The Pakistan Army’s strategic intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, got a new chief this week, Lt General Faiz Hameed, making the world wonder what has he done to deserve the position. Or what will now be the fate of one of the most talked about intelligence agencies in the world.
Lt Gen. Faiz Hameed, the new Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, has raised eyebrows not due to his appointment but because he replaced Lt Gen. Asim Munir, who was appointed just eight months ago. This creates an impression that Faiz Hameed brings more to his boss’s table than his immediate predecessor. The change has ensured for him the title of being ‘his master’s voice’ and the fact that this will have an impact on the politics inside the organisation for the short to medium term.
There were times during Pakistan’s life as a frontline state for the United States when every new army chief would make observers wonder if the new man in was religiously conservative or had liberal tendencies. Notwithstanding that such line of questioning was incorrect, it was inspired by the idea that the army chief during the 1980s, Zia-ul-Haq, had changed the mood of the army. Using Zia-ul-Haq as a cultural-organisational milestone diverted observers away from the reality that the army, like a good armed bureaucracy, may change its outlook depending on the top boss but would remain focused on its strategic goals.
Also read: Washington to London: An inside account of how Pakistan’s deep state grooms ISI mouthpieces
Thus, a new head of the ISI will not or cannot tamper with its strategic goals. He will not interact with the jihadis on his own or eliminate them because he doesn’t agree with the idea. However, his relationship with the army chief, the ISI and the rest of the army will have an impact on his ability to perform. We know that the former head of the ISI, Lt Gen. (retd) Shamsur Rahman Kallu was outwitted by his organisation and kept out of the information loop because his organisation did not trust him. Kallu was appointed to the position by then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who used her powers to appoint the ISI chief to bring in her own man and replace the hawkish Lt Gen. Hamid Gul.
Past & present, in Bajwa’s company
Lt Gen. Faiz Hameed’s relationship with Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa date back to the early to mid-2010s, when the former was a brigadier and posted as Chief of Staff at the Rawalpindi based 10th Corps where Bajwa was the field commander officer. Both Bajwa and Hameed belong to the Baluch regiment. Subsequently, Hameed was promoted as major general and sent to 16th infantry division at Pannu Aqil, which experts believe belie the fact that he was viewed by the army under Raheel Sharif as an average officer who was not given the better 12, 11, and 10 infantry divisions at the same station.
After completing the command of a division, which is one of the prerequisites of for promotion to the rank of a three-star appointment, Hameed was brought back to Rawalpindi. But Qamar Bajwa, who had taken over the command of the army by then, brought his own man to head the ‘C’ wing of the ISI responsible for counter-intelligence, which means a hand on the political pulse of Pakistan and on the organisational pulse of its army. Indeed, Hameed grew so powerful in that position that many viewed him as the main man running the ISI and not Lt Gen. Naveed Mukhtar, who served as the DG ISI from December 2016 to October 2018. However, Hameed couldn’t be made the head as he was still short of a third star, which he earned in April 2019 and was posted as the Adjutant-General. This is another powerful position within the GHQ hierarchy, especially in terms of contact with the army chief.
Also read: New ISI chief Hameed headed Pakistan’s internal security & is close to army chief Bajwa
General Hameed could have continued as Adjutant-General had Bajwa not gotten restless and brought him back to the ISI — this time as the top boss of the spy agency to replace Lt Gen. Asim Munir, who has been shunted off to a less illustrious position as the Corps Commander Gujranwala. The shift will certainly leave a mark on the relationship between the army’s spy organisation, Military Intelligence – which is where Asim Munir had come from – and the ISI.
Not so average ambitions
Faiz Hameed may be counted as an average officer but he is certainly a man with above average personal ambitions. A three-year stint at the ISI means he would have his hand on the organisational pulse to ensure that he remains in the run for the position of the army chief in the future, depending on when Bajwa decides to doff his uniform. Bajwa’s influence leaped further last week when he was included as a member in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s newly created body for Pakistan’s economic revival – the National Development Council. Though many observers claim that Bajwa will retire from his position of army chief in November this year, Bajwa himself had voiced his intent to stay on for at least another year to his counterparts in the United Kingdom during a visit in October 2018.
