Background

Qamar Javed Bajwa was born in a small town of Ghakar Mandi of Gujranwala district in Pakistan on November 11, 1960; the youngest of five children of Muhammad Iqbal Bajwa, an officer of Pakistan Army. When Bajwa was seven years old, his father died while in service in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan. He and his siblings were raised by their mother, who died in September 2013.

Education

Qamar Javed Bajwa received his education at the Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi (commonly known as Pindi). In 1978 he joined the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul graduating in 1980.

Bajwa is also a graduate of Command and Staff in Canada as well as of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, United States. He also attended the National Defence University.

Career

Qamar Javed Bajwa began his military career when he was commissioned as Second lieutenant on October 24, 1980, in the 16th Baloch Regiment at the Sialkot Cantonment. Eight years later, already Major, Bajwa joined the staff of the 5th Northern Light Infantry Regiment in Kashmir. In addition, Lieutenant-Colonel Bajwa served as a staff officer in the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi. Upon being promoted as a one-star rank army general, Brigadier Bajwa served as the Chief of Staff at the X Corps.

In 2003, Bajwa served as a brigade commander under then-Major General Bikram Singh in the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, in Congo, commanding the Pakistan Armed Forces-Africa Command. In May 2009 Bajwa was promoted to two-star rank, becoming Major-General and taking over the command of the Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA) as its General officer commanding (GOC), stationed in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

In 2011 Bajwa was appointed an instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics in Quetta, and later taught staff course at Command and Staff College in Quetta, and course on national security at the National Defence University. On August 14, 2013, Major-General Bajwa was promoted to three-star rank and posted as field commander of the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi. During his time there, he was appointed as a Grade-I officer. Just a year later, Lieutenant-general Bajwa was appointed as Colonel Commandant of Baloch Regiment.

On September 22, 2015, Lieutenant-general Bajwa was appointed as the Inspector-General of the Training and Evaluation (IGT&E) at the General Headquarters. He was a Principal Staff Officer to the then-Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif. On November 29, 2016, Prime Minister Sharif announced to appoint General Bajwa, as the chief of army staff, superseding two generals, Lieutenant-general Zubair Hayat and Lieutenant-general Javed Ramday, who were senior than him.

In August 2019, Bajwa's tenure as army chief was extended for another 3 years by Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. However, in November 2019, the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended the 3-year extension, approving a short 6-month extension in Bajwa’s term as the COAS. On 7th January 2020, Pakistan's National Assembly Of Pakistan passed bills to extend General Bajwa's tenure up to three years till 29 November 2022.

Achievements

• Qamar Javed Bajwa, the 10th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, is one of the most powerful people in the nuclear armed state. As the head of the world's sixth largest Army, Bajwa has established himself as a mediator and proponent of democracy. Under the command of Gen. Bajwa, the nationwide counterterrorism operations and Khyber-4 were launched in February 2017 and July 2017, respectively.
  
  Because of General Bajwa’s posting at the X Corps three times which happens to be the Pakistan army’s important and largest corps, Qamar Javed Bajwa gained good experience of handling affairs in Kashmir. Kashmir has been a disputed territory since the birth of Pakistan and any General appointed as the Chief must be well versed and experienced in the military affairs of that region. Gen. Bajwa is known to have a sound understanding of Indian strategic ambitions in the region and experience of armed conflict on Line of Control in Kashmir.
  
  Bajwa is the holder of Nishan-e-Imtiaz, which happens to be the highest honor that can be bestowed to a civilian by the Government of Pakistan for their services to the country, along with Hilal-e-Imtiaz for his services to the country. In October 2018, Bajwa was awarded the Order of the Military Merit by Jordan's King Abdullah II.
  
  In 2018, Bajwa was ranked as the 68th most influential person in the world by Forbes magazine. He was also noted as the fourth oldest army chief of staff.

Religion

A few days before being appointed as the Chief of Army Staff, a politician Sajid Meer disclaimed that General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his relatives follow the Ahmadi religion which started a controversy leading towards serious objections for his promotion as the chief.

Ahmadis are also known as Qadiyaanis who are the believers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiyaani. Constitution of Pakistan under the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in 1974 declared Ahmadis as Non-Muslims for the first time in Pakistan which by far has not been changed in the constitution.

Politics

General Bajwa is said to be an apolitical person without any biases. When he became army chief in November 2016, he apparently decided that Pakistan could not afford to be pulled in different directions by the military and the civilians. There is considerable potential in stable civil-military relations and General Bajwa expressed a desire to make Pakistan a 'normal country.' Having secured his extension, Bajwa focused on correcting the country’s course from General Headquarters (GHQ) through parliament and civilian institutions. His main focus is on straightening out Pakistan’s economy, suppressing Jihadi terrorism, working out a peace deal in Afghanistan, finding a balance in ties with China and the US as well as between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and normalising relations with India without giving up on Pakistan’s claims on Kashmir.

Views

Bajwa has condemned extremism in all its manifestations, declaring it a key driving force for terrorism. He urged his fellow citizens especially the youth to reject extremist ideologies and terrorism without distinction.

Quotations: "We have no threat from India, in fact, we have threats from the extremist between us."

Personality

Bajwa is an avid reader and has a keen interest in the history of Europe. He enjoys cricket and used to play cricket as a wicket-keeper. His military colleagues say he is not attention-seeking and remains well connected with his troops.

Physical Characteristics: Qamar Javed Bajwa is 185 centimeters high and weighs 92 kilograms.

Quotes from others about the person

• "If Bajwa would get an extension for three years, the most senior Generals will not remain eligible for the post of Army Chief. Chief justice Khosa, who retires next month, is part of the game. By extending Bajwa’s term for 6 months, he has provided the ones-in-line an opportunity to manipulate the legislation process. He has now thrown the grenade on the floor of Parliament. Bajwa is God but one of the many Gods in Pakistan." - Ali Salman Andani, a political analyst on Pakistan

Interests

• reading

• Sport & Clubs

  cricket

Connections

Bajwa is married to Ayesha. The couple has two sons, Saad and Ali.

Father:

Muhammad Iqbal Bajwa

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

Spouse:

Ayesha Amjad

father-in-law:

Ijaz Amjad

Ijaz Amjad was a Pakistan Army officer who retired with a two-star rank, Major-General.

Son:

Saad Bajwa

Son:

Ali Bajwa