Should the Army or ISI be above criticism – by A Z
While commenting on my article 2013: A Highly Critical Year for Pakistan one dear friend has sounded as if we cannot criticize the ISI. I have always had a great respect for this friend as he is someone superior to me in both knowledge and intellect. While his comments and advice have always been a source of wisdom for me, I cannot surrender to him my right to objectively criticize anyone. The article referred to ISI’s meddling in the affairs of elected governments and its Afghan Policy in pursuance of Strategic Depth. Both are almost established facts in Pakistan’s public life. In a country beset with external and internal threats we, of course, stand squarely behind our army and intelligence agencies in the national interest. However, criticizing them –like any other national institution- for their mistakes and shortcomings should not be banished from the concourse of national wisdom.
Since ancient times, two maxims are instilled into naval culture of all humanity. The first is that if a ship runs aground, it is the captain’s responsibility. The second is that the captain is always responsible, even if he or she isn’t. A commander can delegate authority but not responsibility. Authority refers to who is in charge, while responsibility refers to who is accountable. And here we are talking about an institution which has ruled the country for half its life and has called shots in all critical matters, at least, since 1977 regardless of the form of the government in the country. Since 1977 our foreign policy and national security have largely been a domain of our generals’ imagination, rather than the imagination of the wider ideology of a nation-state or its people.
What is interesting to note is that we Pakistanis have elevated our armed forces to levels incompatible with democracy. While it is customary in any country to thank the men and women in uniform for their service and their willingness to risk their lives for the safety of others, any army in the world is just another institution whose members should remain under the law and whose leaders should be held accountable before an elected government. Because the dysfunctional Pakistani state and all of its institutions are fragmented, corrupt, and unaccountable, there is no reason to assume that the Armed Forces are an exception. Just like the state, the army is made up of Pakistani people, and the majority of these people have the same faith and prejudices as the rest of us. Pakistani culture is riddled with examples of how people fail to understand what would make up a healthy relationship between the citizens and the military. This undue veneration of the army, in a culture that idolizes macho figures and fascist nationalism, has put our armed forces above the law in the eyes of a common man. No wonder, throughout our history, army commanders have acted independent of elected governments.
Allowing the armed forces to get involved in any area of civil activity is always risky, dangerous, and harmful, let alone permitting them to operate freely the largest business and real estate empire in the country. This is better described by Air Marshall Asghar Khan in his book “We’ve Learnt Nothing from History” while narrating an incident after the coup of 1958 by Field Marshall Ayub Khan which deposed President of Pakistan Eskendar Mirza. “Eskendar Mirza and his wife were sitting in the VIP room of a sofa. A junior army officer was occupying a chair next to him with his legs stretched out on a table in front of the former president. I told him he was insolent and ordered him out of the room. The conduct of this officer typified the danger inherent in the involvement of armed forces in politics. When power is wielded by the defence people, it is ultimately exercised by the people who, both by experience and temperament are least suited for this role. Since they are not responsible to the people, their arrogance finds expression in ways that are more harmful than the ill manner of the young officer at the Maripur airfield on that October morning.”
It is true that in Pakistan institutions were never nurtured into the strength required to check the power of extra-constitutionality or to establish rule of law. Politicians and governments have consistently violated the very principles they are supposed to uphold. So if no one felt they were answerable to the people, why should have the army? However, we have just seen the end of the first ever government tenure in Pakistan where democracy has emerged much stronger than before. In the scheme of things that is now beginning to emerge, the ordinary folks like this scribe can expect some politicians, bureaucrats or the tycoons (except Malik Riaz, of course) to be punished for any offence. So why the army persons should not be held responsible? It is about time that the Pakistanis drop their macho fascination with the army and start treating it for what it should be: A professional force accountable before an elected government.
The menace of terrorism and extremism is now widely considered as the foremost problem for Pakistan. I don’t find it misplaced to blame the deep state for the acts of militants and fanatics whose direct connections with said deep state are now thirty years old. It does not interfere with a sincere recognition of our soldiers who, like police and citizens, die every day at the hands of these extremists. Many institutions, vested interests, and individuals have contributed to creating the Islamist terrorist network in Pakistan. The Jamat e Islami, Saudi wealth, true believers in Salafist Islam, Deobandi extremists, CIA, RAW, etcetera. There is a long litany of real or imaginary sponsors and, to be honest, most of them have played a role.
