Pakistan's new ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum staying away from media, here's why

Since the appointment of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Nadeem Anjum, there have been no images or videos of him released to the media. It has now been revealed that Anjum has given out instructions to authorities in Pakistan to not release his images or video clips to the media, stated PTI on Wednesday. Anjum was named Director General of the ISI in November following a long standoff between the civilian and military leadership in Pakistan.

Anjum replaced Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, whose clip of having a conversation with a reporter in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul during the Taliban takeover in August, had gone viral. Pakistan’s National Security Committee on Monday approved the country’s first-ever National Security Policy. While the high-level meeting was also attended by ISI Director General Anjum, the pictures and video recordings of the meeting released by the government excluded him, The News International reported.

A federal minister told the newspaper that no images or videos of Anjum were released because the ISI chief had instructed the government authorities not to unveil any footage of any meeting that he attends. The report added that Anjum’s directions were also the same reason why there were no photos of the new ISI chief since his appointment. 

Ex-Pakistani official said it is basic principle of intelligence services

According to a former Pakistani official, Lt Gen Amjad Shoaib (Retd.), it is the basic principle of intelligence services to stay away from the media’s limelight and maintain a certain sense of anonymity. However, as per the report, Shoaib noted that there had been several instances in the past when the same principle was violated by government authorities. 

The ex-Pakistani official even cited an example of the Afghan war when the images of then-ISI heads, Gen Hameed Gul and Gen Javed Nasir were released to the media. Following promotion and his posting as GOC Quetta, Shoaib recalled that he was advised to stay away from the media by General Abdul Waheed Kakar who was the then Army chief.

Additionally, Maj Gen Ejaz Awan (Retd.), who served in the ISI in the past, said that the Anjum appeared to be following the pattern of doing his work without bagging any publicity from the media. Ideally, Awan reportedly said, that people who head the intelligence agencies should not be known. Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI is the main intelligence agency.

(IMAGE: @DifaeyPakistan/Twitter)