Qamar Javed Bajwa

Born in Karachi Sindh, Pakistan on 11 November 1960, Bajwa was educated at the Sir Syed College and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan military Academy in 1978. His family hails from Ghakhar Mandi, Punjab. Muhammad Iqbal Bajwa, was an officer of Pakistan Army who died while in service in 1967 in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.[6] Bajwa was seven years old when his father died and he was the youngest of five siblings.[1] He and his siblings were raised by their mother, who died in September 2013.[7] Bajwa's father-in-law, Ijaz Amjad,[8] was also a Pakistan Army officer who retired with a two-star rank, Major-General.[9]

Bajwa completed his secondary and intermediate education at Sir Syed College in Rawalpindi[10] and Gordon College in Rawalpindi before joining the Pakistan Army in 1978,[1] which directed him to attend the military academy.[11] He was sent to attend the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and passed out with the class of 62nd PMA Long Course[11] in 1980.[12]

Bajwa is a graduate of Command and Staff in Canada and later attended and secured his graduation from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, United States.[1] He also attended the National Defence University.[1][12][13][14] Bajwa is married to Ayesha. The couple have two sons, Saad and Ali.[1]

After joining the Pakistan Army in 1978,[1] Bajwa was sent to enrolled at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, and passed out from the PMA Kakul where he gained commissioned as 2nd-Lt., on 24 October 1980 in the 16th Baloch Regiment at the Sialkot Cantonment – the same unit that his father commanded.[15][12]

In 1988, Major Bajwa briefly served in the 5th Northern Light Infantry Regiment in Kashmir.[16][17] In addition, Lieutenant-Colonel Bajwa served in the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi, as a staff officer.[16] Upon promoting as one-star rank army general, Brigadier Bajwa served as the Chief of Staff (COS) at the X Corps before promoting to the two-star rank and commanding a division in Northern Pakistan.[18][19]

In 2003, Brig. Bajwa commanded the Pakistan Armed Forces-Africa Command, attached to the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, in Congo[16][19][11][1] Brig. Bajwa served in the Congo as a brigade commander under[20][21] then-Major General Bikram Singh, the former Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army from 2012–14.[22] Gen. Singh later termed Bajwa's performance there as "professional and outstanding."[23][20]

After being promoted to two-star rank in May 2009, Major-General Bajwa took over the command of the Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA) as its GOC, stationed in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.[24][25][26][27][22][18]

In August 2011, he was honored with the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military),[28] and posted as an instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics in Quetta,[29] and later taught staff course at Command and Staff College in Quetta, and course on national security at the National Defence University.[12][13]

On 14 August 2013, Maj-Gen. Bajwa was promoted to three-star rank and posted as field commander of the X Corps, stationed in Rawalpindi.[30][31][32] He was appointed as Grade-I officer during his tenure as field commander of the X Corps.[19] The appointment was commented in the news media that noted that Lt-Gen. Bajwa had been posted in X Corps thrice,[19] which is the army's important and largest corps, which has experience of keeping control over the situation in Kashmir.[22][22][33]

In 2014, Lt-Gen. Bajwa was appointed as Colonel Commandant of Baloch Regiment.[34]

On 22 September 2015, Lt-Gen. Bajwa was posted in the General Headquarters when he appointed as the Inspector-General of the Training and Evaluation (IGT&E) where he was a Principal Staff Officer to then-Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif.[35][36]

Bajwa is an avid reader and has keen interest in the history of Europe.[17][1]

He enjoys cricket[1] and used to play cricket as a wicket-keeper.[10]

General Bajwa reportedly prefers to keep himself updated about the latest developments within the Indian national landscape.[17] He has condemned extremism in all its manifestations, declaring it a key driving force for terrorism. He urged his fellow citizens especially the youth to reject extremist ideologies and terrorism without distinction[54]

• Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
• Freedom of the press in Pakistan

• Pakistan Army official website