The head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, has resigned from his post on September 29 and Lt. Gen. Asim Malik has taken over from today.
Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, who was DGISI for three years, was appointed to this post on November 20, 2021. He was supposed to retire in September last year, but due to unavoidable reasons, his tenure was extended by one year.
How was Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum’s tenure as DGISI? What were the challenges they faced and how did they achieve these goals?
The last three years have been seen as a period of political ups and downs in Pakistan, during which major political changes like the general elections have taken place in the country.
The DGISI is subordinate to the Prime Minister and the Chief Executive of the country is appointed for this post.
At the time of Nadeem Anjum’s appointment as DGISI, the then Tehreek-e-Insaf government had delayed the issue of issuing a declaration. However, the following year, as a result of the first successful motion of no confidence in the country’s history, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from his post.
A coalition of thirteen political parties formed the government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), while the government of the same coalition was formed again as a result of the general elections in February this year, but Fazlur Rahman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamaat is not included in it. Since the general elections, he has also emerged as a major critic of the government and is again demanding transparent elections.
After the success of the no-confidence motion and the fall of the government, the military leadership and the head of the intelligence agency were accused and criticized by the PTI.
Independent Urdu spoke to defense experts about the intelligence agency chief’s performance in the last three years.
The ‘Memorial’ Periods of the Four Chiefs
Mateen Haider, a senior journalist who has closely watched defense affairs for the past three decades, said that many ISI chiefs have come and gone in Pakistan, but four periods will always be remembered. One was the reign of Ahmad Shuja Pasha, in which the Abbottabad operation took place. The second Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, under whom the 2014 sit-in took place, the third Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, which saw the 2018 elections, and Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, which saw the 2024 general elections.
Mateen Haider said: ‘The three years of Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum were full of challenges and the biggest challenge he faced was the change of government, which he later explained. Because Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had done very intense propaganda against the head of the Pakistan Army and the Intelligence Agency after the regime change.
In the context of these events, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, an ISI chief had to come forward and hold a press conference along with DG ISPR.
He further said that in this press conference it was also admitted that Imran Khan was his plan, which he now regrets. This proved that Imran Khan came to power with the support of the establishment and then later turned against the establishment with the help of which he got power.
In this October 27, 2022 photo, former Director General of ISPR Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar and former Director General of ISI Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum addressing a joint press conference (screen grab).
Externally, one of the challenges in these three years was the security situation on the western border after the change of government in Afghanistan. Due to the western border, the security situation in the country started to deteriorate again, and a strategy was adopted to deal with it.
‘A Bumpy Ride’
Mohammad Imran, a senior defense journalist, said, “I think Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum’s three-year tenure was bumpy.” When he took over as DGIS, Pakistan was facing three challenges. “One was facing internal security, the second was the economic emergency, and the third was the growing difficulties at the borders.”
For the first time in this period, in January this year, Iran targeted the alleged ‘Jaish-ul-Adl’ hideouts in Balochistan with ‘missiles and drones’. Two girls were killed in the attack in Panjgur district adjacent to Iran. Pakistan also responded to this attack.
Mohammad Imran said that the challenges had increased especially on the border of Afghanistan and Iran and important and additional measures were needed to deal with them, due to which the organization was discussed at the public level and criticized.
He further said that ‘sometimes there was criticism on the issue of missing persons and sometimes the institution was criticized for cracking down on a political party.
Human rights organizations claim that there has been no improvement in the situation of missing persons in the country in these three years, and people have been picked up and then returned due to expressing their opinions on social media. The government, however, does not agree with this perception.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan with former Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa on the occasion of Pakistan Day (AFP/File photo)
‘When it comes to the anti-trust movement, looking at all this, it can be said that there were a lot of challenges at the internal level. In the past, there were never such internal challenges that a political party could stand against the institution. There was clear thinking in the kind of decisions taken in this situation and the planning that was done to end terrorism.’
‘May 9 created difficulties’
Defense analyst Dr. Qamar Cheema said that if DGISI’s tenure is divided into two parts, internal and external affairs will be better divided.
He said that because of internal political issues, DGISI has been busy in the political situation because former Prime Minister Imran Khan tried to make him controversial. Rather, some insiders like Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Faiz Hameed also tried to make him controversial. Some insiders and retired army officers were also creating problems.’
Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (ISPR)
According to Dr. Qamar Cheema, the issue of Balochistan was also challenging at the internal level, while the incident of May 9 also created a difficult situation for the organization, in which senior military officers and their families were also involved. .
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has mentioned several times the military leadership’s help in getting out of economic difficulties. Dr. Qamar Cheema added that ‘Economic issues were also an important issue. Macroeconomic stabilization involved the efforts of the DGISI and the Army Chief.
Apart from this, DGISI was also credited with bringing Pakistan-Iran relations in the right direction after the breakdown, while the ceasefire with India continued but no progress could be made on the backdoor negotiations.
According to the analyst: ‘Also, DGISI’s strategic role in the restoration of Pakistan-US relations has been important, while taking action against illegal Afghans and repatriating them was a tough decision, but they did it. Implemented.
‘Command in tough situations’
Samira Khan, a senior defense journalist, said that Pakistan’s outgoing Director General ISI, Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, certainly took command under very difficult circumstances and it would not be wrong to say that he is the most victim of fake news and propaganda. He and the current army chief remained.
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He said that fronts were open for General Nadeem Anjum from different directions, in which all internal and external problems were demanding a solution on priority basis.
“The fiercest campaign on social media was also launched against him, to which he responded by saying that my focus is on the responsibility given by the people of Pakistan and this responsibility is very important. So I don’t have time to pay attention to propaganda.’
Samira Khan said that ‘the political landscape has certainly been very complex but there is still a question mark on an active role in this landscape of foreign conspiracies, which she was certainly aware of and a proof of this is the court martial and punishments faced by those who faced court martial. Ex-army officers sitting abroad and insulting the leadership of the army is in front of everyone. Similarly, it was a challenge to bring out the original mastermind of No May and other characters.’
Senior analyst Imtiaz Gill said, “The former DGIS will be remembered for unprecedented controversies, brutal attacks on the opposition and loyalty to his institution.” Besides, there is nothing that his friends can recall with pride as outstanding achievements.’
The political situation in Pakistan has long been such that institutions, be it the army or the judiciary, remain stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of praise and criticism even after retirement. He is now leaving the new chief as a ‘work-in-progress’ with important objectives such as restoring the army’s reputation.
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2024-09-30 06:57:27
