General Qamar Javed Bajwa (Urdu: قمر جاوید باجوہ) NI(M), HI(M) (born 11 November 1960) is a Pakistani military officer who is the 10th and current Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan Army since 29 November 2016.[2][3] Bajwa is expected to serve in the position until November 2022.[4][5]
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Born in Karachi, into a Punjabi Jat family,[6] Bajwa was educated at the F.G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Military Academy in 1978. Bajwa was commissioned in 1980 in the 16th Battalion of the Baloch Regiment. Prior to his appointment as the Chief of Army Staff, he served at the General Headquarters as the Inspector General of the Training and Evaluation from September 2015 to November 2016 and as field commander of the X Corps from August 2013 to September 2015 which is responsible for the area along the Line of Control in Kashmir. In addition, he served as a Brigadier in the UN mission in Congo and as a brigade commander in 2007.
Early life and education
Born in Karachi, Sindh, on 11 November 1960, Bajwa was educated at the F. G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Military Academy in 1978. His family hails from Ghakhar Mandi, Punjab. His father, Muhammad Iqbal Bajwa, was an officer of Pakistan Army who died while in service in 1967 in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.[7] Bajwa was seven years old when his father died and he was the youngest of five siblings.[1] He and his siblings were raised by their mother, who died in September 2013.[8] Bajwa's father-in-law, Ijaz Amjad,[9] was also a Pakistan Army officer who retired with a two-star Major-General rank.[10]
Bajwa completed his secondary and intermediate education at F. G. Sir Syed College[11] and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Army in 1978,[1] which directed him to attend the military academy.[12] He was sent to attend the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and passing out in 1980.[13]
Bajwa is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, United States.[1] He also attended the National Defence University, Islamabad.[1][13][14][15] Bajwa is married to Ayesha. The couple have two sons, Saad and Ali.[1]
Military career
After joining the Pakistan Army in 1978,[1] Bajwa who was enrolled at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, passed out with the class of 62nd PMA Long Course[12] and gained commission as 2nd-Lt., on 24 October 1980 in the 16th Baloch Regiment at the Sialkot Cantonment – the same unit that his father commanded.[16][13]
In 1988, Major Bajwa briefly served in the 5th Northern Light Infantry in Azad Kashmir.[17][18] In addition, Lieutenant-Colonel Bajwa served in the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi, as a Staff Officer.[17] Upon promotion as one-star rank army general, Brigadier Bajwa served as the Chief of Staff (COS) at the X Corps.[19][20]
In 2003, Brig. Bajwa commanded the Pakistan Armed Forces-Africa Command, attached to the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, in D. R. Congo.[17][20][12][1] Brig. Bajwa served in the D. R. Congo as a brigade commander under the then-Major General Bikram Singh, the former Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army from 2012–14.[21][22][23] Gen. Singh later termed Bajwa's performance there as "professional and outstanding."[24][21]
After being promoted to the two-star rank in May 2009, Major-General Bajwa took over the command of the Force Command Northern Areas division as its GOC, stationed in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.[25][26][27][28][23][19]
In August 2011, he was honored with the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military),[29] and posted as an instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta,[30] and later taught staff course at Command and Staff College in Quetta, and course on national security at the National Defence University, Islamabad.[13][14]
On 14 August 2013, Maj-Gen. Bajwa was promoted to three-star rank and posted as field commander of the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi.[31][32][33] He was appointed as Grade-I officer during his tenure as field commander of the X Corps.[20] The appointment was commented in the news media that noted that Lt-Gen. Bajwa had been posted in X Corps thrice,[20] which is the army's most important and largest corps, which has experience of keeping control over the situation in Kashmir.[23][34]
In 2014, Lt-Gen. Bajwa was appointed as Colonel Commandant of the Baloch Regiment.[35]
On 22 September 2015, Lt-Gen. Bajwa was posted in the General Headquarters when he was appointed as the Inspector-General of the Training and Evaluation (IGT&E). There he was a Principal Staff Officer to the then-Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif.[36][37]
Chief of Army Staff
In 2016, General Raheel Sharif dismissed rumours of seeking the extension for his term.[38] Initially, the race for the appointment for the army chief was rumored between Lt-Gen. Zubair Hayat and Lt-Gen. Javed Ramday who was close to the first family.[39][40] However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced to appoint the-then senior most army general, Lt-Gen. Zubair Hayat as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.[41]
On 29 November 2016, Prime Minister Sharif eventually announced to appoint General Bajwa - the fourth by seniority, as the Chief of Army Staff, superseding two generals who were senior than him.[42][43][44][45][46] His strong pro-democracy stance and views may have influenced his appointment as the army chief as noted by the media pundits.[47] The Reuters reported that Prime Minister Sharif picked Bajwa because of his low-key style.[48] He was also noted as the fourth oldest Chief of Army Staff.[49]
In December 2016, he was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz.[50]
Under the command of Gen. Bajwa, the nationwide counter-terrorism Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad and Khyber-4 were launched in February 2017 and July 2017, respectively.[51]
In October 2018, Bajwa was awarded the Order of the Military Merit by Jordan's King Abdullah II.[52]
On 19 August 2019, his tenure as army chief was extended for another three years, starting from November 2019 till November 2022, by Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan.[4] However, on 26 November 2019, the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended the three-year extension.[53] On 28 November 2019, the Supreme Court of Pakistan announced a short order allowing a 6-month extension in Bajwa’s term as the COAS, during which the parliament was to legislate on the extension/reappointment of an army chief.[54] On 8 January 2020, the Senate of Pakistan passed the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2020, allowing for Bajwa's tenure extension up to three years till 29 November 2022.[55][56]
Bajwa doctrine
The term 'Bajwa Doctrine' was coined by the Royal United Services Institute after Bajwa's address to the 54th Munich Security Conference.[57][58][59] Journalist Suhail Warraich has described the doctrine in detail writing for The News International.[60][61]
Public image
Bajwa is an avid reader and has keen interest in the history of Europe.[1][18]
He enjoys cricket[1] and used to play cricket as a wicket-keeper.[11]
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General Bajwa reportedly prefers to keep himself updated about the latest developments within the Indian national landscape.[18] He is known to have a sound understanding of Indian strategic ambitions in the region and experience of armed conflict on LoC in Kashmir.[18] He has enhanced focus to fight extremism in all its manifestations, declaring it a key driving force for terrorism. He has urged his fellow citizens especially the youth to fight extremism.[62]
In 2018, he was ranked 68th on The World's Most Powerful People list by Forbes magazine, which called him de facto the most powerful person in Pakistan who "established himself as a mediator and proponent of democracy".[63]
Controversies
The former prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif alleged that Bajwa was behind his disqualification from the Prime Minister office by putting pressure on judiciary and on the Supreme Court. He also alleged that Bajwa was also involved in rigging the 2018 Pakistani general election.[64] Subsequently, Muhammad Safdar Awan, son-in-law of Nawaz Sharif was arrested allegedly through pressure in the aftermath of enforced disappearance of Sindh Police's provincial senior police officer Mushtaq Mahar.[65]
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