Bilal Khan (Quwa)
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I have always felt that DG ISPR should be a civilian employee of the defense dept. A person well versed in the science of PR and knows the value of the social media etc.
It is a terrible waste of military resources to have a person of a rank of Maj gen to be doing pr for the armed forces. Let him lead the troops, that's what he is trained to do. Besides this present ispr spokesperson is a dud.
The one where kickbacks are involved. Hope it helps.
I think PR should go under the office of the CJCSC who, in turn, builds a team of Short Service COs who come from marketing, PR, design, etc backgrounds. These guys (or gals) can be the ISPR of all three service arms. They'd work directly work with the CJCSC for information control, but maybe get a budget to develop PR material (like documentaries, video or photo assets for the news media, Hilal, etc).Strangely, after operation Swift Retort, the Indians were complaining that they needed a DG ISPR level position for information dissemination and control. They felt that such a role was important in projecting single narratives around the war.
I see the merits of a civilian control over the DG ISPR, but I also think it should be left to the military to tell their story. Unless the fundamental military-civil divide in Pakistan is resolved, it is meaningless to attempt such a pivot. In fact, even after this military-civil divide is addressed, the position of DG ISPR should remain with the military. My only concern is that the DG ISPR, just like the ISI and the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, has turned into an army domain where the navy and Air Force have no say. Due to the evolving nature of the modern war, I think the Air Force and navy should be given their due respect. The era of vast armies rolling into enemy territory are over. Today it is about air and naval projections.
Pakistan’s understanding of the military hierarchy should also evolve. In fact, such an evolution will go a long way in resolving the military-civil divide itself, and probably help create a more professional, depoliticized and result oriented army instead of the current DHA land grabbing mafia and egotistical overlords they have now turned into.
I would even offer promotions to these COs if learn a key foreign language like French, Dutch, Russian, Mandarin, Arabic, Hebrew etc. This way, the ISPR can get its message out directly to international news media, perhaps even answer questions or offer statements directly in the languages of those outlets. Once these COs are done with ISPR, I'm sure the Foreign Ministry and intelligence departments would find these multi-lingual professionals useful. From there, set these people up for professor or teaching posts in Western universities so that they convey Pak's narrative to the next generation of American, British, French, etc political science and business students.