Well known as “Kayani” in the Army circles, and named by Newsweek as the 20th most powerful person in the world in the year 2008; General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani was born in Manghot (Gujar Khan) in April 1952. He joined Pakistan Army in 1971 and the proud holder of PA-12850 rose to the coveted rank of Chief of Army Staff on November 29, 2007. He belongs to the 12th Infantry (Baloch Regiment).
Positions held:
· Division (Murree)
· DG Military Operations (DGMO)
· X Corps (Rawalpindi)
· DG Inter-Services Intelligence
· Vice Chief of Army Staff
· Chief of Army Staff
Battles/Wars:
· Indo Pak War of 1971
· 2001-2002 India Pakistan Stand-off
· War in NWFP
Awards:
· Hilal e Imtiaz (Military)
· Hilal e Imtiaz
· Nishan e Imtiaz (Military)
On the Personal front:
Kiyani belongs to Gujar Khan, a suburb of Rawalpindi, known to produce Pakistan Army generals. He grew up in a working-class family, son of a junior officer, Lehrasab Khan. He is described as a soft-spoken intellectual who is apolitical, and disciplined. A chain smoker as well as a keen golfer, he is currently president of the Pakistan Golf Association. Kayani is married and has two children, a son and a daughter.
Army Career:
Kiyani is a graduate of Military College Jhelum (MCJ) and the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul and was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 29 August, 1971 as part of 45th PMA Long Course in the Baloch Regiment as an infantryman. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia; Command and Staff College, Quetta; the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies,Honolulu, Hawaii; and the National Defence College, Islamabad, where he holds a masters degree in War Studies. During his career in the army, he has commanded an Infantry Battalion, an Infantry Brigade, an Infantry Division and the prestigious Rawalpindi Corps.
Benazir's Secretary and DGMO:
Kiyani rose to eventually serve Benazir Bhutto as her deputy military secretary during her first stint as prime minister in 1988-1990. He also served as the General Officer Commander (GOC) 12th Infantry Division stationed in Murree, deployed all over the Line of Control and which comes under the X Corps (Rawalpindi).
Kiyani’s career progressed and he went on to serve as Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) from December 2000 to September 2003. It was during his tenure as DGMO that the intense military standoff of 2001-2002 between Pakistan and India took place. Reportedly, Kayani only slept a few hours a night during that period as he diligently oversaw the army’s mobilization and preparedness on the border.
Corps Commander Rawalpindi:
Kiyani was promoted as Lieutenant General in September 2003, and was trusted with the command of the X Corps in Rawalpindi, in place of Lt Gen Syed Arif Hassan. The promotion indicated Musharraf's significant trust in Kayani, since an army chief cannot build an army coup without the help of the X Corps commander, with Rawalpindi being the twin city of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. Kayani led the corps until October 2004, when he was transferred to the ISI as its chief, being replaced by Lt Gen Salahuddin Satti.
During Kayani's tenure at the X Corps, he led the successful investigation of the two back-to-back suicide attacks against Musharraf in December 2003. It is believed that Kayani won the trust of Musharraf after the investigation, and a prelude to Kayani's promotion to the sensitive position of ISI Chief.
Inter-Services Intelligence:
In October 2004, Ashfaq Kayani was made the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, in place of General Ehsan ul Haq, who proceeded to the chairmanship of Joint Chiefs of Staffas a four-star general. Kayani led the ISI during a bleak period, with insurgencies in Waziristan and Balochistan, AQ Khan's nuclear proliferation scandal, and waves of suicide attacks throughout Pakistan emanating from the northwestern tribal belt. In his final days at the ISI, he also led the talks with Benazir Bhutto for a possible power sharing deal with Musharraf. In October 2007, after three years, he was replaced at the ISI by Lt Gen Nadeem Taj.
Chief of Army Staff:
In October 2007, Kayani was promoted as a full general, and made the Vice Chief of Army Staff. At the time of promotion, Kayani superseded one officer, Lt Gen Khalid Kidwai who was on an extension for a year. He took over as the new army chief of Pakistan Army after Musharraf's retirement on November 28, 2007. The ceremony was held at the sports stadium near Army headquarters, Rawalpindi. Kayani is the first officer in the history of Pakistan who held the position of DG ISI and then went on to become the Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan) (COAS). The last time a Director General of the ISI was to be made army chief in 1999, the Army staged a bloodless coup to reinstate the proposed outgoing Chief of Army Staff, General Pervaiz Musharraf.
Withdrawal of military from civilian government:
In January 2008 General Kayani passed a directive which ordered military officers not to maintain contacts with politicians.
On 13 February 2008 it was made public that General Kayani ordered the withdrawal of military officers from all of Pakistan's government civil departments. It was an action that reversed the policies of his predecessor, President Musharraf. It was welcomed by President Musharraf’s critics, who have long demanded that the military distance itself from politics. The Pakistani media reported that the army officers would be withdrawn from 23 wide-ranging civil departments, including the National Highway Authority, National Accountability Bureau, Ministry of Education, and Water and Power Development Authority.
A comment from Maj Gen Athar Abbas who is a spokesman for the Pakistan Army mentioned in an interview on the same day that General Kayani’s decision to recall military officers from civil departments was taken the previous week and that the process would take between 2 to 6 months to complete.
Paradoxically though generals have been withdrawn from civilian posts , the overfrequent parleys between Zardari ,Gillani ,the respective presidents and prime minister of Pakistan is seen to be a new development .Traditionally military chiefs meet civilian office holders only on national or religious festivals.This proximity is considered as approval of President Zardari's policies by Gen Kiyani.
The leak by an American congress women that CIA drones are flown from Pakistan with connivance of "Govt" of Pakistan has put a great deal of adverse popular opinion burden on Gen Kiyani.
General Kiani is generally liked by the lower cadres of the army for reasons of his being son of non officer cadre and for increasing their personal rations. However in right wing political circles he is yet to make any in roads .Nawaz Sharif recently dissmissed both Zardari and Kiani by saying that "Pakistan is in grip of opportunist politicians and Generals".He did not name them specifically.
Kiani’s policies on "War on Terror" has included heavy civilian casualties as well as collateral damage in NWFP, something which has put his popularity down,though he was recently admitted in "Hall of Fame" in USA
His role as chief of ISI is largely unknown though he was in important position when such like organizations were charged with orchestrating missing of persons and selling them to USA as described in Musharaf's autobiography.
He is very energetic ,visiting NWFP war front much,that unlike his predecessor. He is seen in photos holding a stiff trembly one hand with the other.
Pakistan General Elections 2008:
On 7 March 2008 General Kayani confirmed that Pakistan's armed forces will stay out of politics and support the new government. General Kayani told a gathering of military commanders in the garrison city of Rawalpindi that The army fully stands behind the democratic process and is committed to playing its constitutional role. The comments made were after the results of the Pakistani general election, 2008 where the Pakistan Peoples Party won the election and began forming a coalition government who were opposed to General Pervez Musharraf. It was rumoured in pakistani tabloid that soon after becoming army chief he had at one time had to bring back some loyalist units to Rawalpindi in order to discourage then President Musharaf from exercising his power as president of being a supreme commander to change him.