Sources claim that Faiz Hameed qualifies to be in the run if Bajwa gets either a one-year or a three-year extension. In fact, many say that Faiz Hameed has ensured that when it is the turn for his name to be considered, Asim Munir would not qualify for the same due to some critical, though minor, manipulation of his service record. Meanwhile, he will serve his boss in the army, carefully monitoring the impact that an extension may have on the organisation and its corporate ethos. Bajwa’s staying on will have an effect on the careers of 24 lieutenant generals and numerous major generals. The domino effect of Bajwa’s decision will enhance the internal pressure inside the organisation. The level of resentment and the fallback will have to be calculated and minimised.
Also read: Pakistan’s new ISI chief was accused of secretly helping Imran Khan’s party in 2018 polls
General Bajwa seems to be consistently working on his image as a man with a grand plan to create a new country with a cleaner system of governance. In a recent corps commander’s conference, General Bajwa thundered: ‘mein kisi ko nahin chhorun ga’ (I will not spare anyone). The issue here is not just the ‘corrupt’ civilian, which is how the popular narrative goes, but also men in uniform. Bajwa recently sentenced a three-star lieutenant general to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment and death to a one-star brigadier and a scientist for leaking the country’s nuclear secrets for money. This, in an army that has tried to insulate itself from corruption allegations through instituting an extensive system of perks and privileges for its men, especially the higher echelons. The story of Lt Gen. (retd) Javed Iqbal and Retired Brigadier Raja Rizwan speaks of the breaking down of the business-as-usual method.
A death sentence to its officers is certainly a rarity, which may have become imperative considering that Raja Rizwan is accused of sharing secrets with India’s Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). The Lt Gen., on the other hand, was possibly linked with the US effort to locate Pakistan’s strategic assets, particularly after Washington DC grew fearful of militants succeeding in hurting the strategic chain-of-command for decision-making. There was resentment in the military, especially the segments considered as the ‘deep state’, regarding Gen Pervez Musharraf’s closeness with the Americans. The metallurgist responsible for building Pakistan’s nuclear enrichment program, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan recently filed a petition in the Lahore High Court accusing Musharraf of colluding with the US in forcing him to publicly take responsibility for selling nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Reading this news along with the earlier one indicates the worry that there are elements within the Pakistan Army that may be involved in trading secrets with foreign agencies. There are reports of over a dozen officers being investigated in relation with the earlier-mentioned case. Chief Qamar Bajwa could always build a case for securing his own institution against irresponsible behaviour.
PTI, the important task
Lt. General Faiz Hameed is certainly no Asad Durrani or Hamid Gul. At best, he is what General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was for his boss, General Kiyani. More than military matters, Faiz Hameed’s greater worth lies in domestic political manipulation, something that he has already proven to do. The role he played in building the 2017 protest of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to weaken the Nawaz Sharif government, and later manipulating a peace deal with the Barelvi militants, was criticised by the Supreme Court. As the head of ISI, Faiz Hameed would ensure that the new political mechanism namely the PTI survives, and the political influence of the opposition parties is managed well, especially at a time when the risk to Prime Minister Imran Khan can become formidable due to economic pressures the public faces.
Also read: Espionage case shatters Pakistan army’s myths – and the belief its nuke secrets are secure
One of Lt Gen. Faiz Hameed’s important tasks would be to ensure that the political pot doesn’t boil over into the streets. This would call for management of resources within the political party system, and generating sufficient amount of fear in the larger civil society to curb any popular political movement emerging, especially in Punjab. According to one keen observer of Pakistan’s security, there will certainly be more news of ‘mysterious deaths’ in the country.
The other significant players with whom the new ISI chief would have to keep the conversation going are the jihadi groups that are under pressure because of the nature of geo-politics at the moment. While the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a current reality, conditions could change in case of an Iran-US conflagration. Obviously, in those circumstances, the situation will change not just for the jihadis but for the Pakistan military in general. For the moment, Faiz Hameed is in good company with the interior minister, Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah, who has links with all kinds of jihadis – from al-Qaida and Lashkar-e-Taiba to Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Taliban – to keep the conversation with the militants going.
