Lt-Gen Nadeem Anjum and illustrious Punjab Regiment

LAHORE: The newly-notified Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmad Anjum is the fourth Pakistani spymaster who hails from the illustrious Punjab Regiment, which traces its lineage to as far back as 1751, when a rather weak Moghal Empire was still calling shots in the sub-continent somehow, research shows.

Before Gen Nadeem Anjum, ISI’s fourth boss from Punjab Regiment, Maj Gen Muhammad Akbar Khan (1966-December 1971), its 18th Chief, Lt. Gen Nadeem Taj (October 9, 2007 to September 29, 2008) and the premier intelligence agency’s 20th Director General, Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam (March 19, 2012 to November 7, 2014), have held the reins of this globally-acknowledged institution.

Two former Pakistan Army Chiefs, Field Marshal Ayub Khan and General Asif Nawaz Janjua, were commissioned into the Punjab Regiment, while four of this Contingent’s soldiers have displayed exemplary valour and courage on the battlefield, looking into the face of adversity, and were awarded the Nishan-e-Haider, country’s highest gallantry decoration.

These include martyrs like Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed, Captain Sarwar, Major Aziz Bhatti and Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfuz. Hence, four of the 10 recipients of the prestigious Nishan-e-Haider were also raised and groomed in the Punjab Regiment.

Research further shows that following the British Crown’s takeover of rule over British India from the East India Company in 1858, the Punjab regiment played a role in numerous conflicts across the world involving the British Empire.