In a surprise move Pakistan replaced ISI Chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed with Army Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum as director general of one the world’s most notorious spy agencies.
Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has now been appointed commander of the 11 Corps in Peshawar.
This news has sent ripples in the political set up of Pakistan, a country where the army has always ruled directly or indirectly.
Pakistan’s leading newspaper Dawn highlighted the significance of this change: “the change of command at the ISI notified on Wednesday is the single most consequential development in recent months, according to Red Zone insiders. Given the nature of the country’s political situation, this change at the top of the agency is expected to spawn many major and minor ripples in critical areas.”
Reasons for ISI Shuffle
As DG ISI, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed played a key role in shaping and executing Pakistan’s Afghan policy. He was one of the central figures in helping patch together the Doha talks between the US and Taliban.
Hameed was seen as a significant player in developing Afghanistan-Pakistan alliance as ISI Chief, he is though to have played a key role in the country’s internal politics as well.
Lt Gen Hameed, is known as a hardliner and for being ruthless in his approach, is scheduled to retire only in April 2023.
Several sources say
that his appointment as Corps Commander paves the way for him to be in contention to become the next Army chief when current chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is on extension, retires in November 2022.
Under Pakistani Army law, one needs to have a tenure of at least six months as the Corps Commander to be eligible to become Army chief.
But his appearance in Kabul openly ahead of the government formation there may have caused this sudden shift.
Another factor could be that Gen Nadeem has also been at the receiving end of accusations by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his daughter and vice-president, Maryam Nawaz.
In a fresh petition submitted before the Islamabad High Court on October 5, Maryam Nawaz alleged the ISI’s role in the conviction of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, herself as well as her husband Captain (retd) Safdar in the assets beyond means case.
On July 6, 2018 the accountability court judge had convicted the trio in the Avenfield Apartment reference and handed them jail terms of 10, seven and one year respectively, for owning assets beyond known sources of income.
Since then, the PML-N supreme leader has launched a tirade against the Pakistan Army alleging their role in his ouster. This time again, Maryam took to Twitter and shared the pages of her petition, which she said had not been reported by the media and said the “case/verdict against me was pre-planned, orchestrated and influenced by Gen Faiz Hameed, the then DG [counter-intelligence]”.
What It Means For Imran Khan?
Noted author and journalist Adrian Levy has raised concerns over Imran Khan’s position as PM, following this change.
“I fear for Imran Khan slightly because the outgoing ISI chief had an understanding with Imran Khan, and by moving him, it will weaken the position of Imran Khan in relation to the military,” he said.
He also called moving of General Faiz Hameed as the Peshawar Corps Commander a significant move.
It is a consolidation of power by Army Chief Bajwa and it’s also really important as he has only until next year before he leaves office and a new army chief is appointed,” while speaking at India Today Conclave 2021.
Moving him to Peshawar, on the one hand, gives him the call command experience, but on the other, he is also the man with the portfolio to begin discussions with the TTP and with the Taliban in Kabul and so the move is strategically significant,” Adrian Levy said.
This could also mean if and when Lt. Gen Hameed, takes over as the next Army Chief his proximity with PM Imran Khan could offer stability in Pakistan’s volatile political space.
(Inputs Money Control, India Today)