Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir has been promoted to Field Marshal. According to Geo News, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s cabinet took this decision on Tuesday. Munir was promoted for leading the army during Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos against India. Before Asim Munir in Pakistan, in 1959, military dictator Ayub Khan declared himself Field Marshal. Field Marshal is the highest military rank in the Pakistan Army, which is considered a five-star rank. This rank is above General (four star). In Pakistan, the rank of Field Marshal is the highest in the Army, Navy and Air Force. Field Marshal is made under special circumstances In Pakistan, this rank is given only under special circumstances. There was a demand to give the status of Field Marshal to former Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif. A petition was also filed in the Islamabad High Court regarding this. It was said that General Sharif should be given this post on the basis of his better work. However, the court rejected the petition saying that it does not have the right to give any direction in this matter. According to the law of Pakistan, the Field Marshal does not have any additional constitutional power. For the appointment of a Field Marshal, the consent of the Prime Minister, the President and the Ministry of Defense is necessary. Apart from this, a constitutional order is also required from the Supreme Court or the High Court. Munir’s father had reached Pakistan from Jalandhar. In 1947, Munir’s father Syed Sarwar Munir reached Pakistan from Jalandhar in Punjab. Asim Munir was born in 1968. Munir has two more elder brothers – the eldest brother Qasim Munir is a government officer in Gilgit-Baltistan and the middle brother Hashim Munir is a school teacher. Asim Munir studied in a madrasa till the seventh standard. After that his father was transferred to Rasalpur. Munir studied 8th and 9th from a school there. After this Munir took admission in Sir Syed College in Rawalpindi. Former Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa also studied from this college. Used to be a fast bowler in college days According to Pakistani journalist Ejaz, Munir was fond of cricket in childhood, he used to be a fast bowler in college days. After school, Munir studied at Fuji School in Japan, Command and Staff College in Quetta and Armed Forces College in Malaysia and took military training from Officers Training School in Munir Mangala area of PoK. After this, Munir also did Masters in Public Policy and Strategic Security Management from National Defense University, Islamabad. Munir became Major General in 2014 Munir joined the Pakistan Army on 25 April 1986. He got commissioned in the 23rd Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment. When Munir’s rank in the army rose to Lieutenant Colonel, Munir got posted in the Pakistani Embassy in Saudi Arabia. He has also spent a lot of time in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir i.e. PoK. While being a Brigadier, he was made the Chief of Staff of Pakistan’s ‘I Strike Corps Mangala’. After this, he was made Major General in 2014. In 2016, Munir became the Director General of Military Intelligence of Pakistan and reached the post of Lieutenant General in September 2018. Quarrel with Imran Khan, remained ISI Chief for only 8 months Till 2018, Munir’s army career was going great. In March, he was given Pakistan’s second highest civilian honor ‘Hilal-e-Imtiaz’. On 25 October 2018, he was made the DG of ISI, but just 8 months later in June 2019, he was removed and Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed was made the new DG of ISI in his place and Munir was posted as Commander in XXX Corps in Gujranwala. For the first time, a DG was removed from the post in such a short time, the reason for this was Munir’s quarrel with Imran Khan. Actually, General Qamar Javed Bajwa of Pak Army was close to Imran. Pakistan has a long history of corruption among Army and ISI officers. Media reports claimed that Munir had exposed a case of corruption of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi. Therefore, at the behest of Imran Khan, Bajwa had shown Munir the way out of ISI. However, later Imran Khan denied it and said, ‘This is completely false. Neither did General Asim give me any proof of my wife’s corruption nor did I force him to resign for this reason.’ Imran was removed from the post of PM, Munir became Army Chief After being the Corps Commander, Munir was the Quartermaster General from January 2021 to November 2022. An officer of this rank looks after the logistics, equipment and other preparations for the army. Coming here from ISI Chief was a demotion for Munir. On 10 April 2022, Imran Khan was removed from the post of PM by bringing a no-confidence motion. He had already left the PM House before this. The next day, Nawaz’s younger brother Shahbaz Sharif became the PM. Munir is close to Shahbaz. Munir was about to retire from the army on 27 November 2022, but Shahbaz Sharif wanted to make him the Army Chief. He sent Munir’s nomination to President Arif Alvi on 24 November, which Alvi approved the same day. On 29 November 2022, Bajwa was removed and Munir was made the new Chief of the Pak Army. Munir will now remain in this post till 2027. Munir became the first Army Chief who was the Chief of both the intelligence agencies of Pakistan – ISI and Military Intelligence. In December 2022, Munir received the ‘Sword of Honor’. Before him in the entire military history of Pakistan, only two army officers – Asif Nawaz Janjua and Jahangir Karamat had received this honor. Verses from Quran in Munir’s speech, opposition to Western culture Munir is against social media and Western culture, and emphasizes on Islamic practices. In January 2025, Munir said in a speech, ‘If we want to adopt Western culture, then why did we get rid of Hindu culture?’ Since becoming the Army Chief, Munir quotes the Quran and other Islamic scriptures in every public speech. In one of his speeches, he quoted Iqbal and said, ‘Apni Millat Par Qiyas Aqwam-e-Maghrib Se Na Kar, Khaas Hai Tarkib Mein, Qaum-e-Rasool-e-Hashmi.’ That is, ‘Do not compare your country with Western countries. The creation of this country of the Prophet is special.’ Even before Munir, there have been staunch religious army chiefs in the Pak Army, but they more or less kept the mask of secularism. Experts say that the combination of Munir’s religiously aggressive stance and Pakistan’s military might is dangerous for Pakistan and the rest of the region. Munir’s wish is to make Kashmir a part of Pakistan. On April 16, Munir said at a program in Islamabad, “Till date, the foundation of only two kingdoms was laid on the Kalma. The first one is ‘Riyasat-e-Taiba’, because Taiba was named by our Nabi (Prophet Mohammad). Today it is called Medina. Whereas, the second kingdom, Pakistan, was created by Allah 1300 years later. We are different from Hindus in every aspect. Our religion, our customs, our culture and our thinking are different. This was the foundation of the Two-Nation Theory.” Asim also said, “Kashmir was, is and will remain our jugular vein.” Munir has been making aggressive statements about Kashmir- ———————— Read this news too… Commanders in Pakistan are raising questions on Munir’s decisions: Army Chief is putting up posters in his defense, General is accused of benefiting his family; Amid the ongoing tension with India, Pakistan is now surrounded in its own home on the army, parliament and political front. The biggest crisis in Pakistan is brewing within its own army. Read the full news here…
