This Word Means: Field Marshal

He will be the second person in history to hold this rank, after Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1959.

WHO IS A FIELD MARSHAL?

The Indian and Pakistani armies are modelled on the British army’s system of ranks and privileges. A Field Marshal or FM is a five-star officer rank, and the highest attainable rank, above the general.

The FM rank in the Indian Army is equivalent to the Admiral of the fleet in the Indian Navy and the Marshal of the Indian Air Force.

India has had two FMs: Sam Manekshaw was the first, ascending to the rank in January 1973. KM Cariappa was the second Field Marshal and was promoted in January 1986. India has also had one Marshal of the Air Force, Arjan Singh, who was elevated to the rank in 2002.

WHAT DOES THE FIELD MARSHAL RANK ENTAIL?

The Field Marshal rank is typically bestowed on generals for ceremonial reasons or during wartime. A Field Marshal is considered to be on ‘active list’ until his death.

While a Field Marshal does not hold any office in official capacity beyond his date of retirement, he is entitled to wear his uniform at any event he deems fit. He wears special badges of rank, has five stars displayed on his vehicle, and as per tradition, salutes with the special Field Marshal’s baton raised to the forehead and not the hand as is the norm in a military salute.

AND WHO IS ASIM MUNIR?

According to Ramanathan Kumar, who headed the Pakistan desk at R&AW from 2015 to 2020, Munir was Pakistan’s first “mullah general”. While posted as a military attaché in Saudi Arabia, Munir, then a 38-year-old Lieutenant Colonel, had memorised the Holy Quran, a feat that earned him the title of Hafiz-e-Koran.

He hails from a non-military background, with his father having worked as a school principal and imam of the local mosque in Rawalpindi. Munir completed his primary education at the Markazi Madrasah Dar-ul-Tajweed, an Islamic seminary in Rawalpindi. He then graduated from the Officers Training School at Mangla in 1986, and was commissioned into the 23rd Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment.

He has commanded the 23rd Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment as a Lt Colonel, and an infantry brigade in the Northern Areas as a Brigadier. As a Major General, he served as Force Commander Northern Areas and later as Director General Military Intelligence.

On promotion as Lt General, he served as DG ISI and was the incumbent during the Pulwama terror attack in 2019. He subsequently served as GOC of 30 Corps in Gujranwala. Prior to his elevation as Chief of Army Staff in November 2022, he was serving as Quartermaster General in Pakistan GHQ in Rawalpindi.

Asim Munir was set to retire in 2025, but legislation by the Pakistan National Assembly in November 2024 extended the tenures of the Army, Navy and Air Chiefs to five years from three years. He is now due to retire in 2027 and will remain the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army until then.