Intelligence Bureau (Pakistan)

History

The Intelligence Bureau originally part of the British Raj's Intelligence Bureau which was established by the British Army's Major General Sir Charles MacGregor who, at that time, was Quartermaster General and head of the Intelligence Department for the British Indian Army at Shimla, in 1885. Prior to this appointment, Major General Sir MacGregor was sent to British Indian Empire by the Queen Victoria. The IB's objectives were to monitor Russian troops deployments in Afghanistan, fearing a Russian invasion of British India through the North-West during the late 19th century.

In the aftermath of the independence of Pakistan by the British Crown, the IB, like the armed forces was partitioned, with a Pakistan IB created in Karachi. Since, the IB is the oldest intelligence community; others being the Military Intelligence (MI) of Pakistan's military. The IB was initially Pakistan's only and main intelligence agency with the responsibility for strategic and foreign intelligence, as well as counter-espionage and domestic affairs.

Its poor performance with the MI and unsatisfactory detailing of the war with India in 1947 was however considered less than exemplary. Due to the fact, IB was concerned with internal security matters, and was not set up for foreign intelligence collection. These considerations ultimately led to the creation of the ISI in 1948 as it quickly took the charge of gathering strategic and foreign intelligence at all levels of command.

Appointment for IB's Director-General are made by the Prime Minister but the appointment has to be confirmed by the President. The IB is a civilian intelligence agency, and its DG have been appointed from the civil bureaucracy and the police; as well as retired military officials have also served as DG IB.

Operations

Since 1950s–1980s, the IB was running active operations to monitor politicians, political activists, suspected terrorists, and suspected foreign intelligence agents. Right after Dhaka Fall in 1971, the IB apprised the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of coup discussions between the Commander-in-Chief, Gul Hassan Khan and Air Chief Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan. Bhutto and his close aides, including Ghulam Mustafa Khar, in a counter-coup invited both Generals to the President House under false pretenses and obtained their resignations. The IB keeps tabs on political operatives from countries it considers hostile to Pakistan's interests. In 1990s, the IB gained international reputation when its agents had successfully infiltrated many of the terrorist organizations.

In 1996, the IB was granted control of government censorship programs, controlling information dissemination via mail, wire, or electronic medium. In 1990s, the IB remained actively involved to curb sectarianism and the fundamentalism in the country. Many of its operations were directed towards infiltration, conducting espionage, counterespionage, and providing key information on terrorist organizations. After the disastrous 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the IB played its role as a stakeholder of the government. IB's successful infiltration techniques has led to the capture and detainment of many of high-profile terrorists and sectarian militants. Moreover, it has been instrumental in efforts to break terrorist networks and organised crime rackets throughout the country especially Karachi through its sophisticated human and technical intelligence apparatus. The agency had also been blamed for its belligerent role in Operation Clean-up at Karachi in 1991-92 and 1994-96.

The IB is considered to be a main tool of the government to pacify opposition elements and is sometimes viewed as a government toppling machine. One case under discussion in the Supreme Court of Pakistan is for the alleged involvement of the agency in destabilising the Punjab Government in 2008.

Constitutionality and powers

The IB agents have no formal arrest powers, and its suspects are often apprehended and interrogated by the FIA agents at the request of the IB officials.

The IB also passes on intelligence gained through infiltration between other Pakistan's intelligence community, police, and other Law enforcement units. The Bureau also grants the necessary security clearances to Pakistani diplomats and judges before they take the oath. Powers granted by the government, the IB also intercepts and opens regular mails and letters on a daily basis.

List of IB officers Martyred in operational duties

1. 1970 - Chaudhri Mohammed Nazir, Deputy Director
2. 1993 - Abdul Latif Baloch
3. 1994 - Kareem Chaudhry
4. 1994 - Afzal Rajpoot
5. 1995 - Haseem ud Din Rana
6. 1996 - Habibullah
7. 2000 - Akhtar zaidi Inspector
8. 2004 - Khubaz Khan, Inspector
9. 2008 - Nisar Khan, Director
10. 2008 - Ibrahim
11. 2008 - Fazl ur Rehman
12. 2008 - Khan Sardar, Inspector
13. 2008 - Abdul kabir, Assistant Director
14. 2009 - Tanveer Raza, Inspector
15. 2010 - Abdullah Jan Tareen, Inspector
16. 2010 - Pervaiz Malik, Assistant Director
17. 2010 - Kashif khan
18. 2011 - Hassan Raza
19. 2011 - Alam Khan, Sub Inspector
20. 2011 - Abdul Razzaq, Inspector
21. 2011 - Siraj, Deputy Director
22. 2012 - Qamar Raza
23. 2012 - Bashir Khan, Inspector
24. 2011 - Arshad Ghayas, Assistant Sub Inspector
25. 2013 - Muhammad Ali, Sub-Inspector
26. 2013 - Shakeel Ahmed Awan, Sub Inspector
27. 2013 - Khawaja Abdul Wahab, Sub Inspector
28. 2014 - Manan Shah, Inspector
29. 2014 - Rana M.Saad
30. 2008 - Khaliq uz zaman, Inspector
31. 2009 - Qamar Anees Shaheed, Assistant Sub Inspector
32. 2010 - Saif Ullah Khalid, Inspector
33. 2013 - Mazhar Ali, Inspector
34. 2013 - Agha Aatif Khan, Assistant Director
35. 2013 - Abdul Mueed Hamirani, Assistant Director
36. 2013 - Sajid Hussain Zahidi, Assistant Director
37. 2016 - Usman Gul,Inspector

List of IB chiefs

1 Maj.(R) Masood Shareef - 1996

2 Col (R) Iqbal Niazi, August 1998-October 1999 3 Maj Gen (R) Talat Munir, - October 2002 4 Col (R) Bashir Wali Mohmand, October 2002 - February 2003 6 Brig (R) Ijaz Shah, February 2004 - March 2008 7 Tariq Ahmed Lodhi, March 2008-August 2008 8 Shoaib Suddle, August 2008 - May 2009 9 Javed Noor, May 2009 - October 2011 10 Raja Talal Khalil, October 2011 - July 2012 11 Akhter Hussain Gorchani, July 2012 -March 2013 12 Aftab Sultan, June 2013 – Present