Army promotions: Why 'unusual' simultaneous promotions of 12 major generals matter? Majid Nizami

 The present Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has promoted 12 Major Generals to the rank of Lt. General about a month and a half before the expected date of his retirement, which can be considered unusual. In the history of Pakistan Army, there are few examples of more than ten Major Generals being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General at the same time.According to the ISPR, Major General Inam Haider Malik, Major General Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Major General Nouman Zakaria, Major General Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Major General Ayman Bilal Safdar were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. Major General Ahsan Gulriz, Major General Syed Amir Raza, Major General Shahid Imtiaz, Major General Munir Afsar, Major General Iftikhar Babar, Major GeneralIt should be noted that in the months of October and November, the retirement process of the current six senior lieutenant generals has started. Since the dates of promotion announcement and taking charge of various military posts vary, these Lt. Generals will retire on completion of their tenure by the end of November.Last but not least is the retirement date of former DGISI and current Quartermaster General Lt Gen Asim Munir which is three days before the retirement of the Army Chief. Therefore, he is being considered as a prime candidate for the post of Army Chief or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, although in case of such a decision some changes will be necessary regarding the departure from the high post. Yusuf Jamal and Major General Kashif Nazir are included

Reasons for high number of promotions

After the death of Corps Commander Quetta Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali, Air Defense Command Chief Lt Gen Hamud-ul-Zaman (current Defense Secretary) and the retirement of Engineering Corps Lt Gen Moazzam Ijaz, new officers were to be appointed to these posts. .While the generals retiring in October and November include Corps Commander Mangala Shaheen Mazhar Mehmood, Inspector General Training Lt. Gen. Syed Muhammad Adnan Shah, Director General Joint Staff Headquarters Lt. Gen. Wasim Ashraf, Corps Commander Lahore Lt. Gen. Abdul Aziz, Director General Strategic Plans Division, Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Munj's names are includedAlong with this, in case of appointment of new Army Chief and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, at least two officers' positions will be vacant. Recent developments have also been made to fill them.

Although in the case of promotion and supersedation of officers, in military traditions, new army chiefs promote some officers to build their team, but this time these promotions have been given ahead of time and the same. Therefore, more number of officers have been promoted.



It is worth noting that six years ago General Qamar Javed Bajwa promoted seven Major Generals to the rank of Lieutenant General immediately after becoming the Army Chief. And now, a month and a half before his retirement date, he has promoted 12 Major Generals.