Perhaps, the biggest impact of this appointment will be on the future of Pakistan Army as an institution. If indeed the purpose is to build up and ensure prolongation of General Bajwa’s career, as was done by his predecessor General Kiyani, it points to a shift in the organisational ethos. With every army chief considering himself indispensable, the only result is the eventual weakening of the organisation.
The author is research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London and author of Military Inc. Views are personal.
Lt. General Faiz Hameed is beautiful and reasonable personality. He is great patriot of Pakistan. Salute to our honourable military general. And salute to Pervez Musharruf, a brave patriot, great reformist military political leader of our beloved homeland/motherland. Pak Army zinda baad Pakistan painda baad.
A article full of rubbish..the writer ayesha siddiqa always write against Pakistan army…so what we can expect from this sick minded lady
how did you get in to School of Oriental and African Studies London. seriously im baffled. didnt know they wer that short of money.
Look at the Pakistani idiots posting against this article. Fresh news on 22nd August 2019, Gen. Bajwa was given an extension for 3 more years. Will be interesting how Lt. Gen. GaFool spins it.
I beg to differ with the views of Ayesha Sidddiqa- the worthy writer. In crux, the write up is tantamount to “Intellectual Dishonesty” as bundle of lies are found in the text. How an average officer can reach the highest ladder ( as accused by the writer ) is a big question mark as it is not possible in the army career building/ monitoring system . The article mostly revolves around speculations which a writer should avoid, being against the ethics of Journalism. Gen Bajwa is now team capt and a team capt has the prerogative to adjust his team as the other team capts do in other fields, so this is not fair to blame his integrity . The trend of today’s era is that everyone desires to boost his/her rating in print /electronic media – nationally /internationally and this article should be viewed in the same perspective .
Aeysha Siddiqa, sadly you have proved to be miserable liar yet again. You totally lied in your book “Military Inc,” and once again you showed your dirty jealousy against a well organized setup. Your writings give away an impression that you had some bad personal experience with some uniform person which hearts you and you release your venom through your writings. You don’t have iota of knowledge regarding the caliber of Gen Faiz Hameed. Your comments are baseless and show your poor character as a writer. You have not researched as you didn’t have in your previous book. You have totaly written what probably you were fed by some one who paid you.
I will not say that intellectually you have proven wrong rather your masters who dictate you does not have any character and they are handling you in a different way. Very sad on your part that you are being totally mislead.
A concocted story to please bosses in New York. Her entire narrative will decimate after retirement of Gen Bajwa in November 2019
I think everyone is aware of this fact. Things will not be so easy to manipulate politically. Resistance from opposition parties will be very strong until and unless sone under the table deal is not done like Some time to remove IK or slow the pace in NAB cases.
Direct confrontation with political parties will expose further to hidden forces.
Thanks
I read these opinions from people who have vested interest to downgrade Pakistan army.
“In a recent corps commander’s conference, General Bajwa thundered: ‘mein kisi ko nahin chhorun ga’ (I will not spare anyone)” This is too insider information divulged by the writer. I think this piece of intelligence was revealed to her when someone sitting in the conference was diving deep inside her 🙂
She’s way off the mark with her narrative, it’s buildup and her analysis. A little more research to better understand Pakistan Army’s command, staff, rank and promotion structure would have obviously helped as this article is full of conjectures and factual inaccuracies. For an article written by a research associate, this lacks objectivity and reeks of bias.
She used to work as director of naval research at Pakistani Navy and maybe thats why she has links in there.
An article based on conjecturing and dearth of knowledge on part of so called writer. Except that it will please some low level brains in India, this appears to me of no insignificance.
Pakistan Army is a collection of collected fools commanded by selected fools.Who ever so comes in power in Army never allows a democratic government to function properly.This is the reason that elected governments are the creches of Army in Pakistan . In first position it is Allah than Army and lastly it is Awam public.Thanks to its internal structure that they have not progressed in any field except Terrorism
How was the tea?
that’s rich coming from the citizen of a country which has started a steep downward spiral into extremism. How about taking stock of what is going on in India under the deranged leadership of Modi .
Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed is highly professional and an asset of Pakistan Army who is loyal to the country till his last breath .
