Qamar Javed Bajwa

General Qamar Javed Bajwa ( ur, ; born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani army general who served as the tenth Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022. In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the ''Forbes'' list of the World's Most Powerful People.

Originally from Gakhar Mandi, Gen Bajwa was born into a Punjabi Jat family of Bajwa clan in Karachi 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. Bajwa was seven years old when his father died and he was the youngest of five siblings. He and his siblings were raised by their mother, who died in September 2013. Bajwa's father-in-law is Retired Major General Ijaz Amjad (brother of Iftikhar Khan Janjua).

Bajwa completed his secondary and intermediate education at F. G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Army in 1978, which directed him to attend the military academy. He was sent to attend the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and passing out in 1980.

Bajwa is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, United States. He also attended the National Defence University, Islamabad.

Military career

After joining the Pakistan Army in 1978, Bajwa who was enrolled at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, passed out with the class of 62nd PMA Long Course 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.

In 1988, Major Bajwa briefly served in the 5th Northern Light Infantry in Azad Kashmir. In addition, Lieutenant-Colonel Bajwa served in the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi, as a Staff Officer. Upon promotion as one-star rank army general, Brigadier Bajwa served as the Chief of Staff (COS) at the X Corps.

In 2003, Brig. Bajwa commanded the Pakistan Armed Forces-Africa Command, attached to the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, in D. R. Congo. 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 to 2014. Gen. Singh later termed Bajwa's performance there as "professional and outstanding."

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.

In August 2011, he was honored with the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), and posted as an instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta, and later taught staff course at Command and Staff College in Quetta, and course on national security at the National Defence University, Islamabad.

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. He was appointed as Grade-I officer during his tenure as field commander of the X Corps. The appointment was commented in the news media that noted that Lt-Gen. Bajwa had been posted in X Corps thrice, which is the army's most important and largest corps, which has experience of keeping control over the situation in Kashmir.

In 2014, Lt-Gen. Bajwa was appointed as Colonel Commandant of the Baloch Regiment.

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.

Chief of Army Staff

In 2016, General Raheel Sharif dismissed rumours of seeking the extension for his term. 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. 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.

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. His strong pro-democracy stance and views may have influenced his appointment as the army chief as noted by the media pundits. The Reuters reported that Prime Minister Sharif picked Bajwa because of his low-key style. He was also noted as the fourth oldest Chief of Army Staff.

In December 2016, he was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz.

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.

In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the ''Forbes'' list of the World's Most Powerful People, compiled by ''Forbes'' magazine, which called him de facto the most powerful person in Pakistan who "established himself as a mediator and proponent of democracy".

On July 25, 2018, the general elections were held in Pakistan. They have been labeled as dirtiest elections in Pakistan history with army under Gen. Bajwa being accused of manipulating the elections and engineering a victory for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf over army's challenger Pakistan Muslim League (N). 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 general election. 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.

In October 2018, Bajwa was awarded the Order of the Military Merit by Jordan's King Abdullah II.

On 19 August 2019, his tenure as army chief was extended for another three years, starting from November 2019 until November 2022, by Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. However, on 26 November 2019, the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended the three-year extension. 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. 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 until 29 November 2022.

In April 2022, Bajwa publicly suggested at a security forum in Islamabad that Pakistan had been pushed into dependence on China. Nevertheless, highlighting the attacks on Chinese nationals in Karachi, Chinese General Zhang Youxia asked General Bajwa to stop what it called attacks on its nationals. Bajwa vow to enhance counter-terror cooperation.

Bajwa doctrine

The term "Bajwa Doctrine" was coined by the Royal United Services Institute after Bajwa's address to the 54th Munich Security Conference in 2018. This emphasised what he called "biting back hard" against threats from the Trump administration. A second version of the doctrine was discussed with journalists in March 2018, stressing democracy, ensuring proper respect of the institutions of the state, eliminating terrorism, bringing terrorists into the mainstream, and viewing the devolution provisions of the Eighteenth Amendment with skepticism. He has urged his fellow citizens, especially the youth, to fight extremism, saying it is a key driving force for terrorism."
Army will fight terrorists, society should fight extremism: Gen Bajwa
'" ''Dawn'', 18 May 2017.

Journalist Suhail Warraich commented on the doctrine in detail writing for ''The News International''.

A "Bajwa Doctrine 2.0" was outlined in March 2021 during the Islamabad Security Dialogue. This centred on four themes: an enduring peace internal and external to Pakistan, non-interference in the internal affairs of neighbouring and regional countries, building intra-regional trade and connectivity, and bringing sustainable development via investment and economic hubs within the region. He also said that national security was not the preserve of the armed forces and that "unless our own house is in order, nothing good could be expected from outside," and that "It is time to bury the past and move forward. But for the resumption of the peace process or meaningful dialogue, our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Indian-Occupied Kashmir."

Personal life

Bajwa is married to Ayesha. The couple have two sons, Saad and Ali.

He is an avid reader and is interested in the history of Europe. He enjoys cricket and used to play cricket as a wicket-keeper.

Awards and decorations

Foreign decorations

Effective dates of promotion

See also

*Pakistan Army
*Inter-Services Public Relations
*Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

References

External links

Pakistan Army official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajwa, Qamar Javed
1960 births
Punjabi people
People from Gujranwala
Government Gordon College alumni
Pakistan Military Academy alumni
Naval Postgraduate School alumni
Pakistani generals
National Defence University, Pakistan faculty
Pakistani expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
People of the Congo Crisis
Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan
Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz
Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz
Living people