Asim Bajwa
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Asim Saleem Bajwa (
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Punjabi: ) is a retired Pakistani three-star general who served as the chairman of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority from November 2019 to August 2021 and the special assistant to then Prime Minister Imran Khan on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting from 28 April 2020 to 12 October 2020. On 11 December 2016, Bajwa was appointed as Inspector General Arms at GHQ, where he served until his appointment to the position of Commander Southern Command and XII Corps in September 2017. Previously, he also served as Director General of the ISPR from 2012 to 2016.


Education and background

Asim Saleem Bajwa was born in Saqibabad, Punjab. He belongs to the Bajwa sub clan of the Jatt tribe. He was commissioned in the 34th Punjab Regiment in 1984 after being passed out from the
Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy ( ur, ), also referred to by its acronym PMA. PMA is an officers training school located near Kakul village in the city and district of Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa established in 1947. It is the sole service academy ...
in
Kakul Kakul (Kakol) is a village situated in the Tehsil and District Abbottabad, at an elevation of 1300 metres, 5 km northeast of center of Abbottabad city near the Thandiani Hills. Abbottabad is a District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Paki ...
. He graduated from the Command and Staff College in Quetta, as well as the National Defence University in Islamabad, followed by the Staff College, Camberley. He holds a master's degrees in
war studies War studies, sometimes called polemology, is the multi-disciplinary study of war. It pertains to the military, diplomatic, philosophical, social, political, psychological or economic dimensions of human conflict. The word ''polemology'' deriv ...
from
National Defence University, Islamabad , native_name_lang = ur , image = National Defence University, Pakistan Logo.png , image_upright = , image_alt = , caption = Seal of the NDU , former_name = National Defence College , motto ...
and
defence studies Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mil ...
from King's College London.


Military career

Bajwa held various command, staff, and instructional appointments. During his military career, he served on multiple instructional and command-level posts, such as leading an anti-tank battalion, the 111th Infantry Brigade and an infantry division in erstwhile Tribal Areas where he played a key role in stabilization efforts during various operations. He was a brigade major of an infantry brigade and served as Chief of Staff of a strike corps. He instructed courses at PMA Kakul and the Command and Staff College, Quetta. General Bajwa has served as the deputy military secretary to the President of Pakistan. He assisted General
Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...
in compiling his book ''
In the Line of Fire ''In the Line of Fire'' is a 1993 American political action thriller film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Written by Jeff Maguire, the film is about a disillusioned and obsessed former C ...
''. In December 2010, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. On 4 June 2012, Bajwa was appointed as the director general of the
Inter-Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ( ur, ), is the media and PR wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's civilian media and the civic society. The ISPR directo ...
.Shakil Shaikh
"Bajwa made DG ISPR in high-level military reshuffle"
''The News'', 28 April 2012
On 22 September 2015, he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
. In December 2016, Bajwa was appointed Inspector General Arms (IG Arms) at General Headquarters where he served until 28 September 2017. In September 2017, he was appointed Commander Southern Command of the Pakistan Army where he served until 2019. He was instrumental in numerous development initiatives in Balochistan. He is the recipient of
Hilal-i-Imtiaz The ''Hilaal-e-Imtiaz'' (; ), also spelled and transliterated as Hilāl-e-Imtiyāz, is the second-highest (in the hierarchy of "Hilal") civilian award and honour given to both civilians and military officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces by the ...
(military) and Tamgha-e-Basalat.


Post-retirement career

In November 2019, after his retirement from the army, Bajwa was appointed as the chairman of the newly created CPEC Authority. Establishment Division notified Bajwa as chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority for a tenure of four years. His duties in CPEC project especially his role to focus on development of Balochistan province is visible as
Gwadar Gwadar ( Balochi/ ur, ) is a port city with located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. Gwadar is the 100th largest city of Pakistan, according to the 2017 ...
is emerging as an important regional trade hub. In April 2020, Bajwa was appointed as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting. Later in an interview on 3 September 2020, Bajwa announced his resignation from his post as Special Advisor to the PM for Information and Broadcasting. However, prime minister
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...
refused to accept his resignation. On 12 October 2020, his resignation as SAPM was finally accepted by the Prime Minister.


