Senior Pak Army General kept under house arrest for opposing Bajwa's tenure extension: Report

A senior Pakistani Army General, along with his family, has been kept under house arrest for weeks for vocally opposing the three-year tenure extension of incumbent Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

General Sarfraz Sattar was next in line to be Bajwa's successor as the Army Chief, albeit Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and later the President approved a three-year-long extension for Bajwa, effectively scuppering Sarfaraz's prospect.

According to a report by Resonant News, Sarfaraz, along with six other disgruntled senior officers, joined hands with Supreme court Chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa to block Bajwa's tenure extension. It may be noted here that around 24 Lt Gens will have retired from the post in the next three years and Bajwa's extension would have spoilt their chances for the coveted post.

The Supreme Court's verdict whittled down Bajwa's three-year-long extension to mere 6 months, owing to which Sarfraz had to bear the brunt of being a dissident, and he and his family members have been under house arrest since then, despite the fact that Sarfraz has already resigned from the service on November 26.

Sarfraz has been superseded by Lt Gen Nadeem Raza, who was very recently awarded Nishan-e-imtiaz by the President, and, in the past, had been the Chief of General staff and headed the intelligence and operations. Ostensibly, Raza could take over as the next Chief of Army Staff from Gen Bajwa, the report further states.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's upper house of parliament approved a law that allows the government to extend the term of the country's Army Chief. Bajwa, whose tenure ended in November last year, is set to benefit from the new law.