Critical media coverage, social media anger, and allegations of illicit family wealth: Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa is going down as one of the most reviled army chiefs in Pakistan’s history as he hands over the mantle to Lt Gen Asim Munir.
With barely days left for Bajwa’s term to end officially, a vilification campaign against him is in full swing in social media—a rare occurrence in Pakistan, considering that army chiefs are generally immune to public anger.
A day after the outgoing army chief pinned the blame of the 1971 war debacle on the government of that day, several people in Pakistan took to Twitter to chastise the 62-year-old army general.
“Bajwa distorted facts, lied on live TV. These Generals need to be put under constitutional framework else this country cannot progress,” a user tweeted.
“General Bajwa’s tenure as Army Chief was one of the worst eras of military’s interventions. We don’t expect much from his replacement as the institution’s corporate interests compel individuals to go beyond their mandate,” tweeted National Democratic Movement party President Mohsin Dawar
“Course correction required for the country to survive,” he added.
Pakistan: Lt Gen Asim Munir appointed as new Army Chief, will succeed Gen Bajwa
A retired Pakistani Army major, Adil Raja, even sought a probe from the new army chief Asim Munir to investigate human rights violations carried out at the behest of Bajwa.
“Our first demand from the new Army Chief #GenAsimMunir is to address the gross human rights violations carried out by ISI & MI under the watch of Gen Bajwa and readdress the grievances of the nation in this regard,” said Raja, who is also the permanent representative of Pakistan at the International Human Rights Foundation.
What did Bajwa say?
On Thursday, in his Defence Day speech, Bajwa said that the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, which resulted to the liberation of Bangaldesh, was a political failure and not a military one.
He said that the number of soldiers fighting was not 92,000 but 34,000, who confronted 2,50,000 soldiers of Indian Army and 2,00,000 members of Bangladesh’s Mukti Bahini.
Our first demand from the new Army Chief #GenAsimMunir is to address the gross human rights violations carried out by ISI & MI under the watch of Gen Bajwa and readdress the grievances of the nation in this regard.
— Adil Raja (@soldierspeaks) November 24, 2022
Our first demand from the new Army Chief #GenAsimMunir is to address the gross human rights violations carried out by ISI & MI under the watch of Gen Bajwa and readdress the grievances of the nation in this regard.
— Adil Raja (@soldierspeaks) November 24, 2022
“I want to correct some facts here. Firstly, former East Pakistan was a political failure and not a military one,” Pakistan army chief General Qamar Bajwa said.
“Against these heavy odds, our army fought bravely and gave exemplary sacrifices which were acknowledged by (the then) Indian Army chief field marshal Manekshaw,” the Pakistan army chief said.
Bajwa family’s illicit family wealth
Another issues that is causing anger among the public is the explosive report by a Pakistani journalist who revealed that Bajwa’s immediate and extended family had amassed wealth within the country and overseases worth 12.7 billion Pakistani rupees since he took command of the military post in 2016.
A report by Pakistan-based journalist Ahmad Noorani, who has cited tax records filed by Bajwa, claimed that Bajwa’s wife transferred funds overseas, and made investments in the oil business and real estate, even though she was not an income tax filer until her husband’s appointment to the office of the chief of army staff.
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