Pakistan: Bringing the ISI under civilian political control
Setting the record straight
By Yousuf Nazar
Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence was formed in 1948 by the then deputy army chief of staff, Gen R. Cawthorne. Prior to the 1958 coup, the ISI reported directly to the army chief. After the imposition of martial law, the ISI began to report to President Ayub Khan. It was not Mr Bhutto who started the use of the ISI for domestic intelligence. It was under Gen Ayub Khan that the ISI became responsible for monitoring Pakistani politicians, especially those in what was then East Pakistan. Ayub expanded the ISI’s role and it was to protect Pakistan’s interests, which included the creation of a covert action division within the ISI to assist Islamic militants in north-east India, as well as to support the Sikh Home Rule Movement in the 1960s.
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