Raja Javed Ali Bhatti
Major General Asif Ghafoor was commissioned on 9 Sep 1988 in 87 Medium Regiment. He is graduate of Command & Staff College Quetta, Command & Staff College Bandung (Indonesia) and NDU Islamabad. He holds master’s degree in strategic studies.
The General has served on various staff, instructional and command assignments to include Brigade Major Infantry Brigade, Assistant Military Secretary MS Branch, GHQ, Directing Staff Command & Staff College Quetta and Director Military Operations in Military Operations Directorate, GHQ. He has commanded his parent unit in Operation Al-Mizan, Artillery Brigade on Line of Control, Infantry Brigade on Eastern Border and a Division at Swat, Malakand. General is recipient of COAS Commendation Card for operations in Bajaur during 2008. General is DG ISPR since December 2016. His successor will find the departing director-general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quite an act to follow. Gen Ghafoor’s late-night musings on Twitter provided plenty of controversy and copious fodder for Pakistan’s twitterati.
Subjects for discussion could appear random – he irked India by praising Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone for attending anti-government protests in Delhi. But he could just as easily post about burn ointment, butchers or stray dogs.
Combative tweets from his personal account in the past few days showed how he sought to control the narrative for the world’s sixth largest army.
The general frequently sparred with retired Indian military officials or journalists on Twitter; at other times he would “troll” Pakistani journalists and individuals who criticised the country’s military.
Earlier this week he locked horns with Sana Bucha after she tweeted criticising the military. Ms Bucha retaliated by reminding him “to show some class” but that was met with a thinly veiled warning that she should “make a choice”.
Asif Ghafoor will also be remembered for his emphasis on “5th Generation Warfare” in his numerous press conferences and tweets, which he said was being waged against Pakistan on social media and needed a robust defence.
No military expert has settled on what defines “5GW” but it essentially means non-combat, asymmetrical warfare in which non-traditional tools are used.
Last April, Facebook removed 103 groups and accounts, which it said were linked to ISPR employees.
Twitter also suspended accounts of many Pakistani users last year, allegedly for tweeting criticism of India’s government over Kashmir, which both countries dispute.
Gen Ghafoor took to Twitter many times to assure users that requests had been made to the social media giant to look into the matter and urged his more than 450,000 followers to behave. “Stay put responsible… keep adhering to Twitter rules, likewise own,” he tweeted in October.
A former brigadier, Farooq Hameed, told the BBC the ISPR’s role had evolved over the time due to the changing nature of social media platforms.
“The DG ISPR is performing a national duty by using his official and personal Twitter account on social media to project threats and challenges to Pakistan’s national interests,” he said
But the retired senior military official who thought there should be no personal account was not convinced.
“The army should never be seen in the lead on matters of national policy, diplomacy or domestic issues. Let the government defend the armed forces against local or outside criticism.”
The verdict, especially the words used in the written order, transgressed humanity, religion, culture and any other values,” he told a news conference, hours after a detailed judgment was issued by the Special Court, sentencing the former president in a high treason case.
Following the short verdict on December 17, he said the ISPR had issued a swift statement, saying the ‘decision given by the Special Court has been received with lot of pain and anguish by the rank and file of Pakistan Armed Forces’. The ISPR DG said the Pakistan Army had expressed its apprehensions, which stood true after the release of the detailed judgment
The ISPR DG said the armed forces are an organized institution and its members have taken oath to sacrifice their lives for the defence and security of the motherland. “We have practically demonstrated it in the past 20 years (and) achieved what no other country or army in the world could get.” He said the army did make those accomplishments with the full support of nation. “Currently, the country is facing a hybrid war and we are fully aware of this changing nature and character of war. We also understand the enemy, its facilitators and possible designs,” he said.
He said the enemy wants to destabilise the country both internally and externally, but the armed forces, being a national security institution, have a ‘complete visibility’ of the entire picture that how attempts are being made to weaken Pakistan internally. “The attempts are still on… and taking advantage of that…. external threats can be implemented.
In the prevailing situation, the ISPR DG said some elements wanted “to provoke us to fight with each other by launching internal and external attacks” with the motive to defeat Pakistan. “Since we know about the threat, our response is also in place.”
He said the Pakistan Army has handled the external attacks and the scourge of terrorism in the country in an effective manner, and “by the Grace of Allah Almighty, the current design of anti-state powers will also be countered with complete comprehension.”
The ISPR DG said Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, during his recent visit to Special Services Group (SSG) Headquarters, observed, “We have travelled a long journey for stability of the country with great sacrifices rendered by the nation, institutions, including the Armed Forces, and will never let our efforts go waste.” “The armed forces would never let the enemy designs to reverse that stability come what may, and stop moving towards the goal and fail both internal and external enemies,” he quoted the COAS as saying.
He said the armed forces are not only an institution rather a family. “We are the nation’s force, which stands firmly with the power of faith and the public support. We know how to defend our country, and also maintain the honour and integrity of the institution.”
The country, he said, is, however, first for them and the institution is secondary. “If the country today needs the institution’s sacrifices and its performance, and our (the nation’s) unity, we will not fall prey to the enemy’s conspiracies and let the things worsen.” He said the army chief had a detailed meeting with the prime minister over the detailed verdict given in Pervez Musharraf’s case. “They worked out a future course of action in this regard, keeping in view the feelings of the Pakistan Army and the sentiments of the patriot Pakistanis, who know the challenges being faced by the country,” he added.
For the last few years, he said, the government and the army have been jointly working to take the country in the direction where it had no threats. “We will Insha Allah achieve that goal. We will not let the country slide into anarchy, keeping its integrity intact as well as that of the institution,” he said. “The enemies will be given a befitting response whether they are internal or external or their facilitators and handlers,” he added.
