Javed Nasir

Lieutenant-General Javed Nasir (Urdu: جاويد ناصر;b.  1936) ), is a Pakistani Islamist and retired engineering officer who served as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), appointed on 14 March 1992 until being forcefully removed from this assignment on 13 May 1993. 

Known for being member of Tablighi Jamaat, Nasir gained national prominence as his role of bringing the unscattered mass of Afghan Mujahideen to agree to the power-sharing formula to form Afghan administration under President Mojaddedi in Afghanistan in 1992–93.  Later, he played an influential and decisive role in the Bosnian war when he oversaw the covert military intelligence program to support the Bosnian Army against the Serbs, while airlifting the thousands of Bosnian refugees in Pakistan. 

Biography

Javed Nasir was born in Lahore, Punjab in British India in 1936, and is of the Kashmiri descent.  After his intermediate from Government College, Lahore, Nasir joined the Pakistan Army and entered in the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul in 1953.  He decided to attend the Military College of Engineering at Risalpur in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and graduated with B.S. with Honors in civil engineering in 1958.  He gained commissioned as 2nd-Lt.  in the Corps of Engineers of the Pakistan Army where his career is mostly spent. 

In 1967, Nasir qualified as a licensed professional engineer (PE) by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). 

He was known to have served in the combat engineering formations during the second war with India in 1965 as army captain, and later served in the western front of the third war with India in 1971 as major. 

After the third war with India in 1971, Maj.  Nasir went to Australia where he attended and graduated in staff course from the Australian Army Staff College.  In 1980s, he was sent to attend the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad, and graduated with MSc in Strategic studies.  In 1983–90, Major-General Nasir joined the faculty of the Armed Forces War College of the National Defense University (NDU), which he instructed courses on war studies for seven years, eventually promoted as chief instructor. 

In the military circles, Maj-Gen. Nasir was described as a "moderate person" who rediscovered the Islam in 1986 during the midst of the Russian war in the neighboring Afghanistan.  In 1988, Maj-Gen. Nasir gained public fame when he was appointed as inspector-general of engineering formation that investigated the environmental disaster befall at the military storage located in the Rawalpindi Cantonment.  Against the United States, German and French military estimation, Maj-Gen. Nasir personally led his formation at the ground to clear out the entire storage containing the chemical and explosive materials, as well as the missile ordnance in mere two weeks. 

In 1989, he was appointed as director-general of Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and supervised the civil construction of the Skardu International Airport that is  above sea level.  On 24 September 1991, Maj-Gen. Nasir was promoted as a three-star rank army general, having appointed to command the Corps of Engineers as its Eng-in-C at the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi.  On 4 February 1992, Lieutenant-General Nasir was then posted as the chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories at Wah in Punjab, Pakistan, until being appointed as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). 

Director of ISI (1992–93)

On 14 March 1992, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Lt-Gen Nasir as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) against the recommendations and wishes of General Asif Nawaz, then-chief of army staff (COAS).  The appointment was seen a political motive for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif since General Nasir had no experience in the intelligence gathering network and was virtually a ghost in country's intelligence community.  At that time, Prime Minister Sharif had family relations with Lt-Gen. Nasir Javed, and knew him very well. 

In the military, he was of the view of anti-American sentiments, accusing the United States of using the Islam for political reasons and against Russians in Europe, which further complicated the foreign relations between two nations.  He also limited the cooperation between the ISI and CIA to fight against the global terrorism, thwarting any joint efforts to fight against extremism.  Though, he did help the US to relocate and retrieve the missing guided missiles from Afghanistan based on a mutual understanding of such weapons may have fall in wrong hands. 

It was during this time when ISI had been running an intensified support for insurgency in Indian Kashmir.  In spite of his seniority in the military, Nasir was overlooked, and was never considered for the promotion of the four-star rank and appointment by the government during the appointmentment process for the command of the Army, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).  Lt-Gen Nasir was among the five senior and superseding army generals when the junior-most Lt-Gen Abdul Waheed Kakar was elevated to the four-star rank and promotion to command the army. 

Peshawar Accord and Mojaddedi administration

On April 1992, Lt-Gen. Nasir became an international figure when he played major role in amalgamating the unscattered Afghan mujahideen groups when the power-sharing formula was drafted.  Due to his religiosity, Nasir used his persuasive power and motivational talks to agree to power-sharing formula and, witnessed to have successfully establishing an Afghan administration under cleric President Sibghatullah Mojaddedi in Kabul. 

Bosnian war

In the military and political circles, Nasir had a reputation to be a practising Muslim who would not compromise on the interests of Islam and Pakistan.  In 1992–93, Nasir defied the UN arms embargo placed on Bosnia and Herzegovina when he successfully airlifted the POF's sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles, which ultimately turned the tide in favour of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege much to the annoyance of the U.S. government.  While airlifting sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles to Bosnian Muslims, he pushed the Government of Pakistan to allow the Bosnian to immigration Pakistan. 

In 2011, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia demanded the custody of the former ISI director for his alleged support of the Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Muslim fighters of Bosnia against the Serbian army in the 1990s, the Government of Pakistan has refused to hand Nasir to the UN tribunal, citing poor health. 

