Failed Marshal Asim Munir

Time of India

2 days ago

Noted Pakistani political scientist, Ayesha Siddiqa, is believed to have said that every time the Pakistani army loses a war, their generals pin on a medal. The recent four-day Indo Pak war can be summed up as this: India bombed terrorist targets in Pakistan, the Pakistani air force engaged the Indian air force, whereupon the Indians bombed numerous Pakistani air bases.
Preeminent military aviation analyst and military historian, Tom Cooper of Austria, has surmised, with the help of satellite imagery, that India bombed the entrance to one of Pakistan's nuclear storage sites at the Sargodha Complex in the Kirana Hills, prompting the Pakistani director general of military operations, Major General Kashif Abdullah, to call his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai and ask for a ceasefire.
If the Pakistanis were winning, why would the Pakistanis request a ceasefire? In Pakistan, the news was greeted with uninterruptible joy, with sweets distributed, fireworks burst, and long marches. In India, there was a deafening silence, which made ordinary Pakistanis even more convinced about their victory.
And then came the stunner. Pakistani army chief, General Asim Munir, had promoted himself to the rank of field marshal—a five-star general for life. Munir was originally scheduled to retire as army chief at the end of this year, but he has extended his term to five years. He will in all probability get another five-year extension.
Instead of field marshal, Munir has been dubbed the 'failed marshal.' His missiles and air defence systems performed miserably during the war. No matter, Munir held a grand investiture ceremony for himself, in which he saluted Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, but was careful not to extend the courtesy to Pakistani president, Asif Ali Zardari, who is held in contempt by the military.
Now the Indians and the Pakistanis are engaged in their own version of ringa ringa roses—sending high-level delegations all over the world to explain their respective country's point of view. But this is a failed exercise. The world has had enough of Indo-Pakistani shenanigans and does not want to hear their tried and trusted tropes anymore.
In particular, the world wants to have nothing to do with the future of Kashmir. They know that India and Pakistan are born enemies and are ready to battle until nuclear Armageddon. That is what concerns them, nothing else. India and Pakistan came to the brink this time. What happens next?
Well, in one scenario, the Pakistanis will instigate another terror attack in India. India has promised to respond. That war could escalate beyond control. The other scenario is that India and Pakistan will sit down and talk. For that, Pakistan will have to forswear terror. But it is not willing to do so.
Forswearing terror is not enough. Pakistan has done that in the past. Pakistan must dismantle its jihadi infrastructure and hand over the likes of Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to India. Saeed and Azhar though are seen as celebrities fighting for a noble cause in Pakistan. Pakistan will never hand them over to India.
Field Marshal Asim Munir is a hawkish military commander, built along the lines of Zia-ul-Haq. He sees warfare with India through the prism of religion. He is willing to destroy Pakistan, but he will not renounce his hatred of India. It's not just that he wants Kashmir; he wants the Crescent to fly over India's Red Fort.
India and Pakistan are thus locked in a civilizational conflict. Every few years, there is going to be a damning provocation from Pakistan, over which India will be compelled to react. World powers can pull the two apart only ever so often. Everyone is tired of the Indo-Pak drama.
Marshals will come, and marshals will go, but what have the people of India and Pakistan done to deserve this? In this case, Field Marshal Munir intends on staying army chief of Pakistan for another seven and a half years. In his two and a half years as army chief, he has not uttered a single word of peace to India.
Nor does he get along with India's leadership. Zia got along famously with Indian prime minister, Morarji Desai; General Pervez Musharraf with Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. It is not even known if Munir has ever spoken to India's leadership.
The storm has passed, but the tempest remains. As William Faulkner said, the past is not dead, the past is not even past. Indian and Pakistani people are compelled to relive the horrors of their past, while failed marshals keep pinning medals on their chest.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.