Herald | Talking Points: The quiet general

E-Paper | April 25, 2026

General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ends his tenure on November 29, 2013, after six years of serving as head of the powerful military. Kayani, known as the ‘quiet general of Pakistani politics,’ was lauded for supporting the civilian government and for his non-interference in the recent democratic transition, especially in a coup-prone nation like Pakistan.

In a speech just before the May elections, he had said a bad democracy was better than the best kind of dictatorship. However, with incidents such as the Abbottabad raid in May 2011, the ‘memo-gate’ saga, the Salala attack, among others taking place under his tenure, speculations were rife that the country came close to living up to its legacy of military rule.

For Herald’s upcoming issue, a number of writers, commentators and intellectuals are being asked:

“In General Kayani's six year tenure as the Chief of Army Staff, was there ever a point at which he could have considered staging a coup?”

Dawn.com invites its readers to answer the question above. Selected comments will be published in the upcoming issue of the Herald.

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Do you have a thought to share or a way we can improve? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to us at feedback@dawn.com.

usman786

Nov 20, 2013 02:26pm

Nothing achieved. So many u-turns in his 6 years.

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jamil.ahmed.dr@gmail.com

Nov 20, 2013 02:46pm

I do believe that he is a learned person and he strongly believed that the country could only progress and thrive in a democracy

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Capt C M Khan

Nov 20, 2013 02:48pm

The worst record of human rights during his tenure. Maybe his support for democracy caused this bloodshed. This country is not ready for democracy. The feudal lords manipulate the system and the corrupt get richer and the poor get poorer. Sad.

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akhokhar

Nov 20, 2013 02:51pm

In my opinion, the Long March staged by the civil society for the Restoration of Judiciary was the best time for Kayani to take over as new Martial Law Administrator. You can compare this incident with what happened recently when General Sisi toppled the Mursi government when a large number of anti-government protestors inundated the roads of Egypt, demanding the immediate resignation of the Mursi government and fresh elections.

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Tahir

Nov 20, 2013 03:22pm

@Capt C M Khan: Dictatorship is also not suited for any country. Let democracy evolve with time instead of interrupting it with dictatorship. A human learns from experience. This is also true for a collection of human beings as a nation. Just as the general said, "a bad democracy was better than the best kind of dictatorship".

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observer

Nov 20, 2013 03:26pm

If, democracy finally takes root in Pakistan, history would record General Kayani's contribution to it. Make no mistake, I do not intend to belittle the contributions of President Zardari, who was a coalition maker par excellence or Mr Nawaz Sharif who showed the utmost respect for the mandate. The fact remains that the most potent threat always was the Army. Gen Kayani, had his share of provocation, some of it the making of his own men. In the face of these provocations, Gen Kayani did not do what comes naturally to the organisation under his command. And that requires strength of character. He also has quietly worked at restoring the Army to a professional footing, by reducing extraneous influences. Under his watch even a Brigadier was brought to the book for such activities. He was perhaps handicapped by a lack of consensus and the possibility of a blow-back from pursuing a course of action against the extremists, including the Taliban. But then one man can do only so much.

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Iqbal khan

Nov 20, 2013 03:48pm

Failed on all fronts.

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SIX

Nov 20, 2013 03:44pm

He proved to be person who has no lust for power nor tried to exceed his given ambit of work. He seems to be convinced that the army has done enough with this nation and it can not afford any more non-democratic setups. He had ample opportunities to topple. Any pretext was enough, who could dare question or resist, half of the nation is always ready to welcome army Generals.

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Pamir

Nov 20, 2013 03:58pm

@usman786: Can you name a few of the U-turns please?

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fazalpai

Nov 20, 2013 04:15pm

quiet general , immaterial caption, one is not searching for a bridegroom, performance and result is the only criteria. so, where we stand now, everyone knows.

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Muhammad Muneer Khattak

Nov 20, 2013 04:33pm

No. Previous PPP government lift no space for another coup. But it is also true that Army had the key role in the previous PPP government and still in PML (N) government especially national security and foreign affairs issues. Army should minimize its role in these issues. Let the elected government to decide the dimension of foreign policy. Amy intervention in such policies is dangerous to our country. In my opinion the best opportunity he had to quiet Army was November 2010.