But here I have a couple of simple questions Could all these militants, which are now estimated to number about a million, have come together and proliferated if the Army high common had not viewed them as assets against India, means to seek strategic depth in Afghanistan, and a force to wage jihad at our bidding? Would they continue to prosper today if the Army had reviewed its strategy some twelve years ago to let go of its support to Islamist extremists? As we know, most Pakistanis are not any different from their Indian or American counterparts in devotedly believing their security establishment in defining who is a friend and who is an enemy. Now the country has ended up with a huge conglomerate of all kinds of extremist groups. Some are local phenomena and others function at the national level. Some are warlords and others are drug barons. Some are religious fanatics and others act as agents at the behest of our enemies. These continue to flourish because of broken law and order and a weak prosecution.
So, now these extremists together have become strong enough to inspire fear that were army to move against them it might lead to a civil war. But then what do we do? Leave them alone? In any case the army holds the key. No other institution (police, judiciary, civilian intelligence agencies etc.) is strong enough to combat them. Only the army can do it but for that it has to be first able to divorce the misplaced strategic notions (like strategic assets etc.) it has long espoused.
The people will be behind the army. Remember how people supported army’s going hell for leather into Swat a few years ago? While the deep state can no longer control these extremists, it can also not fight them while supporting and using their ideology. The commanders of our armed forces need to rethink and critically reassess their priorities and the stakes involved and the responsibility that devolves on them as a quid pro quo for the privilege and obligation of commanding the nation’s security apparatus to lead it to a safe, peaceful and prosperous future. The army is convinced that it is the saviour of last resort. Now is the time to fulfil the pledge that conviction entails.
TAILPIECE: As regards the perils of making a DG ISI the COAS, one may refer to Najam Sethi’s editorial in an issue of Friday Times about a year ago.
http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta2/tft/article.php?issue=20120316&page=1
Kudos! Spon on brother!
The most ruthless anti Shia group is Lashkar e Jhangvi, and its head Molana Ishaq was released after a deal. Molana Ishaq was flown into the GHQ from Adiyala jail in an army helicopter to negotiate with terrorists, and was released after that; SC got the signal from the GHQ. Didn’t army know that they are releasing the most fanatic anti-Shia terrorist? Army played a direct role in killing of Shias.
The army and the police cannot control these people while supporting and using their ideology. They cannot give up that ideology until they suppress/forget/ignore the dream of a pure Islamic state and its international jihadi armies. It’s not that they lack the ability to counter these extremists. There is just no will.
Pakistan has to become secularized to survive as a multi-religious state. Otherwise, the plan is clear. It is to become a Deobandi Jihadi state. And everyone else has to live under those rules, or will face their wrath.
Since no other state institution is accountable, the army has not felt any pressure to learn accountability. I would like to further add that Pakistan army has projected itself as the only patriotic element (along with other wings of the armed forces) in the country. Many army officers that I have come into contact so far suffer from the insanity of self-exaltation and delusion of grandeur. I have known a couple of retired army officers-turned-diplomats having very little to no concern for Pakistani nationals abroad or national interests of the country. One is more incompetent, corrupt and vindictive than the other.
It is time to discontinue with the practice of sending retired or “undesirable” generals as our diplomats. It is beyond me as to how not-so-qualified/semi-educated army officers “qualify” to become our diplomats! It is unfair to foreign service careerists and other professionals.
It is also time to stop the colonial and Pakistani system of granting residential blocs to the military officers in posh residential areas known as the DHS. It is a travesty of justice to give all the best properties to the army.
none of the alleged Taliban (or others) have ever been convicted in either a civilian or military court in Pakistan, or paraded on TV with some credible confession. Another way of saying those US funded elite babus and sepoys, in government, so-called civil society, military or media are equally complicit.
sir ,
when you people are speaking against Pakistan army you just quote generals
but i want to tell that Pakistan army is composed of 80% sapaies
they belong to poor families
they love there country and give there life for mother
and they always tax payer
when they got there wages tax is cutoff as same time
officer and juwans of Pakistan army are patriots
100%
than anyone else because they are always ready to gave there life’s which is most precious think in this world
Thanks for the kind words but lest it appear, you scratch my back and I scratch yours, I have always acknowledged great strengths of the writer and over last 27 years, since we went in different directions, his success in whatever responsibility he assumed is a proof that I have not been wrong.
