The 'failed' Marshal: Asim Munir and the militarization of Pakistan's democratic ruins (IANS Analysis)

Islamabad:

The question now reverberating within Pakistan and beyond is stark: Has Asim Munir become the most powerful yet most resented army chief since General Zia-ul-Haq, the father of Pakistan’s military-Islamist order? Munir hasn’t needed to declare martial law; his political meddling operates brazenly in broad daylight. His tenure is not merely a breach of constitutional military duty — it is a calculated campaign of political engineering and institutional capture, leaving Pakistan's democratic scaffolding not just cracked, but crumbling into dust.

Field Marshal Munir assumed the leadership of Pakistan Army in November 2022, inheriting a military under stress and a country caught between economic crisis and political polarization. What was hoped to be a stabilising hand soon revealed itself as an iron fist. Rather than adhering to his constitutional role, wherein the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) serves under the authority of the President as commander of the armed forces, Munir expanded his influence into every sphere of national life, abandoning the pretence of the military's "behind-the-scenes" guidance that had become the norm after the end of military rule of General Parvez Musharaf.

Through what is euphemistically termed the "hybrid regime", Asim Munir has overseen a new phase of direct military domination. The military no longer merely pulls strings as it did under his immediate predecessors, but it now operates the puppet show of so-called Pakistan’s democracy in full public view. From installing Shehbaz Sharif’s government to shaping court verdicts like those against incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan and muzzling dissenting media voices, the current Army Chief’s tenure has seen the military transform from an arbiter to an overt authoritarian actor.

The legislative amendment to Pakistan Military Acts passed in November 2024, which extended the maximum tenure of the three service chiefs (Army/Navy/Air Force) from three to five years, was facilitated by a subservient civilian coalition led by Shehbaz Sharif and the political gerrymandering of the military establishment. These amendments retroactively enabled Asim Munir to remain in office till 2027 and potentially up to 2032, should another extension be granted, which seems to be a foregone conclusion should the Field Marshal remain content with the current hybrid system. The move smacked of the same constitutional manipulations as was seen during the time of General Zia-ul Haq, when the laws were bent to suit the permanence of one man.

If power consolidation was the only stain on Asim Munir's record, perhaps it could be seen as a continuation of Pakistan’s grim civil-military legacy. But what makes his case particularly egregious is his glaring failure on the one front where the military traditionally claims legitimacy, which is national security.

Under his leadership, Pakistan has suffered a disastrous resurgence of violent insurgency. In Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, separatist and Islamist militancies have accelerated in both sophistication and lethality in the last few years. According to the South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP), from November 2022 when Asim Munir took over as COAS till July 2025, the fatalities recorded among security forces, including soldiers, paramilitary troops, and police, ranged from approximately 2,266 to 2,335.

From targetted ambushes like February 1 Kalat Balochistan incident where 18 Frontier Corps troops were killed to Jaffar Express train hijacking with 30 Army casualties to suicide bombings like June 25 North Waziristan with 16 forces casualties, militant groups have re-established footholds in areas previously declared pacified by Pakistan Army. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) now operates with impunity in several tribal districts along the Durand Line border with Afghanistan, while Baloch separatist groups led by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) have not only targetted Pakistan military installations but have expanded their attacks to Chinese projects and nationals, thereby further destabilising a region which was already teetering on the edge.

For a General who once served as the head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) before being shown the door by Imran Khan in favour of Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, Munir's failure to anticipate or contain these threats is nothing but a glaring indictment. As his tenure demonstrates, national security has been the last of things on his table in favour of internal surveillance against political dissidents, social media crackdowns, and propping up pliant political players.

The February 2024 general elections were the ultimate unveiling of the military’s electoral manipulation project. For the first time, Pakistanis were able to see how the military establishment engages in brazen electoral manipulation through forged Form 45 documents (Result of Count Form), with one senior bureaucrat on record detailing how the ISI forced officials to falsify the results. As such, for the first time, the illusion of electoral autonomy lay fully shattered before the eyes of the world.

Behind this political theatre lies a darker truth. Asim Munir's regime has actively used the intelligence apparatus not to counter external threats but to suppress and abduct journalists like Imran Riaz Khan, harass exiled dissidents like Taha Siddique, Asad Baloch, and jail members of the opposition, most notably from Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). As per some estimates, over 7500 political activists, mostly from PTI, including nearly 500 senior and mid-level leadership, have been detained since the May 9, 2023, violent anti-government protests against the arrest of Imran Khan. Of these, hundreds have been subject to military trials with the concurrence of Shehbaz Sharif government and plaint judiciary.

Alongside political engineering, Asim Munir's military has also expanded its grip on the country's economic arteries further. Through massive land appropriations in the name of national food security, the military establishment has deepened its hold over Pakistan's dwindling resources. Interestingly, as Pakistan endures growing economic challenges, with over $130 billion in external debt, record inflation, joblessness, and economic stagnation, the business empire of the military, led by Army Welfare Trust (AWT) continues to profit.

Moreover, civilian institutions, including judiciary, have been coerced into silence. As the last year’s open letter by six judges of Islamabad High Court showed, those who dared to defy the military-backed regime, face threats, surveillance, or worse.

Pakistan's Constitution tasks the COAS with a narrow but vital responsibility, which is to defend the territorial integrity of the country and operate under civilian oversight. By contrast, Field Marshal Asim Munir seems to be conducting himself not as a servant of the state but as its supreme custodian, which is a betrayal of both constitutional mandate and military honour, if at all there is anything left of that in Pakistan.

The parallels with General Zia-ul-Haq grow stronger by the day. Like Zia, Munir speaks of “moral reform,” touts religious piety, and justifies authoritarian overreach in the name of stability. But like Zia, he may well leave behind a country more fractured, militarized, and globally isolated than he inherited.

As Pakistan slips once again into constitutional haze and political turmoil, the real question is no longer how long Asim Munir will stay in power, but how much damage he will inflict before his departure. His power consolidation —facilitated by willing political partners like the Sharifs and the Bhutto-Zardaris, and enforced with an iron fist — has already eroded the country’s democratic foundations, fragile though they were.

Unless Pakistan reasserts civilian supremacy and rebuilds trust in democratic processes, it risks joining the ranks of 21st-century cautionary tales of authoritarian decline. And, Field Marshal Asim Munir, much like Zia-ul Haq before him, will be remembered not as a savior in uniform, but as a failed marshal who placed personal power above constitutional duty — betraying both his institution and the nation he was sworn to serve.

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