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Nauman khan

Nov 20, 2013 04:51pm

whatever has done in last 15 years ,it has confused the every human being in the country. Nor dictatorship neither democracy has left good memories.

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Atif

Nov 20, 2013 05:45pm

He has done a lot for this country.He should be awarded Hilal-i-Jur'at for his contribution to this country.

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Nov 20, 2013 05:56pm

@Capt C M Khan: Every country is ready for democracy. It takes time. You cannot tie up a persons legs for half his life and then untie them and expect him to win a marathon right away. Democracy is the whistle on a pressure cooker where dictatorship is the lid.

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Irfan Yussuf

Nov 20, 2013 06:06pm

The only thing that General Kayani did was not to stage a coup against the civilian government of PPP.Apart from that he has not been any different from the previous army chiefs as for as forgien policy is concerned.Just like Musharraf,Kayani has allowed his country's sovereignty to challenged by USA every now and then be it the Abbatabad incident or the drone attacks.General Kayani left no stone unturned to convince his masters back in US to their policy of doing more.There is no doubt in anybody's mind that army is the most powerful institution in Pakistan.But when it comes to America the same powerful army acts like sitting ducks as everybody knows that it is the dollars which matter whether that be at the expense of their own {Pakistani's} people.

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Zarvan

Nov 20, 2013 06:31pm

He remained the most powerful man of this country for the last six years.. Under his command, the army did not return the space it arrogated to itself during dictatorship regarding national and foreign policies. he was the best suited and had the best of opportunities to turn army into a national institution instead of an ideological army. He had the best of opportunities to do away with policy confusions on TTP and Afghan Taliban, and control the army's habit for mercenary wars in other peoples lands. He had no love for democracy, but he did not have the time and opportunity to oust a democratically elected parliament and president after ten long years of dictatorship. In that period, the army and Musharraf had committed so many blunders that the general public had no further love lost for it. Under his command, Pakistan had so many security failures like attack on GHQ, Mehran Base, Salala, Abbotabad and Chaklala airbase attack. Most importantly, the number of missing persons increased many times under his watch.

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s chaudhury

Nov 20, 2013 06:40pm

This is do nothing general who saw destriction of Pakistani economy

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Ahmed

Nov 20, 2013 06:39pm

In Last Six years we have tolerated the worst face of democracy and Like most Pakistanis I respect our army more than our government but still Mr. Kiani has done nothing in the phases when the country was going through worst economic and security conditions. Ok that was not his job to handle the economy but in his leadership, Pakistan has lost maximum numbers of its brave soldiers in attacks by terrorists. Why Mr. Kianai did not take any action?

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oBSERVER

Nov 20, 2013 06:50pm

The contribution of a Head of an Organisation is seen after he is gone or retired or whatever. So we should wait till he takes off uniform. One aspect however stands out and that is that in six years he could not rid us of terror menace inspite of superior manpower, intelligence resources weapons and logistics.

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Ahmer

Nov 20, 2013 06:59pm

History does not judge generals whether they were quiet or voluble. It judges them by the yardstick of their performance in battle and in that Kayani gets a minus zero. He should have left three years ago.

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Nov 20, 2013 07:42pm

History would remember him as a General during whose tenure terrorists roamed around the streets of Pakistan and he did nothing.

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Syed

Nov 20, 2013 08:47pm

A day before his retirement i.e on 27th Nov. General Kayani will be extention for another two years.

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Nazim

Nov 20, 2013 08:59pm

General Kayani has given fairly good chance to civilian governments to make Pakistan a really economically viable welfare state where life and properties of citizens are safe and people are provided with safe drinking water, two time meals and a roof to cover them against harsh weather, and they see some future for their children. So far Peoples Party and Muslim League government has failed. People can wait for another four years but not any longer, they will revert back to armed forces.

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Umer

Nov 20, 2013 10:10pm

There were the failures but there were also his acheivements, 6 out of 7 Tribal regions were cleared of the terrorists by the Army, under his command. It was his planning and leadership, which brought peace back in Swat, after a successful military operation. So, he may have his negative points but his overall Military career was a good one. Farewell, General.

