Asim Munir and the Houbara Bustard
Pakistan is uniquely malleable and predictably ductile. The only Muslim nuclear power in the world was recently paid a visit by none other than His Highness Mohamad bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), President of the UAE. Shehbaz Sharif and Asim Munir were both eager to pass it off as an official visit. Islamabad was locked down. Flags of the UAE and Pakistan fluttered all over the city of Islamabad.
The media was told that this visit would result in investments, an IT revolution and massive energy deals, and Pakistan’s days of misfortune would finally be over. On 26th December, MBZ landed at Nur Khan Air Base. He sat for a couple of hours with Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and then, as social media whispers would have us believe, left for Rahim Yar Khan.
The Houbara Bustard is a migratory bird. When it migrates to Pakistan in winter, so does Arab royalty. The meat of the bird is considered an aphrodisiac. The hunt is annual and brings precious foreign exchange, and sometimes infrastructure, to an almost-bankrupt Pakistan. Rahim Yar Khan is one of the few areas where the killing happens.
When recently US Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Pakistan for offering to provide troops as part of the International Stabilisation Force in Gaza, no one was surprised. This job also consists of forcibly disarming Hamas and other elements. Pakistan has some experience in killing Palestinians.
In 1970, a nondescript Brigadier of the Pakistan Army was tasked by the King of Jordan to lead Pakistani troops and crush the Palestinians. He did it so efficiently that the attack broke the spine of the Palestinian fighters. Thousands were killed. Zia ul Haq would later go on to become Pakistan’s Army Chief and President.
What is happening today has happened before; this is simply Pakistan trying to leverage two fronts - money from the Arabs and recognition from the Americans. While the Palestine issue destabilises the Middle East, the Arabs will not send their sons to fight in Gaza. I say fight because that is what happens when two opposing sides have guns. Disarming Hamas or the very act of trying to do so will have severe consequences for Asim Munir.
The common Pakistani, for the most part tremendously docile in front of the army, is not going to pick up the tab for Munir’s White House lunch. Let me explain. Pakistan has fought four wars with India, not counting the recent four-day skirmish in May 2025. There are claims and counterclaims on the territory. India has repeatedly called out Pakistan for nurturing and supporting cross-border terrorism. Thousands of Indians have died due to Pakistan-sponsored terror. And yet, Pakistanis can visit India and vice versa. But Pakistan’s passport says, “This passport is valid for all countries of the world, except Israel”. Neither nation has diplomatic relations, nor can the total number of Pakistanis who have visited Israel be counted on the fingers of one hand. Most have never met a Jew.
Yet the hatred is so strong that for Asim Munir to send troops to Gaza to disarm Hamas will be like throwing a burning match to petrol. The hatred for Jews is religiously sanctioned. Sahih al-Bukhari is graphic. It is not just Muslims but inanimate objects like stones that will hate Jews, calling for their killing.
A Pakistani general has many lives and cannot be brought down by the Prime Minister or President. Only a general can bring down a general. In a recent gathering of military personnel in Pakistan, Asim Munir’s security team placed a bulletproof glass between the Army Chief and his audience. Surprised?
On 14th December 2003, six Pakistan Air Force personnel blew up a bridge on a road in Rawalpindi. Their mission was to blow up the car carrying Pakistan’s Army Chief and President. They failed. A few days later, there was another attempt. Over a dozen of Musharraf’s bodyguards were killed, but he escaped again. On 10th July 2007, the Pakistan Army stormed Lal Masjid. The clergy and students inside were continuously defying the writ of the state, and Musharraf ordered the Special Services Group to ‘go in’. Bloodshed followed, and so did many more attempts to kill Musharraf. Pakistan Army soldiers were said to be involved in a few such attempts on his life. If storming a masjid could bring about such consequences, imagine the repercussions of Asim Munir befriending Jews. It would be cataclysmic.
Pakistan has always shot itself in the foot. Gen Zia ul Haq took money from the CIA to launch what is called the first ‘Afghan Jihad’ in the eighties. Pakistan was flooded with extremism, heroin and Kalashnikovs. Post 9/11, Gen Parvez Musharraf again took money from the Americans for what would be called the “War on Terror”.
It helped Americans launch operations in Afghanistan and became the most favoured supply route. Pakistan estimates that it suffered over 100,000 deaths and over USD 150 billion in losses due to damaged infrastructure, due to its participation in the “War on Terror”. Any other country would have learnt its lesson. But Pakistan is not any other country.
Like the Houbara Bustard, Pakistan will again migrate. And once again, the hunters will be waiting. New Delhi needs to wait and watch. History will repeat itself.
Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) is the Editor-in-Chief of Chanakya Forum. An Indian Army veteran, he brings decades of experience across the military, corporate, and media spheres.; views are personal
