Qamar Javed Bajwa

Qamar Javed Bajwa (born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani army general who served as the tenth chief of the army staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022.

Born in Karachi, Sindh, on 11 November 1960, Bajwa was educated at the F. G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Military Academy in 1978.

His family hails from Ghakhar Mandi, Punjab.

His father Muhammad Iqbal Bajwa was an officer of Pakistan Army who died while in service in 1967 in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.

Bajwa was seven years old when his father died and he was the youngest of five siblings.

Bajwa was educated at the F. G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Military Academy in 1978.

Bajwa completed his secondary and intermediate education at F. G. Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Army in 1978, which directed him to attend the military academy.

Bajwa was commissioned in 1980 in the 16th Battalion of the Baloch Regiment.

He was sent to attend the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and passing out in 1980.

Bajwa is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, United States.

He also attended the National Defence University, Islamabad.

After joining the Pakistan Army in 1978, Bajwa who was enrolled at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, passed out with the class of 62nd PMA Long Course and gained commission as second lieutenant, on 24 October 1980 in the 16th Baloch Regiment at the Sialkot Cantonment – the same unit that his father commanded.

In 1988, Bajwa briefly served in the 5th Northern Light Infantry in Azad Kashmir.

In addition, he served in the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi, as a staff officer.

Upon promotion as one-star rank army general, Bajwa served as the chief of staff (COS) at the X Corps.

In 2003, Bajwa commanded the Pakistan Armed Forces-Africa Command, attached to the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, in D. R. Congo.

In addition, he served as a brigadier in the UN mission in Congo and as a brigade commander in 2007.

Towards the end of his career as army chief, tax details of Bajwa's family members, acknowledged as a "leak" by the Pakistani government, were leaked to the press, alleging increases in the billions throughout his tenure.

During his tenure, military interference in Pakistan's political apparatus reached a new high, despite Bajwa's claims of remaining apolitical.

After being promoted to the two-star rank in May 2009, Bajwa took over the command of the Force Command Northern Areas division as its GOC, stationed in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

In August 2011, he was honored with the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), and posted as an instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta, and later taught staff course at Command and Staff College in Quetta, and course on national security at the National Defence University, Islamabad.

Bajwa served in the D. R. Congo as a brigade commander under the then-major general Bikram Singh, the former chief of the army staff of the Indian Army from 2012 to 2014.

Singh later termed Bajwa's performance there as "professional and outstanding."

He and his siblings were raised by their mother, who died in September 2013.

Bajwa's father-in-law is retired major general Ijaz Amjad (brother of Iftikhar Khan Janjua).

On 14 August 2013, Bajwa was promoted to three-star rank and posted as field commander of the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi.

He was appointed as Grade-I officer during his tenure as field commander of the X Corps.

The appointment was commented in the news media that noted that Bajwa had been posted in X Corps thrice, which is the army's most important and largest corps, which has experience of keeping control over the situation in Kashmir.

In 2014, Bajwa was appointed as colonel commandant of the Baloch Regiment.

Before his appointment as the chief of army staff, he served at the General Headquarters as the inspector general of the training and evaluation from September 2015 to November 2016 and as field commander of the X Corps from August 2013 to September 2015 which is responsible for the area along the Line of Control in Kashmir.

On 22 September 2015, Bajwa was posted in the General Headquarters when he was appointed as the inspector-general of the training and evaluation (IGT&E).

There he was a principal staff officer to the then-chief of army staff Raheel Sharif.

In 2016, Raheel Sharif dismissed rumours of seeking an extension for his term.

Initially, the race for the appointment for the army chief was rumoured between Zubair Hayat and Javed Ramday who was close to the first family.

However, prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced to appoint the-then senior most army general, Zubair Hayat as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

On 29 November 2016, Sharif eventually announced to appoint Bajwa - the fourth by seniority, as the chief of army staff, superseding two generals who were senior than him.

His strong pro-democracy stance and views may have influenced his appointment as the army chief as noted by the media pundits.

Reuters reported that Sharif picked Bajwa because of his low-key style.

In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People.

Originally from Gakhar Mandi, Gujranwala, Bajwa was born into a Punjabi Jat family of Bajwa clan in Karachi.