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Rogers Evans

Nov 21, 2013 12:35am

A great soldier. I hope, the Pakistan gets his successor similar to him. Gen. Kiyani ---" ZINDA BAD " sir. You are really as asset to Pak Nation even after retirement.

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ali wadood

Nov 21, 2013 01:50am

@oBSERVER: I do not know about the general, but one should analyze anything right away, those who do it late, will only regret.

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Atif

Nov 21, 2013 02:28am

@Ahmer: And which battle was he fighting? The nation has no consensus on how best to tackle militancy. He could not go solo on it without a national ownership.

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Quresh

Nov 21, 2013 02:34am

Quit and confuse General. He did nothing for Pakistan. He can eliminate Taliban in Pakistan.

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A. Salma

Nov 21, 2013 03:20am

"The quiet general.." Quite like in gen. kayani did not do anything as COAS, except perhaps, improving his golf handicap.

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Awais Ahmed

Nov 21, 2013 03:45am

Yes at some points during ppp governments the masses were quite frustrated with the governance and worsening law and order situation and they desired for a military take over but general kayani showed maturity and did not indulge army into country's politics. He was not oblivious of the fact that if army will involve itself in country's politics then the real challenges faced by the country like terrorism and law and order situation can not be tackled in a well manner. Gen Kayani has left the legacy of strengthening and supporting democracy in Pakistan. But one thing must be paid heed is that the Pakistani nation paid very heavy price of democracy; over all law and order situation in the country is horrible, investors have shifted their money to other countries, energy crisis has not been resolved and economy is in tatters.

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Osman

Nov 21, 2013 05:21am

It is very easy to say that Kayani didn't solve any problems. He couldn't. Any more than Imran Khan can. State-craft is no child's play and certainly not up to one or two people, no matter how high up they may be. Due credit to him for not meddling in political affairs, which has been the legacy of Pakistan Army (though it was a deranged democracy). But shame on his corruption, especially with his brother making billions. But then, so does everyone else.

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Atif

Nov 21, 2013 05:51am

As the cheif of the powerful army while restoring peace in the country kiyani was a complete failure, for protecting corrupt democracy his tenure is a success.

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Ibrahim

Nov 21, 2013 06:28am

Nothing much was accomplished! Being a quite person is a virtue, yet the proof is in the pudding. The last six years have been most traumatic for the nation, and to have a powerful leader remain silent and oblivious to ground realities was quite tragic..

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Rauf

Nov 21, 2013 08:40am

I would appreciate General Kayani for letting a democratically elected, thou corrupt, government complete her term and not impose martial law. Never happened in Pakistan. that is a first step in encouraging politicians to take care of the civilian institution. Hope the tradition will continue.

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Sajid684

Nov 21, 2013 09:31am

Unfortunately we are not happy if he has not ousted corrupt like Zardari and NS, we are not happy if he would have taken over, we are not happy with him over the economic situation with which he has nothing to do. We are not happy if it is democracy, and we are not happy if it is dictatorship. We need to be at par with US in a blink of eye. We need to defeat America, we need to analyse things without considering internal, external and political complications. In my view, he did all sensable things and his contributions to the country and Army in particular are enormous.

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Muhammad Arshad

Nov 21, 2013 10:04am

@s chaudhury: My dear, to care of economy is not a general

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Pankaj

Nov 21, 2013 11:29am

People should understand WHY the Army did NOT remove Zardari Govt After Benazir's assasination Zardari came to power ie A Sindhi president . If the Army under General Kayani had deposed Zardari then Sindh ALSO would have risen up in revolt like BALUCHISTAN And after the fiasco of May 2 / 2011 ABottabad raid Pakistan Army was in no position to dismiss Zardari and take up power Zardari was a lucky man IF May 2 Raid had NOT happened he would have been dismissed By General Kayani on the grounds of Incompetence corruption and poor economy

