In a brief but fully loaded press release issued on 10th December 2024, the ISPR announced that the process of a Field General Court Martial (FGCM) had been initiated against Lt. Gen. Faiz Hamid (Retd) under the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act on several notable charges. Among these, the most intriguing was the allegation that Lt. Gen. Faiz Hamid (Retd) was engaged in political activities.
Perhaps ISPR should revisit the press conferences it has conducted over the years. None of these press conferences were strictly confined to professional matters or the operational readiness of the armed forces. Instead, they often revolved around political issues, with the Army visibly siding with one political party or another. These conferences frequently involved either defending the Army’s political maneuvering or criticizing the government, parliament, or judiciary for their perceived lack of performance.
Moreover, political maneuvering, whether overt or covert, has long been a pivotal part of the ISI’s activities. The institution has been involved in the creation and dissolution of political parties, pressuring political leaders deemed adversarial by the Army to abandon their parties and join others. Instances have also surfaced of Army chiefs dictating decisions to elected prime ministers, including what actions to take and which to avoid.
The wiretapping of prime ministers, presidents, judges, and businessmen, along with the use of these recordings for blackmail to achieve political objectives, is another well-known phenomenon. If political activities are to be considered a chargeable offense, then it would be difficult to find a general who has not been involved in similar actions.
The next charge was that he violated the Official Secrets Act in a manner detrimental to the safety and interests of the state. This is an intriguing accusation. Any Director General of ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) operates a parallel framework to the government. His assignments typically include clandestine operations against adversaries, as well as actions targeting political elements within the country. General Faiz was no exception.
The acts of commissions and omissions of the Director General ISI are always mandated by the Army Chief. In fact, not a single action is carried out by the DG ISI without the explicit written or verbal orders of the Army Chief. By any stretch of the imagination, it cannot be assumed that the DG ISI divulged classified information to any foreign agent or country. At most, he might have shared information with the Prime Minister, as per his duty, or with civilian leadership as part of his covert role.
This, in any case, cannot be termed as an act detrimental to the safety and security of the state if the information was shared within the power corridors of Pakistan and among Pakistani nationals. No matter what the information was, it is implausible to argue that sharing it internally could compromise the safety and security of the state, provided it stayed within trusted circles
He was also charged with misuse of authority. This is another interesting charge. In fact, the ISI and its operatives allegedly do not adhere to the laws of the land. Over the years, they have been accused of abducting Pakistani citizens—Baloch, Pathans, Sindhis, journalists, politicians, judges, and businessmen—and allegedly torturing, threatening, and harassing their targets without following any judicial process. If misuse of authority were removed from the ISI’s modus operandi, the agency might lose much of its feared and hated reputation.
If this charge is being levied against Lt. Gen. Faiz, it raises the question of whether the entire ISI should also be charged with the same crime, as such actions are often systemic rather than individual.
Another charge concerns the use of government resources and causing wrongful losses to individuals during the process. This charge is equally intriguing. Stories have long circulated about generals and brigadiers cultivating relationships with businessmen, industrialists, and real estate developers to acquire plots and constructed houses for themselves and their relatives. Consider the example of General Bajwa, whose declared wealth reportedly amounted to billions, or General Asim Bajwa, who was revealed to own 15 companies. The list goes on.
We have also seen the public confession of a General ® Aslam Baig admitting to distributing millions of government funds to political parties. If this charge is to be applied, then no Army Chief or general may be free from scrutiny. Like Lt. Gen. Faiz, they too should be investigated, tried, indicted, and punished if found guilty. Additionally, the ISI was accused of being involved in the Mehran bank scandal, in which high-ranking ISI and Army officers were allegedly given large sums of money by Yunus Habib, owner of the Mehran Bank, to deposit the ISI’s foreign exchange reserves in his bank.
The next charge against Lt. Gen. Faiz Hamid (Retd) that he was involved in events related to creating agitation and unrest, culminating in multiple incidents, including but not limited to the 9th May 2023 incident, allegedly fomenting instability at the behest of and in collusion with vested political interests.
This is perhaps the most absurd charge. Since the inception of Pakistan, the Army leadership and ISI have collaboratively fomented unrest against governments they deemed adversarial, often using their assets. These assets have included religious parties like PAT and TLP, regional and ethnic parties such as MQM, and mainstream political entities like PML(Q), Istekam-e-Pakistan Party, and Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).
The 1990 elections are widely believed to have been rigged by the ISI in favor of the IJI, a coalition of nine predominantly right-wing parties, orchestrated under Lieutenant General Hameed Gul. This maneuver was aimed at ensuring the defeat of Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) at the polls.
More recently, during the 2024 elections, allegations surfaced of the ISI and the Army manipulating the electoral process. This reportedly involved discarding Form 45s, announcing fabricated results based on Form 47—a derivative of Form 45—and tampering with the electoral outcome to install their selected individuals in the assemblies by manipulating and engineering the election results.
Interestingly, in all civilized countries, a retired general alleged to be involved in political activities is tried in civilian courts, whereas in authoritarian regimes, such cases are often handled by military courts. The court martial proceedings against Lt. Gen. (Retd) Faiz Hameed appear to have been initiated with a larger purpose in mind. His court martial may serve as a precursor to bringing high-profile political figures under the jurisdiction of military courts, potentially paving the way for a repetition of the military-cum-judicial actions that led to the controversial execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Writer is Press Secretary to the President(Rtd), Former Press Minister at Embassy of Pakistan to France and Former MD, SRBC. He is living in
Macomb, Detroit, Michigan
