(Part 8)
Pakistan’s Extended Jinx
If the founders and rulers of Pakistan suffered, one might expect diplomats, loyalists, and ideological defenders to escape the pattern. They did not.
Pakistan’s political gravity does not distinguish between those who build the state and those who merely speak for it. Even defending Pakistan becomes a dangerous occupation. The system consumes its champions with the same indifference it shows towards its architects.
Judges who assert independence are threatened, removed, or attacked. Business elites who attempt reform face extortion or disappearance. Journalists oscillate between silence and peril.
Journalists
A state that cannot tolerate truth cannot tolerate the press. Journalists like Daniel Pearl, who sought to understand Pakistan sympathetically, were killed on Pakistani soil by the very ecosystem of terrorism created by Pakistan.
Many other foreigners who defended Pakistan during the Cold War era, American diplomats, aid workers, and analysts, found themselves targeted by terrorists that the state itself had once nurtured.
Diplomats
Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, the distinguished diplomat who argued Pakistan’s case at the United Nations and became the country’s first foreign minister, spent his final years ostracized because his religious identity no longer aligned with the state’s ideological drift. He helped establish Pakistan’s international legitimacy but died as a figure erased from national memory, a defender punished by the very state he defended.
Jinx and Army Chiefs
General Ayub Khan was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army. He served from 1951 to 1958.He became President in 1958 after overthrowing the President Iskander Mirza in a coup d’état. He started and lost the 1965 war with India. He was forced to resign in 1969 amid mass protests and strikes across the country. He died in disgrace on 19 April 1974. He is credited with first military coup in the Pakistan’s history.
General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan succeeded Ayub Khan as Chief Marshal Law Administrator and Chief of Army. He also served as third President of Pakistan from 1969. He ordered Operation Searchlight in East Pakistan. Under his watch Pakistan was divided and Bangladesh came into existence in 1971. He was known to have loved his drinks and had elaborate taste of many things of life. He was nicknamed rangeela. After the lost war he was forced by army to hand over the power to Bhutto. He was disgraced and placed under house arrest for most of his remaining life. He died of stroke on 10 August 1980.
His successor was Lt. General Gul Hassan Khan who had a short tenure as Chief of Army from 20 December 1971 until 3 March 1972. He served under President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and had to resign due to differences with him. His short tenure made him escape the Jinx.
He was succeeded by General Tikka Khan. He was nicknamed the Butcher of Bengal for his role as Governor of East Pakistan. After stepping down from office on 1 March 1976, he joined Pakistan Peoples Party held various offices including that of governor of Punjab. He retired in 1990 and died on 18 March 2002. He is a surprise candidate for avoiding the jinx despite his past brutality.
General Mirza Aslam Beg succeeded Zia ul Haq after his death on 17 August 1988. He is known for his efforts to restore limited albeit corrupt democracy after General Zia-ul-Haq’s era of dictatorship and his belief in a clean break from prolonged military rule. After retirement he founded Awami Qiyadat Party (AQP), a nationalist political party but it remained a marginal force and could not gain acceptance of masses. He avoided the jinx and appears to have survived. He lives a very low-profile life and is not publicly active.
His successor Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua, died of heart attack, in harness in 1993. Rumours are that he died of poisoning. It is however widely reported that he died under mysterious circumstances.
His successor Abdul Waheed Khan was born into a Pashtun family of the Kakar tribe (which originally migrated from Zhob, Baluchistan) in the suburbs of Peshawar on 23 March 1937. When opportunity presented itself he refused to take over the Government as a military dictator and let the Chairman of Senate take over as acting President in 1993. He has also avoided the jinx. He lives in Rawalpindi.
His successor General Jehangir Karamat remains the only army chief who resigned over a disagreement with Prime Minister on 6 October 1998. He too obviously avoided the jinx by settling in USA where he teaches occasionally and gives lectures.
He was succeeded by General Parvej Musharraf. We have already discussed him in Part 7 of these articles. He died in Dubai in exile. Musharraf was not the only army chief who chose to leave Pakistan after retirement. Many of his successors followed the pattern.
His successor General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was known for his role as DGMO during the war on Kargil hills. He was appointed as Chief of Army Staff on 28 November 2007. He is known to have led several military operations against TTP or Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan and similar terror groups. Kayani stayed out of politics and is living in Pakistan. Jinx did not hit him.
He was succeeded by General Raheel Sharif. After retirement on 29 November 2016, Sharif has settled in Riyadh purported to be commanding some joint forces of some Islamic countries engaged in counter-terrorism.
His successor General Qamar Javed Bajwa, after retiring as Chief of Army Staff, Bajwa is known to be living abroad with his family in Dubai. His sons are working there. One son is stated to be working as a barrister/legal consultant and the other in business consulting. Bajwa is claimed to be the patron of Imran Khan who served as Prime Minister during his tenure.
Syeda Irum wife of Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and children were allegedly granted U.S. citizenship in August 2025. This claim has circulated on social media and independent sites but has not been confirmed by official Pakistani or U.S. government sources. Yet no denial has been issued by official sources which give credibility to the rumour. It appears that General has made his choice of residence post retirement.
There are many officers in police and Intelligence who have suffered the same fate. There was IG Sindh Allah Dino Khawaja who was sidelined. The IG Frontier Police Malik Saad was killed in a bombing. Former ISI DG Akhtar Abdur Rahman also died with Zia ul Haq. DG ISI Hamid Gul, the creator of Taliban, died isolated and depressed.
Faiz Hameed was the chief of Intelligence i.e. ISI who was the architect of installation of Taliban 2.0 in Kabul and was seen as future army chief. But he was too close to Imran Khan. Presently he is convicted on the charges of corruption/extortion etc. and serving in prison. Jinx continue to operate on him.
The jinx is that remaining in Pakistan is dangerous.
Therefore, every elite tries to escape the country before the country consumes them.
Over 13 million Pakistani passports were issued in the last two years (2023–2025), showing a sharp increase in demand. It is not the elite who alone are running away from Pakistan. Common person who can afford to travel are running out of Pakistan.
Two successors of Musharraf, settled abroad and whose settlement is in public knowledge. Two Army Chief who turned dictators suffered the jinx. So, it is not absolute. It is avoidable.
In the next part we shall discuss the exceptions to the jinx.
References:
- Visa to Syeda Irum: https://page3newsthai.com/pakistan-army-chiefs-family-reportedly-granted-u-s-citizenship/
- Passport issued in Pakistan: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2552541/13m-passports-issued-in-two-years? www.geo.tv/latest/582804-how-many-passports-were-issued-in-2024?