In a major reshuffle, Pakistan Army has appointed Major General Babar Iftikhar as the new Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The head of Military Intelligence has also been changed with Major General Azhar Waqas replacing Major General Sarfraz Ali, who will now be the new Inspector General of the Frontier Corps (South) Balochistan.
Army’s new spokesperson has replaced Major General Asif Ghafoor, who was and still is one of Pakistan’s favorite personalities right now, all thanks to his role post-Pulwama incident. He has now been transferred to command the 40th Infantry Division in Okara in place of Major General Azhar Waqas.
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The nation is hoping that Major General Babar Iftikhar will continue the good work especially in the era of 5th-gen hybrid warfare.
All You Need to Know About Major General Babar Iftikhar
Commissioned in 6 Lancers in March 1990, Major General Babar Iftikhar was previously commanding the 1st Armoured Division in Multan. The decorated officer is a graduate of Command and Staff College Quetta, National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, and Royal Command and Staff College, Jordan.
He also played a major role in the success of the Pakistan Army’s fight against militants in Operation Zarb-e-Azb where he served as the commander of an infantry brigade in North Waziristan.
“Major General Babar Iftikhar has also served as Chief of Staff at the Corps Headquarters”, ISPR’s statement read.
In addition to command and staff experience, he is a vastly experienced instructor having instructed at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul and NDU.
Pakistanis Welcoming the New DG ISPR
Twitter is bursting with best wishes and messages of love for the incoming DG ISPR. Let’s have a look at what people are saying:
https://twitter.com/ToxicTruths83/status/1217778228552699904
Sir Gen. Asif Ghafoor, we will really miss you lot. You did your best and hope for better from New Maj Babar Iftikhar pic.twitter.com/2cgUfiRB8F
— Jaweria😍 (@JaweriaNoor0) January 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/samrina12345/status/1217797310207254529
https://twitter.com/SabirAbbasiAJK/status/1217799915419717633
https://twitter.com/saniakhan18pk/status/1217881422721056768
#AsifGhafoor has been replaced by Major General #BabarIftikhar as the new DG ISPR by Pak Army. Best wishes for both.♥️ pic.twitter.com/izDkVKcpfc
— J A W E D ツ (@jawed_sayss) January 16, 2020
People won’t forget Major General Asif Ghafoor easily.
https://twitter.com/shehroz_chang01/status/1217851763379900416
https://twitter.com/Magicpizza92/status/1217795112878723077
Oh, and this.
37 fake accounts with the name of Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar already on Twitter in just few hours, few accounts already crossed 10k followers. We are the best 🇵🇰😂
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) January 16, 2020
Others are expecting new DG ISPR to continue trolling the enemy, although that’s not his job.
Asif ghafoor was best trolling material hope babar iftikhar will continue trolling enemies #DGISPR pic.twitter.com/lLywGDMuGk
— .. (@ifarazfarooqi) January 16, 2020
What are your thoughts on the story? Let us know in the comments section.
This sentence from Second Paragraph that
Asif “was and S T I L L I S one of Pakistan’s favorite personalities right now” really cracked me up.
Unless you have a tunnel Vision you wouldn’t have said that. There are clearly a sizeable Pakistanis who’d argue that He caused irreparable damage to the post of ISPR. But you chose to ignore that just showed one side of the coin. The day we realize that army’s critique is NOT A B L A S P H E M Y, our Society’s collective intelligence will increase.
I know its difficult for few people to digest growing popularity of an army men. Clearly you have commented this without doing a any research. Most importantly it doesnt matter what pseudo liberals think about ISPR. I hope u understand that few people’s opinion (What you referred to ‘Sizable’) will not change the reality.
Even few ex Indian Generals accepted the fact that Pakistan is far ahead in 5th generation warfare, thanks to ISPR. Check reports and news on international media and you will realize what ISPR has achieved over the last few years.
We will stand up as a nation the day we realize that criticizing someone for the sake of satisfying your ego doesnt achieve you any thing. In fact it not only lowers the intelligence level of an individual but also hinders the growth and development of nation to stand up as a single unit.
Actually you have not responded to points he has mentioned, you only got personal and disregard opinion as a liberal’s opinion. That won’t work. Majority of Pakistanis now criticize this gemerals’ club and feel army is reason of the everyday problem, calling them liberals won’t serve any purpose or address the real problem. Club of generals isn’t army and army isn’t complete Pakistan, you need to understand that. 5th generation warfare is a reality or not but you don’t conquer your own country or people. They have not learned anything from mistakes, be it 1971, Kargil in 1984 or 1999, every time dragging Pakistan in wars of others, toppling governments and running their proxy government. Call PTM and Baloch traitors (same was used for Bangalis) but push your own people to the wall and responding demands with bullet is due to in built arrogance.
Character of Asif Ghafoor is very much public from tweets he did from his personal tweeter handle, please don’t make him a hero.
Do you have facts to back up all the accusations???
All of the rant you posted is subjective and your personal opinion. This doesnt mean that majority of Pakistanis agree to your thinking.
For instance, do you have data to prove this statement “Majority of Pakistanis now criticize this generals’ club and feel army is reason of the everyday problem”.???
You think 1971 and Kargil war was fought for someone else??? Americans maybe???
Regarding Proxy war, I hope you realize that non state actors are also involved in proxy wars. As per your statement, it seems like the government should sit back and let PTM and other Indian funded organizations grow and destabilize the country.
Regarding Asif Ghafoor, again this is your personal opinion. You have the right to dislike him, but it doesnt mean majority of Pakistanis dislike him. Neither does it make him a villain. His performance is acknowledged by people across the border. and he doesnt need stamp of approval from people like you.
Read some history, it was Bhutto who refused to transfer government to Muzib ur Rehman which later leads to start of war.