Asim Munir gets lifetime immunity ‘haram’: Pakistani Maulana raises serious Islamic questions on military supremacy

General Asim Munir Controversy: The alliance between the army and the government in Pakistan is once again surrounded by major controversies. Religious leaders have now opened a front against the lifelong legal immunity granted to Field Marshal Asim Munir through the 27th Constitutional Amendment.

Eminent Islamic scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani has termed this provision as ‘haram’ directly against the principles of the Quran and Sunnah. Have agreed. This protest has emerged as a major challenge for Pakistan’s military-dominated hybrid governance system.

No one is above accountability in Islam: Mufti Taqi Usmani

Senior Maulana Mufti Taqi Usmani, associated with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazal), has made a direct attack on the existing military structure of Pakistan. He has argued publicly that in the eyes of Islam no caliph, general or ruler can be above accountability.

Usmani says that giving legal protection to any person for his life-long decisions violates the basic structure of Islamic law. His statement has created a stir in the religious and political circles of Pakistan, because when religion becomes the basis of opposition, it becomes difficult for the army to ignore it.

27th Amendment and the controversy of unlimited powers

The real crux of the controversy is Asim Munir taking charge as the first Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) of Pakistan on 27 December. Under the new amendment to the Constitution, Munir has been provided lifelong legal protection for any decisions taken during his tenure.

This means that no general law of Pakistan will apply to them. Political experts have named it ‘constitutional dictatorship’. Opposition parties allege that the civilian government is only a facade and the real command of the country has now completely gone to the military headquarters in Rawalpindi.

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Growing threat to hybrid governance model

The dissent of an influential face like Mufti Taqi Usmani is an alarm bell for Pakistan’s hybrid governance. Many other clerics associated with the Deobandi ideology are also now putting pressure on the JUI-F leadership not to be a part of this un-Islamic move of the government.

Experts believe that if religious leadership and political parties come together on this issue, Pakistan’s internal stability may become further weakened. This controversy is not limited to just one law, but it has become a major battle for the future of Pakistan’s democracy and accountability.