Pakistan is the only country to have produced two Field Marshals despite losing all wars, conflicts, and prestige in its 78 years of existence. Ayub Khan became the President through a military coup in 1958 and appointed himself the Field Marshal in 1959 to consolidate power. After 66 years, Asim Munir appointed himself Field Marshal through a compliant proxy government whose survival depends on his whims.
BY LT GEN DP PANDEY(R) | FOR NEWS ANALYTICS
a 4 mins read.
The Pakistani Field Marshals have had a contrasting journey of life, except that it was dubious and nothing to be proud of. The unique similarity between the two Field Marshals was that both lost military confrontations with India. The difference was that Ayub Khan lost a war as a Field Marshal, while Asim Munir became one after a humiliating drubbing in a small military confrontation lasting less than four days.
As a norm in the world, Field Marshals were a century-old concept when military operations spanned vast geographical spaces involving multinational forces and engagement with local civilian representatives. These instances were rare and reserved for distinguished and phenomenally successful military commanders. In rare instances, a few dictators have also appointed themselves as Field Marshal. In contemporary history, or at least in the last five decades, the appointment of a Field Marshal has not been heard of.
Therefore, the appointment of Asim Munir as Field Marshal, on May 20, 2025, surprised the world. The dismay was also fuelled because Asim Munir led Army had failed miserably in a short military duel, lasting only eighty-eight hours, against the Indian Armed Forces. Therefore, he has earned the honorific, Failed Marshal, in whispers within the country and brazenly across social media and legacy media platforms outside.
PAKISTANI HEIRLOOM
Field Marshal Ayub Khan launched a miscalculated military adventure in 1965 using non-state actors as a front led by the Pakistani military officers and soldiers in Operation Gibraltar for liberating Jammu and Kashmir, which rapidly flared up into the second India-Pakistan war. The intruders were reported by the Kashmiris to the Indian Army and evicted promptly. As India expanded the military operations all along the International Borders, capturing some extremely critical and strategic objectives, Pakistan sought the intervention of the USA for the ceasefire.
The script remained unchanged, albeit at an extremely low scale. General Munir employed three terrorists, two Pakistanis and one of them confirmed SSG commando, to kill 26 innocent and unarmed civilians on April 22, 2025, in Pahalgam, a tourist destination in South Kashmir, particularly for newlyweds, in front of their families and friends, based on religious segregation. Only male members were asked to recite Kalma, a unique short prayer in Islam, made to strip down for verification through physical examination of the religious identity and then shot dead at short ranges, recording and transmitting the entire process on procam for the masters across a world-famous.
Within 15 days, nine terror global headquarters and launchpads in Pakistan and PoK were destroyed in a blistering military operation, aptly named Operation Sindoor. Sindoor is the vermilion colour used by Hindu women on their forehead to signify they were married, and in the ibid killings, it was the women who were left alive but widowed, and the military operation was a revenge of sorts. Though Asim Munir tried to escalate, the situation quickly went out of his control with the comprehensive decapitation of the Pakistani Air Defence and damage to critical airfields and some very important strategic targets. The script ran similar to 1965 when Pakistan, after having suffered a humiliating setback, sought American intervention.
Pakistan’s terror-led attack in Kashmir triggered India’s swift military response, Operation Sindoor, destroying key targets; history echoed 1965 as Pakistan sought U.S. intervention.
CONTRASTING LIFE JOURNEY
Ayub was a Pashtun from the North West Frontier Province and belonged to the Tareen tribe. His father was a senior non-commissioned officer in the 9th Hodson’s Horse in the British Indian Army. Ayub belonged to the physical geographical boundary of Pakistan. On the other side, Asim was from a humble family with no military background. Though he was born in present-day Pakistan, his family were originally from Jalandhar in India and therefore were referred to as Mohajirs, a derogatory term in Pakistan, a name given to all those who migrated from the United Province and elsewhere from the present Indian borders during the partition of 1947.
Ayub Khan studied at Aligarh Muslim University and attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in the UK. However, Asim received early education at the Markazi Madrasah Dar ul Tajweed in Rawalpindi and grew up primarily in a religious environment. He was trained in a not-so-elite military training establishment.
