General Syed Asim Munir is the current Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, having taken command in November 2022. Born in 1968 in Rawalpindi to a Punjabi family that migrated from Jalandhar, India during Partition, Munir grew up in a disciplined and religious household-his father was a school principal and imam.
How Munir started his career?
Munir began his military career in 1986 at the Officers Training School (OTS) in Mangla, where he earned the prestigious Sword of Honour for outstanding performance as a cadet. He was commissioned into the 23rd Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment. Early in his career, he served in challenging areas like the Northern Areas and Siachen Glacier, and was posted in Saudi Arabia as part of Pakistan’s defence cooperation.
Munir’s rise was marked by a series of important appointments:
He served as Brigade Major and General Staff Officer-II. As a brigadier, he was chief of staff at I Strike Corps, Mangla, and commanded an infantry brigade in the Northern Areas. Promoted to Major General in 2014, he commanded troops in the Northern Areas. In 2016, he became Director-General of Military Intelligence. In 2018, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Director-General of the ISI, Pakistan’s top intelligence agency. His tenure was brief, reportedly due to a fallout with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan over corruption allegations involving Khan’s wife-a claim Khan denied.
After ISI, Munir commanded the XXX Corps in Gujranwala and later served as Quartermaster General at GHQ.
In November 2022, just before his scheduled retirement, he was promoted to four-star general and appointed Chief of Army Staff, with his retirement deferred by the government.
Why he came into News?
Munir has attracted international attention for his hardline stance on Kashmir and his overt religious rhetoric. In February 2025, he declared Pakistan’s readiness for “10 more wars” over Kashmir, and in April 2025 called Kashmir Pakistan’s “jugular vein,” vowing never to abandon the Kashmiri cause.
Days later, a militant attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, killed 26 tourists; India accused Pakistan of involvement, which Islamabad denied. Munir’s statements were widely seen as having inflamed tensions and possibly triggering the attack.
Domestically, Munir has overseen military operations in Balochistan and led a crackdown on supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who accused Munir of orchestrating election rigging. His leadership has coincided with a period of political crisis and public dissent against the military’s role in politics
Why they call him 'Mullah General'?
Munir is often labelled a “Mullah General” because of his strong religious identity-he is a Hafiz-e-Qur’an (one who has memorised the Quran)-and his frequent use of Islamic and jihadist rhetoric in public speeches.
Unlike his more secular predecessors, Munir openly fuses state and faith, invoking religious duty in the context of Pakistan’s military and foreign policy, especially regarding Kashmir. This, combined with Pakistan’s history of supporting militant groups as proxies, has led critics and rivals to describe him as a “jihadi general”.
