New Delhi: Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir has been promoted to the lofty rank of Field Marshal – a move that is left jaws dropping and keyboards clacking. The position was last held by Ayub Khan in 1959. Rubber-stamped in a cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the promotion was hailed as a reward for Munir’s “courageous leadership” and “high strategy” in the recent India-Pakistan armed conflict. But the internet, ever the merciless critic, has a different take on the promotion: Munir’s less a marshal and more a master of self-promotion in a country where the military calls the shot.
The statement from PM Sharif’s office, notifying the promotion, sounds like a love letter shot off to Munir. He credited him with “ensuring the security of the country and defeating the enemy”.
Following the announcement, it was a field day for netizens on X. They wittingly pointed out the irony of a promotion following Pakistan’s less-than-stellar performance in the conflict. India’s Operation Sindoor saw its air defenses swat down Pakistan’s drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like flies. It left air bases across the border smoldering and forced Munir to allegedly take refuge in a bunker.
“Field Marshal? More like Failed Marshal,” one X user quipped, while another jabbed, “Congrats on the bigger bunker, Asim! Perfect for the next time India sends a wake-up call.”
The trolling did not stop at borders. Pakistanis too joined the roast.
One user mocked the military’s obsession with optics: “Billboards for shooting down two planes? My doctor doesn’t put up banners for a successful surgery, and he is not burning trillions of rupees either.”
Another lamented the cash splashed on propaganda while Pakistan’s economy gasps for air under IMF bailouts. “This is what IMF money buys? Blue boards and ego trips,” they wrote.
What are these Banners in Pakistan for ?? pic.twitter.com/yGdIiyOrUh
— Megh Updates (@MeghUpdates) May 19, 2025
Bollywood got in on the act too. Singer Adnan Sami dropped a savage X post with a clip from a classic Hindi flick, showing a man grandly addressing a herd of donkeys. Caption? A not-so-subtle dig at Munir’s self-aggrandizing “promotion”.
Asim Munir promoted himself to Field Marshal of Aand Forces pic.twitter.com/tPwrhbTAyr
— Hindutva Knight (@HPhobiaWatch) May 20, 2025
Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir promoting himself to the rank of Field Marshal. pic.twitter.com/EGIbExfd3c
— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) May 20, 2025
General #AsimMunir ’s Acceptance Speech addressed to the Government of Pakistan as his audience after being made FIELD MARSHAL!! pic.twitter.com/GEltVI8GCH
— Adnan Sami (@AdnanSamiLive) May 20, 2025
Meanwhile, a viral video of a billboard featuring Munir and Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed boasting “we shoot down the enemy’s pride and planes in minutes” sparked a fresh wave of memes. “Minutes? More like dreams,” an Indian user scoffed. “Photoshopped jets and Arma 3 clips don’t win wars, Paijaan,” he said.
Pakistan’s own netizens weren’t kinder. “Why waste money on banners when the poor can’t eat?” one fumed.
Another called it a “publicity stunt by a shove-happy army chief”, while a third sighed, “This is why we’re stuck in Aakhriat ki padhai instead of real progress.”
The consensus? Munir’s new title is less a badge of honor and more a punchline in Pakistan’s ongoing comedy of errors. As one X post put it, “Field Marshal Asim Munir, ruling hearts… and mirrors, where he salutes himself daily.”