Ayub was stylish, confident and more comfortable in elite society and environment. He was adept at true military leadership nuances and capable of immersing in the geo-political and strategic realms through the lens of modern statecraft. Asim Munir followed the path of religious immersion. His military career started in a highly religiously charged environment where Pakistani leadership found radical Islam the only way to bind the artificial country.
In line with the Islamic thought of deception, Asim claimed proudly to be a “deceiver”. As a Lt Col, he became a “Hafiz e Quran” while posted in Saudi Arabia. He often quoted from the Quran. His favourite was on the path of religious warfare that is “imaan, taqwa aur jihad fi Sabeelillah” (faith, piety, and jihad in the path of Allah). This influenced the worldview and leadership style of Asim Munir.
As compared to Ayub, a modern, liberal, forward and outward-looking General who positioned himself more as a statesman, Asim focused on the religiosity of the Pakistan Army and was more inward-looking, conspiring and thriving in intrigue.
Under the leadership of Ayub Khan and Asim Munir, the outcomes and performances towards the country could not have been more contrasting.
DARK PARALLELS
There are a few similarities, grim and dark, in the journey of the two Fields. Both were brought in as the Chief of the Pakistan Army due to political convenience and compulsions superseding rightful and deserving candidates. Ayub Khan was brought in by Liaquat Ali Khan, the then Prime Minister, who thought him to be loyal, superseding many others, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army in 1951. Eventually, Ayub took on the mantle of Defence Minister in 1954 and remained so till 1958. On October 7, 1958, Iskander Mirza, the President, dismissed the Pakistan Government, abrogated the constitution and appointed Ayub Khan as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. Within two weeks, Ayub established a Pakistani tradition of sorts, displacing Iskander Mirza in a military coup to become the President himself. Thereafter, he appointed himself as the Field Marshal in 1959.
On a similar track but yet a different one, Asim Munir became the Chief of the Pakistan Army on November 29, 2022, two days after his retirement date of November 27, 2022. Rules were changed under the instructions of Nawaz Sharif, who was convinced that only Asim Munir could keep Imran Khan, the most popular leader in Pakistan, at bay. Eventually, Asim Munir ensured the incarceration of Imran Khan on trumped-up charges in prison. The Sharief government was ever indebted. Instead of being sacked, Asim Munir was appointed Field Marshal.
As this article goes to print, another similarity in the two Field Marshals is emerging. It is in the developing relationship with the US. Ayub Khan had given complete access to the Americans of the air bases inside Pakistan, most notably outside Peshawar, from where spy missions over the Soviet Union were launched. A similar tilt towards the USA by Asim Munir is being witnessed. Pakistan requested the USA on May 10, 2025, for intervention for a ceasefire, disregarding the influence of the “iron brother” China. Asim Munir was invited for lunch by President Trump, bypassing the political and diplomatic conventions, on June 19, 2025. This bond, rather than bondage, to the USA has come at a major cost.
Self-appointment to Field Marshal by Ayub Khan in 1959 was in line with establishing authority in those times. But Pakistan has set a new low by debasing the highest military office of Field Marshal by appointing Asim Munir, known as Mullah General and a radical to core, as an act of survival by the ad hoc government to cover up the humiliating military loss in May 2025 making Pakistan a laughing stock in the world and renaming the appointment as Failed Marshal.
(Lt Gen DP Pandey (R), Former Corps Commander, Chinar Corps, DG Territorial Army, Director of Military Intelligence, Foreign Division and the Commandant of the Army War College. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The News Analytics Journal.)
Major Highlights
- Pakistan named Ayub Khan, Asim Munir Field Marshals, despite repeated failures, weakening the rank’s prestige.
- Both led failed campaigns against India, prompting Pakistan to seek U.S. help after defeats.
- Ayub Khan was modern and Western-educated, while Munir is ideological, religious, and rigid in approach.
- Both were promoted for political convenience, bypassing seniors and strengthening military control over governance.
- Munir’s promotion after defeat drew global ridicule, making the rank a tool of politics.