Removal from the ISI

In 1993, Lt-Gen. Nasir's zealous religiosity and maverick actions became embarrassing for the Pakistani military, in which, the Chairman joint chiefs General Shamim Allam had completely lost the control of the ISI when the agency was running under Nasir's command.  General Abdul Waheed Kakar, the army chief at that time, had been at odds with Lt-Gen. Nasir due to his preaching of Islamic tradition in the military.  In the views of senior military officers in the Pakistani military and the civilian officials of the Ministry of Defense, Lt-Gen. Nasir was often a figure of fun whose intellect was far from being as outstanding as his white beard. 

During this time, the Indian government led by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao levelled several accusations against him of supporting the Khalistan movement, the Indian Mafia and Dawood Ibrahim– the accusations he swiftly denied in 2008.  At home, Nasir began facing accusations from Pakistan Peoples Party politicians of supporting the conservative Islamic agenda in the country. 

In 1993, the United States formally registered their complaints to Pakistan when U.S. secretary of State James Baker written a memo to Prime Minister Sharif of putting his country on a terror watch list and was in danger of being listed as terror-supporting nation.  Responding to the complaint, Prime Minister Sharif used diplomacy when he sent his Foreign Secretary Shahryar Khan and Pakistan Senator Akram Zaki to United States of assuring Pakistan's policy of not supporting the militancy in the region. 

During this time, several Arab countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and the Philippines, lodged a strong protest against Nasir of supporting the radical movements in their respected countries. 

Following the resignations of Prime Minister Sharif and President G.I. Khan on 18 July 1993, the caretaker Prime Minister M.A. Qureshi fired and sacked Nasir from the directorship of the ISI, and Acting President Wasim Sajjad approved his premature retirement from his military commission effective from on 13 May 1993— he only led the ISI for 13 months. 

Upon Nasir dismissal, the new DG ISI, J.A. Qazi eventually led the massive arrests of thousands of Arab Afghans and forced the al-Qaeda to relocate itself in Afghanistan permanently.  Expulsion from Pakistan, many escaped to Bosnia to participate in the war.  According to many political commentators and journalists, Nasir's firing from ISI was not at the behest of the United States but, it was the friendly Arab countries' protests and pressure at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that resulted in his departure from ISI and the retirement from his 40-year long service with the military. 

Later life

After his premature retirement, Nasir became a missionary for a Tablighi Jamaat, and went to the private sector where he managed and chaired the private equity firm and hedge fund, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), when he was appointed on 14 July 1997 for a two-year contract. 

In 1998, he was appointed as chairman of Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, a pro-Sikhism organization in Pakistan promoting the religious activities of Sikhism.  On October 1998, Prime Minister Sharif appointed him as his intelligence adviser but this appointment remained for short period of time.  For sometime, he served on the security details as head of security for the Sharif family, but the PML(N)'s lawmakers and Sharif family cut off their links and distanced themselves from Nasir after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. 

In 2002–03, Nasir filed a lawsuit at the Anti Terrorism Court against the media corporations: the Daily Jang, and the News International, for character defamation when investigative articles published on him regarding monetary embezzlement when he managed the private hedge fund in Lahore. 

In 2008, he appeared on the Geo News and denied any allegations of terror-supporting that was levelled on him during his time as Director ISI, when interviewed by Iftikhar Ahmad.  At this detailed and hour-long interview, he was of the view of 9/11 was an inside job, and maintained on his stance on the suppressing of the free-energy by the U.S. and Pakistan Government. 

In 2011, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia demanded the custody of Nasir for his alleged authorization of the covert program to support to the Bosnian Army against the Serbian army in 1990s, the Government of Pakistan refused to hand Nasir to the UN tribunal, citing poor health and memory loss due to a road accident. 

In 2013, Nasir reportedly spoke against Afghan Taliban and the terrorism at the Supreme Court convention, and criticised the Taliban as an armed violent group and criticised them of supporting the violent terrorism for their cause, in a response to the church bombing. 

See also
 Bosnian war
 History of the United States (1991–2008)
 Conservatism in Pakistan
 Blowback (intelligence)
 Flip-flop
 History of Afghanistan (1992–present)
 India and state-sponsored terrorism
 Foreign policy of Pakistan
 Islamic conservatism
 Sikhism in Pakistan
 Muslim Ummah
 Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism
 Pakistan military presence in other countries

References

External links
 Article about Javed Nasir by Ardeshir Cowasjee
 Editorial about Gen Nasir fleeing the country
 Lt.  Gen. testifies Pakistani Vessel Shipping Arms to Bosnia
 Pak Govt puts off inquiry against ex-ISI chief
 http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010417/main2.htm
 http://www.organiser.org/09apr2000/lahore.html
 http://www.sikhtimes.com/news_060705a.html
 Interview with Geo TV

Category:Living people
Category:1936 births
Category:Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent
Category:People from Lahore
Category:Pakistan Military Academy alumni
Category:Pakistani civil engineers
Category:Engineers from Lahore
Category:Government College University, Lahore alumni
Category:Pakistani expatriates in Australia
Category:Pakistani military engineers
Category:National Defence University, Pakistan alumni
Category:National Defence University, Pakistan faculty
Category:Pakistani generals
Category:Pakistani Sunni Muslims
Category:Directors General of Inter-Services Intelligence
Category:Military personnel of the Bosnian War
Category:Pakistani Islamists
Category:Kashmiri Islamists
Category:Muslim missionaries
Category:Sikhism in Pakistan
Category:Pakistani Muslim activists
Category:People acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Category:Pakistani conspiracy theorists
Category:9/11 conspiracy theorists
Category:Free energy conspiracy theorists
Category:Pakistani corporate directors
Category:People with amnesia
Category:Tablighi Jamaat people