Gen Bajwa wanted anyone but Gen Asim to be made army chief: Asif

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif has said that at the time of the appointment of the next army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa wanted Gen Faiz Hameed to be considered for the post, but in the last three to four days before the announcement was to be made the then army chief had abandoned Gen Faiz.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Monday, the defence minister said Gen Bajwa then thought of another name for the post after abandoning former ISI chief Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed.

He said Gen Bajwa advised him (Khawaja Asif) not to consider Gen Faiz any longer, to budge from his (government’s) stance, and consider another person whom he had proposed for the army chief’s post.

He said he told Gen Bajwa that making such a decision was the discretion of Shehbaz Sharif and that he himself was just a messenger. He said Malik Ahmad Khan used to be with him and he was a witness to that conversation.

Khawaja Asif answered in the affirmative when Shahzeb’s Khanzada asked him if he was saying that Gen Bajwa himself wanted an extension, then he wanted Gen Faiz to be considered for the post, and in the end he wanted any general to be made army chief other than Gen Asim Munir.

He said Gen Bajwa gave so many options. He said: “These big people are very shallow.”The defence minister further stated that Gen Faiz was involved in political events post-retirement. “We can say he [Faiz] had a role of strategic adviser in the May 9 events.”

Khawaja Asif said: “He [Faiz] never refrains from muddying the waters. He said the ex-spymaster might not be “alone” in May 9 riots. After the military arrested Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the ex-spymaster was involved in the political events following his retirement from the military in November 2022.

He said: “Post his [Faiz] retirement, the events that unravelled on the political scene, Gen sahab definitely had a hand in it.”“Knowing him a little bit, he never refrains from muddling the waters. Especially [in Faiz’s case] a person who has exercised unlimited power and he has to take the backseat,” he added.

Responding to a question regarding the former ISI director general’s purported involvement in the May 9 events, Asif said that if the reports are true then Lt Gen (retd) Faiz is not alone in this as he “would have been providing some logistics, using his experience to define the targets to cause bigger damage”.

“We can say he [Faiz] had a role of strategic adviser in the May 9 events. I can’t say that with certainty but the events and circumstances are pointing towards him,” he added.Asif said Lt Gen (retd) Faiz and former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had very deep personal ties as their fathers-in-law were extremely close. “This made their bond impregnable,” the minister asserted.