Pakistan’s former spymaster and senior-most Lt General Asim Munir was named as the new army chief by PM Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday. He will take over from Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on November 29. Asim Munir headed ISI when the intelligence agency sponsored the Pulwama attack which martyred 40 CRPF personnel.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday appointed senior-most Lieutenant General Asim Munir as the new chief of the Pakistan Army. Lieutenant General Asim Munir will replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza has taken over as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Lieutenant General Asim Munir carries a dubious past in recognition of his anti-India role that also has a connection with the Pulwama terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2019 in which 40 soldiers of India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred.
Lt Gen Munir was ISI chief when Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked Pulwama
Lieutenant General Asim Munir was serving as the chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) when the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) hatched a suicidal attack on a CRPF camp in Pulwama. The entire world except Pakistan and China refutes the fact that various terrorist organisations in Pakistan including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are complicit with Pakistan Army and ISI. In fact, the Pakistan military establishment which is incapable of waging a direct war against India has been aiding and abetting various state-sponsored terror outfits for bleeding India with thousand cuts. The Pulwama attack was one such attack on Indian soil orchestrated by the Pakistani Army and ISI.
40 CRPF jawans martyred in Pulwama attack
On February 14, 2019, a suicide attack by terrorists infiltrated from Pakistan, on a CRPF convoy moving on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in which 40 jawans were martyred. Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the terror attack in the Lethpero area near Awantipora in the Pulwama district. Subsequently, India retaliated by carrying out the Balakot airstrike on 26th February. Many terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed were killed in the airstrike.
Lt General Asim Munir involvement in the Pulwama attack
The then ISI chief Lieutenant General Asim Munir was one of those military decision-makers who covertly designed Pakistan’s nefarious acts during the Pulwama attack. Munir took many vital decisions in the subsequent clashes and tension between India and Pakistan that lasted for several days.
Lt Gen KJS Dhillon (Retd) of the Indian Army had exposed Pakistan Army and ISI’s involvement in the Pulwama attack based on the weapons and documents recovered from the slain terrorists.
Lt Gen Dhillon had claimed that Pakistan Army, ISI, and terrorist organizations work in unison. No one can cross LoC without active involvement and direction from the Pakistan Army. The Indian Army apprehended Pak nationals on LoC in the Gulmarg sector who were brought there by the Pakistani post opposite India’s.
Lt Gen Asim Munir had strained relation with former PM Imran Khan
It is notable to mention that Lieutenant General Asim Munir’s brief stint as ISI chief came to an abrupt end because of his strained ties with former Pakistan PM Imran Khan. Thus, the appointment of Munir as the new Pakistan Army chief is being perceived as a jolt for Imran Khan.
Lieutenant General Asim Munir future hangs on these issues
Lieutenant General Asim Munir takes over as the Pakistan Army chief at a critical time with the country facing a severe financial crisis even as it struggles to recover from devastating floods that have ravaged a third of the impoverished nation.
Regular clashes with the Afghan Taliban on the border with Afghanistan and increasingly bold attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – also known as Pakistan Taliban – are another cause for concern.
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Lt Gen Munir has come at a time when Pakistan is compelled to reign over its state-sponsored terror outfits as it has come off the FATF grey list very recently and it cannot afford to ruffle the statutory body at this juncture when the country’s economy is in the most disastrous state.
Besides, the political turmoil in the country, with Imran Khan an acknowledged bête-noire wobbling the political cauldron, now and then, will keep the General on his toes. A return of Imran Khan will have a detrimental effect on his future, although we all know, Pakistan is run by its Army.
So lot to be seen in the future from India’s perspective – whether Gen Munir will continue with his ISI misadventures against India AND how he reigns over critical domestic issues.
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