Uniform Arrogance

Pakistan has a habit of repeating its darkest chapters. In 1959, General Ayub Khan awarded himself the rank of Field Marshal just after he had overthrown a civilian government and declared himself President the previous year. In 1999, General Pervez Musharraf unseated Nawaz Sharif and ruled for nearly a decade. Today, another general in uniform seems poised to follow in their bootprints. Despite being comprehensively beaten by Indian arms in Operation Sindoor, the Shehbaz Sharif-led government has made an inexplicable decision to elevate Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir to the rank of Field Marshal. This has triggered frenzied speculation whether Pakistan is preparing for its next military coup, if history is anything to go by?

General Munir’s sudden promotion is no reward for battlefield heroism. His strategic record is appalling. Ahead of the gruesome April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, Munir had conjured up the ghosts of the two-nation theory and unleashed a venomous, anti-Hindu diatribe designed to stoke tensions within India. This did not materialize. India responded to the Pahalgam massacre with blistering force as Operation Sindoor left Pakistan’s Chinese-made air defence systems smouldering and exposed the country’s tactical vulnerabilities. That Munir, having overseen this debacle, should now be rewarded with a ceremonial baton is farcical.

But in Pakistan, military failure is rarely punished. It is rebranded as patriotic defiance. Munir’s real victory lies not on the battlefield but in Rawalpindi’s long game of power. His term, originally set to end in November 2025, is now conveniently extended to November 2027. Rumours abound that a state of emergency may be declared and that the Constitution may be suspended yet again. These are echoes of a well-worn playbook.

What makes Munir even more dangerous is his lack of subtlety. He is no Musharraf, no Ayub. He is cruder, more theatrical and intoxicated by his own rhetoric. Animated by a cocktail of Islamic nationalism and military ego, his obsession with provoking India along religious lines makes him a uniquely destabilising figure. Like Zia-ul-Haq before him, Munir appears to believe that religious extremism can be wielded as a tool of statecraft. The consequences for regional peace could be catastrophic.

His strategy, if it can be called that, consists of keeping Pakistan in a permanent state of tension with India to justify the Army’s iron grip on state power.

One cannot ignore the wider geopolitical context as well. Is this farce enabled by Islamabad’s foreign patrons? China and the United States have long preferred pliant, military-led regimes in Pakistan that will protect their interests.

India, for its part, must remain vigilant. Munir is likely to seek another crisis to rally support and distract from his domestic failures. Pakistan’s real crisis is internal - a decaying economy, fractious politics and a military elite playing empire as the state crumbles. Munir may wear the Field Marshal’s baton. But he commands neither respect nor victory, only insecurity. And in Pakistan, that is a dangerous thing indeed.