Controversy

During the All-Parties Conference held on 20 September 2020, the former prime minister of Pakistan
Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...
alleged that Asim Bajwa plotted to topple the
Balochistan government The Government of Balochistan ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the largest Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Balochistan, Pakistan in Quetta. The head of the province is the Governor, who is nominated by the President of Paki ...
while still in uniform and serving as Commander Southern Command. He was also responsible for introducing
Balochistan Awami Party The Balochistan Awami Party ( ur, , lit=Balochistan People's Party) is a political party based in the Balochistan province of Pakistan founded in 2018 by political dissidents of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) ...
.


Assets declaration controversy

As a Special Assistant to prime minister Imran Khan's government, Bajwa's asset declarations were made public on the Cabinet Division website public. He came under scrutiny for the valuations quoted and was top Twitter trending in Pakistan on July 19, 2020. Some of the dubious figures included 65 acres land for just
Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
105000; and Toyota ZX 2016 valued at Rs. 3 million, a fraction of original value of the car.


Family assets controversy

On 27 August 2020, an investigative report o
FactFocus
by journalis
Ahmed Noorani
correlated assets of Asim Bajwa's wife and sons, along with his military appointments and career growth under military dictator and president Pervez Musharraf, and then his appointment as chairman CPEC Authority
Documents in the report
listed ownership of 133 Papa John's franchises in the US and the UAE, together with several other properties in the US, Canada, UAE, and Pakistan. Asim Bajwa initially rejected the report completely. On 3 September he admitted parts of the report and downplayed the numbers, strength and details of business entities and shares in the name of his wife and sons. He also indicated that his wife's share of business assets outside Pakistan was divested and fully liquidated on 1 June 2020, prior to his assets declaration on 22 April 2020. According to Bajwa, the number of companies was not 99 but actually 31, the rest of companies were shell or representative companies in different regions. He further stated that all the companies purported to belong to his sons and wife were either dormant since the formation, did a business of less than Rs. 500,000, were perpetually in loss, some were only registered as sole proprietorship with FBR, or never opened an office and any bank accounts. He promised to provide money trail and supporting documents to explain initial investments by his wife, overseas transfer of funds for business, financial support to 3 sons studying in US schools, and their business entrepreneurship. Nadeem Bajwa, Faisal Bajwa and Malik Bajwa together are listed Principals of Bajco Global Management LLC in Canfield, OH. Bajco Global Management LLC was incorporated in 2007, before Bajwa became a military general, it has a revenue of US$69.85m and 1800 employees, operates 11 subsidiaries and 75 companies as the parent company, as of 3 September 2020. Asim Bajwa's brother, Nadeem Bajwa is a businessman and is the chief executive officer of BajCo Group LLC. Asim Bajwas brother's group owns several Papa Johns’ and Dairy Queens’ franchises around America and in the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
. On 23 September 2020, the
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) ( ur, ) is the financial regulatory agency in Pakistan whose objective is to develop a modern and efficient corporate sector and a capital market based on sound authority principles, in ...
(SECP) issued a summons notification to individuals allegedly involved in the data leak.


Personal life

A member of the
Bajwa Bajwa ( pa, ਬਾਜਵਾ ; ) is a Jat surname and tribe name commonly found among the Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims of the Punjab region in India and Pakistan. Notable people bearing the Bajwa name, who may or may not be affiliated with the c ...
clan, Asim Bajwa is married to Farrukh Zeba and has three children with her and 4 grand children. His hobbies include reading and playing golf. His sons are Muhammad Bajwa, Eusha Bajwa, and Azib Bajwa. Asim Bajwa has mentioned in his response to FactFocus report that his sons are graduates of US business schools.


Awards and decorations


See also

*
Inter-Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ( ur, ), is the media and PR wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's civilian media and the civic society. The ISPR directo ...
* List of serving Generals of the Pakistan Army


References


External links

, - * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bajwa, Asim Saleem Living people Alumni of King's College London Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley National Defence University, Pakistan alumni Pakistan Military Academy alumni Pakistan Military Academy faculty Pakistani generals Punjabi people Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Recipients of Tamgha-e-Basalat Directors-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations Punjab Regiment officers People from Rahim Yar Khan District Pakistani government officials 1968 births