Opposition is losing sleep much before the time of his being COAS as they can foresee the repercussions of Gen Fail being Army chief in future in sha Allah and their worries are infact a real proof of his professionalism and is self explanatory. They have hired the services of anti state elements like Ayesha to defame him in advance so he becomes controversial. I can assure you that Gen Fair will be a long remembered personality as an Army chief as he has big plans to put in all efforts for the progress of Pakistan. I can no wait to see him as Army chief and it will be a best day of Pakistan history when he takes over and he puts in his efforts to make Pakistan a powerful state through his able command and abilities God has given him to use for better Pakistan.
After seeing your name i thought what else you could say and my blood pressure went normal. Don’t worry we will keep serving you with good tea in future also.
LOOKS like many pakistanis go through this website, good because this is the article where reality of PAKISTAN lies. BAJWA is no doubt a ver good army general he as he has control over the chaos which is created in PAK , however after his retirement the scenario can change drastically and PAK may just fall from the edge. BAJWA has a great challenge ahead of him (even bigger than PTM and economic condition) that is to put check on domestic political circles and still remain in power for a longer term. To maintain check on political class he must have a longer term BUT a longer term will eventually compromise ARMY as an institution as AYESHA menntiones. REMEMBER even if people of pakistan want BAJAWA to continue they actually dont have any say because other power centers in ARMY would never want their power diminished. VERY tough for BAJWA because FATF is cutting PAK ‘s throat and if he want save it he has to eliminate JIHADIS who are safeguarded by the ARMY itself. Would be interesting to follow PAK now onwards. GUT feeling tells me that a martial law is around the corner.
keep dreaming my dear. ISI is no doubt the most professional organization in the world. Nefarious designs orchestrated by your RAW always get shattered by the highly sophisticated manipulations and heroic acts of ISI. In India, the reason of fight between Husband and wife is also blamed on ISI.HHAHAAH. You must at least raise a voice in the focus of INDIAN SOLDIERS who are dying out of hunger. Your high rank officers are raping and abusing the wives of their junior officers. Its not us who are claiming this. Its your media who is publicizing the news. As the whole world knows that DELHI has been announced the rape capital of the world. Best of luck with rapes.
Aeysha Siddiqa, sadly has missed her mark yet again. After a well researched “Military Inc,” her writings have intellectually nose dived into the realm of mere third rate speculation based on public knowledge at best and below par conjectures in general.
Very right. But in my opinion her book was also included lot of lies !
Hats off to the views presented here. One wonders how conveniently some people sit back and form opinions which are absolutely baseless and irresponsible. The guy who produced this write up, without any doubt did it on someone’s directions, one wonders for what price. We are so unfortunate to have such people who sell themselves for little favours. God help Pakistan
The punishment of Senior army officers has no relation with corruption. As it is the case of traitors . It has no relation with civilion corruption cases. The word “kisi ko nahi chro ga” loses its meaning when you leave your own friends unaccounted like ch pervaiz and Aleema baji ,the muti billionaire s
Pak army has in very recent past has punished senior officers on corruption charges.
Thats the ultimate level of fact manipulation and baised reporting you can see. 👏👏
Dumb article..blah blah blah about nothing.
Ayesha Siddiqa’s article is speculative and full of factual inaccuracies which she expects a gullible India to lap up !
Rana Banerji
The writer pretends to know too much about the system and appointments of military, producing a piece of text that would soothe her existing or to be masters in making such perceptions. A below average pseudo intellectual whose job appointing criteria is only what she has produced. Simply google the dates of promotion of his contemporaries and you’d know that Hameed is not in the hot run for the next four star, having a couple of others as seniors to him. Describing the career she would mention the name of three divisions to be best choices for an elite two star; perhaps influenced by the names of big cities that they are in. Of course, big cities, developed countries and a lot of money by being a snitch are the only few things that she’d know.
A sick minded lady can write anything for money
I would be surprised if he became pak coas. There might be a lot of other generals opposing him and ultimately Imran Khan might decide not to give him extension.
Lord Almighty Allah elevates anyone and disgrace anyone. All praise are due to Allah & Muhammad is Allah’s beloved messenger. Those who envy are blindsided by Allah & they always evaluate reality dimly.