Once dismissed by Imran Khan in what seemed a routine bureaucratic reshuffle, Asim Munir has now emerged as the most powerful man in Pakistan. He is the army chief who brought down his former boss and reasserted the military’s absolute grip over the country’s politics. His journey from being sidelined to becoming Field Marshal Asim Munir, the unchallenged figure at the top of Pakistan’s power pyramid, marks one of the most striking reversals of fortune in the country’s turbulent political history.
In 2019, just eight months into his tenure as head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Munir was abruptly removed by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The move shocked Pakistan’s military and political establishment. Rumours soon spread that Munir had presented Khan with evidence implicating Bushra Bibi, Khan’s wife, in alleged corruption and interference in state affairs. Khan denied the accusation, claiming Munir was pursuing a “vindictive campaign” against his wife. Yet his dismissal set in motion a quiet power struggle that would eventually reshape Pakistan’s future.
At the time, then army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was also said to be growing increasingly frustrated with Bushra Bibi’s influence over Khan. According to one of Khan’s former cabinet ministers quoted by The Economist, Bajwa often complained that Bushra was “obstructive” and that Khan “listened to her more than him.” The general reportedly believed that Bushra Bibi was involved in “black magic,” a claim that reflected not only the tensions within Khan’s circle but also the deep distrust between the military and the prime minister’s household. This suspicion contributed to a growing sense in the army’s top brass that Khan was becoming erratic and difficult to control.
For Munir, the episode was deeply personal. Insiders described him as “meticulous, austere and deeply loyal to the army hierarchy.” His sacking deepened those tensions within the military, and by 2022 the institution that had once supported Khan turned decisively against him.
When Khan was ousted through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022, an action widely believed to have the army’s blessing, Munir’s path to redemption was already forming. He returned to prominence quietly, waiting for the right moment as the military distanced itself from Khan’s populist rhetoric and open defiance of its authority.
That moment arrived in November 2022, when General Bajwa retired. Munir, once humiliated by his premature dismissal, was appointed the new Chief of Army Staff. Within months, he consolidated control over Pakistan’s security apparatus, silenced dissent within the ranks, and became the de facto ruler of the country. “Field Marshal Munir, as he is now known, is more powerful than ever,” The Economist noted, describing him as the architect of Pakistan’s new political order.
Munir’s tenure has been marked by an unrelenting crackdown on Imran Khan and his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). In May 2023, Khan was arrested under what many saw as politically motivated corruption charges. Protests erupted across the country, with demonstrators even attacking military installations, something unprecedented in Pakistan’s history. Munir responded with force. Thousands of PTI supporters were detained, and Khan was silenced through court-imposed restrictions and a de facto media ban on his name.
Khan, undeterred, accused the army of orchestrating his downfall and even an assassination attempt. After surviving a shooting at a political rally in November 2022, he claimed he could “prove some generals were behind a plot to kill him.” He directly blamed Munir, saying the army chief was “petrified of being sacked if the PTI came back to power” and was “dismantling the future of this country to protect himself.”
Munir has since tightened his control over every branch of the state. Pakistan’s parliament recently voted to grant him lifetime immunity from prosecution and expanded powers, effectively cementing his dominance over both the civilian government and the judiciary. Critics describe this as the final step in Pakistan’s slide back into full military rule.
His rise also highlights the military’s enduring pattern of creating, supporting, and then discarding civilian leaders. Khan, once the army’s favourite, became its biggest adversary when he tried to assert independence. As The Economist observed, “civilian politicians cannot remain in office if the army wants them gone.” Under Munir, that axiom has hardened into absolute truth.
Munir has cultivated a reputation as a disciplined officer with little tolerance for dissent, yet his critics call him authoritarian and vindictive. The arrest of Bushra Bibi, Khan’s wife, was seen by many as an act of personal retribution. “Bajwa was pissed off because he felt that Khan listened to her more than him,” a former cabinet member recalled, suggesting that Munir inherited both his predecessor’s grudges and his methods.
Today, Munir presides over a Pakistan in crisis, economically fragile, politically fractured, and internationally adrift. While he has won plaudits for what The Economist described as “his successful courtship of President Donald Trump,” at home he faces growing public resentment over the army’s manipulation of democracy.
Khan remains in prison, writing letters that describe his confinement as being “alone in a cell like a cage.” Bushra Bibi too is jailed, reportedly denied books and medical treatment. The once-charismatic leader’s fall from grace stands as a grim testament to the power Munir now wields.
For Pakistan’s military, Munir’s rise represents continuity. For its democracy, it marks decline. He may have replaced Imran Khan in the corridors of power, but his legacy, built on repression and fear, risks being as brittle as the one he destroyed.
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