The DGISPR is an interesting position. It requires qualities that are completely contradictory to those expected from an officer, specially the last 5 who have held the position. Starting as far back as Gen Rashid Qureshi who's tenure coincided with the liberalization of 1/n
media (and made DGISPRs the 'face of Army') all Generals have come from fighting arms. 3x from Armoured Corps, 2x from Infantry, and 1x from Artillery. None of them served in ISPR prior to getting posted as DGs except Rashid Qureshi. (He became a General without going 2/n
through a promotion board but that's a story for a different time). So for 30 years these men rose in rank in fighting arms demonstrating an excellence at killing through their opponents using the tools provided to them by the Army. The higher they rose, the less 3/n
they needed to explain themselves. They got conditioned to issuing orders which were implemented without objection or delay. Many a times their troops gave up their lives implementing their orders. 30 years of this makes them the most effective killing machines known to man. 4/n
Of course they are still sons, husbands, brothers, fathers but three decades of being cut off from civilian lives inside their cantonments and training to kill the enemy on the battlefield changes how they perceive the world. Complicating matters further, the 5/n
higher they rose, the more isolated they became from the average guy. They have drivers, PAs, ADCs, SOs, Admin NCOs, to run around to do menial tasks while the General focuses on bigger, strategic issues, including golf. 😆 As they become Maj Gens, they now have 6/n
bigger responsibilities, commanding 20k men or hundreds of tanks. And then one fine day, the Army tells them congrats! your next posting is DGISPR! A strategic communications post has now been handed over to a man who has no experience 7/n
in communications (ask me 😆). He now has to interact daily with civilians from outside the walls of his existence. He has heard a lot about them since he joined the Army. Of course the Army convinced him that he was never one himself, even when he appeared in the 8/n
entrance exam itself. He genuinely believes that since he is a solider today, he has been a solider, always. Very 1984ish. He finds these civilians very peculiar. They show up at his pressers dressed funny, without proper haircuts, and unshaven faces. 9/n
They ask too many questions, they challenge his responses, they don't take him at face value, he has to justify himself to them. They're unrefined, unsophisticated. They're... fucking civilians. How dare they! He will have them locked up in the quarter guard in a sec. 10/n
But this isn't his cantt anymore. He swallows his pride and anger, and tries to reason with them. Some do pretty good at this role, the Asim Bajwas and Asif Ghafoors. They're smooth operators and discover that media has something to offer them back: a personal brand ;) 11/n
Others struggle throughout their roles. You can see the discomfort and sense of annoyance in their voice every time they interact with journos. They do beam with pride and sound more confident when handling foreign media though, because English is their new mother tongue 12/n
and the gora shows some gratitude for being flown around on army helis all over and prepare WoT updates. He also doesnt ask silly questions such as "Sir am I a lifafa?" So now he is in a role where he has ZERO troops, his weapons are pressers, tweets, and hashtags. 13/n
His battlefield, social media, might as well be Mars for him. He likely didn't even have a SM account before his posting. He is not taking any decision that he has to defend. Remember, he is still a Maj Gen. There is a whole layer of Lt Gens above him and then the COAS. 14/n
Yet it's his face and reputation on the line in front of the nation. And not all of them want to believe what he has to say. They make memes about him even though it's big boss who screwed up. A man who has not had someone poke fun at him in 20+ years is now 15/n
on the recieving end of the worst juggats and insults the Pakistani nation can throw at him. It's the most thankless job he could have ever imagined. I bet each one of them has coursemates who give him shahbash every time they meet and then thank Allah it wasn't them. 🤣 16/n
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