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Jawed Sheikh

Nov 21, 2013 01:22pm

The general should have resigned after the Abbotabad incident. He was the ISI chief since 2005 and he never bothered to investigate if Osama bin Laden was in the country despite the US telling the Government of Pakistan that he was hiding here and ultimately they did find him. The Abbotabad attack, left us looking ridiculous. Previously we laughed at Arab countries not being able to defend themselves, the case of Libya long ago when the US shot down their aircraft inruded into their airspace undected, same they did with Iran. We thought they would never be able to do this with Pakistan, but they did. It is because of lack of intelligence, trainig and experience and unprofessionalism because the army has dabbled in politice. Moreover the General was also part of the NRO and travelled to the UK to deliver the letter to Benazir Bhutto on behalf of Musharraf, as such this is dabbling in politics.

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Zain ul Abideen

Nov 21, 2013 01:21pm

Gen. Kayani over the years kept everything at balance which has angered both the pro and anti democratic forces. On the military aspect he has visibly increased the morale of the army and led predominantly successful operations against terrorists. Also we must laud his effort for the Azm-e-Nau exercises which has boosted our defence on the eastern border.

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Mohammad Talha

Nov 21, 2013 01:43pm

He must have thought of staging a coup during the Long March for the restoration of judges.

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Shah

Nov 21, 2013 04:19pm

I do not think Pakistan has any time left for testing out a bad democracy when we are at the threshold of loosing the war on terrorism. We need a caretaker government who are run by professionals, not corrupt parties and secular dictators.

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Qamar Ahsan

Nov 21, 2013 07:35pm

People have been showering Gen. Kayani with undue praise. He could have exercised military's influence in Pakistan's power structure to press the governments for weeding out corrupt people from key positions in the political government. He quietly saw Pakistan go from bad to worse in economy, governance, corruption, and internal security. True, the military is not directly responsible for the big mess caused by PPP government and now being done by PMLN, but as a powerful part of the power structure of the country, he should have had 'private & firm' talks with the ruling parties.

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Qamar Ahsan

Nov 21, 2013 07:48pm

We will soon find out whether he was a good or a bad person. If he stays in Pakistan after retirement for the rest of his life then I will respect him, but if he leaves for a foreign abode that he had built for himself then we will know he was just like all others. I will wait for a few years before judging him!!

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Tanvir

Nov 21, 2013 09:06pm

Yes, in the PPP-led government every moment was worth coup.

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Ifzal Khan

Nov 21, 2013 10:03pm

How could have he carried out a coup when the army is tied up fighting terrorist, watching the eastern border and now the western border with Afghanistan and Iran along with internal security. He did what was best for the country, protect the country from foreign invasion. Pick you battles carefully and fight one battle at a time.

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Shyam

Nov 22, 2013 08:31am

I think its better to judge at a later point in time than now. A lot of skeletons tumble out of the closet with passage of time. Likewise the amount of pressure the general faced during the crises he faced will lend credence in appreciating his tenure. But the fact remains that the military did not usurp power from the civilian government during crises in his tenure. That fundamental aspect has to be given due notice. As a leader he has not given into the pressures from others in uniform in trying times.

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ali

Nov 22, 2013 09:37am

The army`s performance was not too good during the tenure of Gen. Kayani, besides the attacks mentioned above there wee numerous other attacks staged by the militants across the country, many innocent people and army personal died but the army never took a strong action except in the valley of Swat where there was bot internal and external pressure on Pakistan to take action. and the menace of terrorism keeps going on, as such with the below average performance by the army he had no face to stage a coup.

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Ghulam Abbas

Nov 22, 2013 02:29pm

Coup is always in the minds of the generals but Kayani proved to be different. kudos to the supportive general

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Farooq

Nov 22, 2013 06:03pm

People never seize to amaze me. Damned if you, damned if you dont.

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Shyam

Nov 23, 2013 12:56pm

A complete outsider view on Gen Kayani is that he has done a decent job if not great. As chief of defence he has guarded Pakistani interests except for Abottabad and drones. He has not taken over the civilian government under pressure nor allowed others to violate democracy. He is not solely responsible for not quelling terrorism and definitely not the person to be blamed for economy. Both these have to be handled by the country's government. But as I said earlier, judging too early also would not be right.

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