghanistan. ISI was also blamed for the suicide bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul in July this year. The New York Times had pointed fingers at Kayani for being in the know of the embassy bombing.
Another important change within ISI is Maj-Gen Zahir-ul-Islam who takes over as the Director-General Counter Intelligence, the second most important post in the spy agency. Maj Gen Zahir-ul-Islam, former GOC Murree, is said to be picked by Kayani.
There are reports that the change in the ISI was in the offing. The change in the leadership of the intelligence agency was reportedly discussed during the meeting President Asif Zardari had with CIA Director last week in New York. Earlier this year, Hayden had reportedly presented a ISI Reform proposal to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.
Pasha, just promoted from a Major General, was DG Military Operations and was leading the Pakistan Army’s operations –Operation Rah-e-Haq I and II--in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Pasha’s appointment means that there would be hardly any change in the present strategy of dealing with the militants in the tribal areas. Pasha, a Pashtun officer from the Frontier Force (FF), was previously the Commandant of the prestigious Commandant, Command and Staff College at Quetta, and Commander Pakistan Contingent (PAKCON) at Sierra Leone in 2002.
Pasha’s appointment indicate Kayani’s close alignment with the US strategy in the tribal areas, attempting to rope in the recalcitrant ISI in neutralizing at least the anti-US forces among the Taliban and other militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The appointment incidentally comes at a time when there is a renewed talk of opening negotiations with a `moderate Taliban`. Pasha, a Pathan officer from the Frontier, with considerable operations experience in the tribal areas, heading the intelligence agency can be a coup for the Americans.
Pakistan Army: Top Leadership
September 30, 2008
General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, Chief of Army Staff (to retire on November 28, 2010)
Vice Chief of Army Staff (still to be filled up)
Lt Gen Tariq Majid, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (to retire on October 8, 2010)
Lieutenant General Muhammad Mustafa , Chief of General Staff, General Headquarters
Lt. Gen. Javed Jia, Deputy Chief of General Staff, General Headquarters (to retire on September 21, 2011)
Lieutenant General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha , Director General, Inter-Services Intelligence directorate
Lieutenant General Mohsin Kamal has been appointed Military Secretary at General Headquarters. (to retire on September 21, 2011)
Lt Gen Syed Absar Hussain, Commander, Army Strategic Forces Command (to retire on March 8, 2011)
Corps Commanders
Commanders Corps Retiring on
Lt Gen Tahir Mehmood X Corps (Rawalpindi)
Lt Gen Nadeem Taj XXX Corps (Gujranwala) September 21, 2011
Lt Gen Muhammad M Aslam XI Corps (Peshawar) September 23, 2009
Lt Gen Ijaz Ahmad Bakshi IV Corps (Lahore) April 11, 2010
Lt Gen Sikandar Afzal II Corps (Multan) April 11, 2010
Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed I Corps (Mangla) April 11, 2010
Lt Gen Khalid S Wynne XII Corps (Quetta) March 8, 2011
Lt Gen Shahid Iqbal V Corps (Karachi)
Lt Gen Muhammad Yousaf XXXI Corps (Bahwalpur) March 8, 2011
Other Key Officers
Maj Gen Muhammad Asif — DG, Military Intelligence
Lt.General Khalid Jafferi, Director General, Nuclear Assets and Strategic Plan Division
Lt Gen Jamil Haider, Director General C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence)
Lt. Gen. Shafaat Ullah Shah, Chief of Logistics Staff, General Headquarters (to retire on September 23, 2009)
Lieutenant General Raza Muhammad, Director General Joint Staff at Joint Staff Headquarters. (to retire on September 23, 2009)
Lt-Gen Ahsan Azhar Hayat, Inspector General Training and Evaluation (IGT&E), General Headquarters. (to retire on April 11, 2010)
Lieutenant General Muhammad Zahid , Adjutant General,General Headquarters
Lieutenant General Javed Zia, Quarter Master General, General Headquarters
Lt Gen Mohammad Ashraf Saleem, Commander Army Air Defence Command (to retire on March 8, 2011)
Lt Gen Syed Sabahat Hussain, Chairman Pakistan Ordnance Factories (to retire on May 5, 2009)
Lieutenant General Ayyaz Salim Rana, , Director General Heavy Industries, Taxila.
Lt Gen Hamid Khan, President, National Defence University (to retire on September 23, 2009)
Lt Gen Sajjad Akram, Deputy Chairman Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) * ( to retire on April 11, 2010)
Lt Gen Shahid Niaz, Engineer-in-Chief, Frontier Works Organisation (to retire on March 8, 2011)
Lt Gen. Rehan Burney—Surgeon General (to retire on March 24, 2012)
Lieutenant General Muhammad Zaki, Inspector General, Arms at General Headquarters (to retire on April 11, 2010).
Lieutenant General Tanvir Tahir, IG Communication and IT at General Headquarters.
(Courtesy:ORF)http://orfonline.org/cms/sites/orfonline/modules/analysis/AnalysisDetail.html?cmaid=15281&mmacmaid=15282
(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the views either of the Editorial Committee or the Centre for Land Warfare Studies)
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