Picking Pakistan’s next Army chief to be Nawaz Sharif’s toughest call

As records show, he committed a severe error of judgment on each occasion the previous two times. In 1993 he chose Lt Gen Waheed Kakkar, who was fourth on the probable’s list in terms of seniority, Kakkar soon bid Sharif good-bye from prime ministership at the instance of then president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who too punched his ticket out at the behest of the army at the same time.

The second time was worse. Sharif chose General Parvez Musharraf, who not only threw him out of power but even wanted him to hang till death. Only at the insistence of Washington, was Sharif allowed, reluctantly, to go to Saudi Arabia in exile. Musharraf was the last on the list of three most senior.

This time around, the people who are often considered the best informed functionaries on Pakistan in the world, the Indian agencies have culled a list of five. Reliable sources in the Indian army say, they are in the order of seniority, Lt Gen Haroon Aslam (chief of logistics at the HQ in Rawalpindi), Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood, chief of general staff (CGS), Lt Gen Raheel Sharif inspector general (Training and Establishment), Lt Gen Tariq Khan, general officer commanding-in-chief, I Corps, based at Mangla, in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and Lt Gen Zahir-ul Islam, director general (Inter Services Intelligence).

Haroon Aslam, being the senior-most, is believed by the army sources here, is a sure shot because Nawaz Sharif will not be particularly adventurist this time round. But there is a slim possibility that he could go with the advice of his private search party made of, younger brother and Chief Minister, Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister, Chaudhary Nissar. Rashad Mahmood, just before he became CGS, had commanded IV Corps in Lahore, which is a big positive on his account as the Sharifs have ruled the province and are based in there. Plus, record shows that of the last ten CGS, eight had been elevated to the COAS position.

Raheel Sharif, the IG (T&E) is more of failsafe bureaucrat who had also been all important (in Pakistan) corps commander. He commanded the XXXI Corps at Gujranwala. But army sources the chief who would be most loved by the rank and file is Tariq Khan, the POK general, whose appointment would make New Delhi askance.

Finally, of course, in the race is the ISI chief, Zahirul Islam. He has a bit of an Indian connection, besides of course what he does or plan to do to India, being a nephew of Shah Nawaz  Khan, a ‘general’ of Subhash Chandra Bose’s INA. He too was a corps commander, having commanded V Corps based in Karachi.