Apart from partly meeting the resentment which may have built among 80th PMA officers, the appointments would seem to be based on sound professional considerations, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at R&AW, India's external intelligence agency.
Acting speedily and firmly at last, Pakistan's army chief, General Syed Asim Munir has posted Lieutenant General Muhd Asim Malik, 12 Baloch regiment, sword of honour (topper/senior most) from the 80th Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul Long Course as the new corps commander, I Corps, Mangla.
Lieutenant General Asim, who previously served as adjutant general at General Headquarters (GHQ), is from the Awan tribe and hails from Shahpur, near Sargodha.
He is the son of Lieutenant General Ghulam Mohd Malik (retd), who served in the same regiment and later became corps commander, X Corps, Rawalpindi.
He had been promoted as lieutenant general almost a year before his batchmates, in October 2021, during General Qamar Javed Bajwa's tenure as army chief, when holding the post of vice chief of General Staff at GHQ.
By that yardstick, his four years as lieutenant general would end before General Asim Munir's date of retirement (November 2025).
Major General Omar Ahmed Bokhari, 22 Baloch regiment, also a sword of honour from the 84th PMA Long Course, currently vice chief of General Staff at GHQ, has been promoted to three star rank and has been appointed the new adjutant general.
Previously, he had held the prestigious assignment of Commandant, PMA, Kakul.
Apart from partly meeting the resentment which may have built among 80th PMA officers, both these appointments would seem to be based on sound professional considerations.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