Anyway, I stand by my comments that ISI’s portrayal was highly misplaced and based on perceptions, half facts and sketchy information instead of the realities.
The strategic depth terminology was probably coined by some writer and has never been a policy of the govt of Pakistan .
Pakistan never sought any strategic depth in Afghanistan. Rather, Pakistan only desires a peaceful, stable and neutral Afghanistan which also is the only future objective, nothing more adds any value to Pakistan’s interests and nothing less is acceptable as it seriously impacts our security and economy. Concepts of neutrality and perceptions of security threat were not invented by Pakistan but are a continuity of the British policy which was based on Anglo-Afghan Agreement of 12 November, 1893 signed by the Amir Abdur Rahman and Sir Henry Durand which delimited a frontier between Afghanistan and the Indian Empire and the 1895 British-Russian understanding of the sphere of influence of the two countries in the region of Pamirs as a result of the “Great Game”. Pakistan picked up the threads. It eliminated the Chinese threat with boundaries demarcation and cordial bilateral relations. Russian side affairs i.e Afghanistan were maintained exactly on the same lines rather the Afghanis were far more facilitated on every count in an efforts to develop brotherly bilateral relations in mutual interest.
However, In the first Phase of our relations with Afghanistan which culminated in the Soviet Union’s intervention in Afghanistan in 1978, Pakistan remained on the defensive against Russian expansionist policies via Afghanistan and I do not need to dwell on them here being a common knowledge. In 1978, our national interest had converged with that of the capitalist America to block the Soviets in Afghanistan. This initiated the second phase following which the Americans had simply abandoned us. Pakistan had to deal with the aftermath at a huge cost to it. Whatever the shortcomings of Afghan Taliban, a central authority was established in Afghanistan by them which had opened up the possibilities of trade with Central Asia and the menace of drug was eliminated as poppy cultivation had completely stopped under Taliban rule. It was an Afghan show and not ISI’s machination. Nothing more was our concern. The re entry of America in Afghanistan following the mysterious 9/11 started the Great Game of America in Afghanistan. We again joined in sincerely. Opened up our country for free (American’s claim of $ 20 billion aid are cooked up. On ground we hardly got anything from America and in reality our losses are calculated to be in the range of $ 100 billion), We sacrificed over 40,000 lives and in the end are being asked by the US to surrender our security on Afghanistan border to India.
“Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan” was created by the foreign intelligence agencies in Pakistan for which ISI claims to have many proofs. Raymond Davis was a TTP handler in Pakistan, among many others which was already known and was confirmed after his arrest and was reported by the media. TTP attacked our armed forces and examples include attacks on the GHQ, Karachi Naval Base, PAF Kamra etc. Minorities are made to believe that the ISI protects the TTP militants being their assets in Afghanistan and India who carry out the attacks on Shias, Christians and Hindus. This is very clever as it divides our people and weakens our economy. Police failure to apprehend these militants/attackers is used substantiate the accusation that ISI protects them. No wonder that the victims: Shia, Christians and many other neutral elements join in the demand on Pakistan army to take on the militants who are created, funded and equipped by the enemies. Indian RAW is tactically in charge in arranging attacks on Shias (One can easily put together the attacks on Shias from Northern areas to Karachi which follows a pattern). If the army falls into the trap of taking on the militants who are backed by unlimited resources, Pakistan would meet the fate of Syria, especially with the schisms which have already been created between various peoples within our country.
Saudi/Arabs’ role is not to spread their ideology but they are acting more as a puppet to powerful intelligence agencies for their own weaknesses.
LeT and Lashkare Jhangvi are dedicated to the cause of Kashmir. Nobody can deny the reality that Kashmir belongs to Pakistan. It is our territory under illegal Indian occupation. India had occupied it fraudulently. No way has India had any right over it. The international community/UN has failed to provide us any relief. Besides, Kashmir is also a question of our future water security. Already India has built enough dams and is continuing with new ones to dry our lands at will.
India has been free to keep 700,000 security forces in Kashmir ever since late 1980s. It has been carrying out all forms of atrocities against the innocent Kashmiris. Their state terrorism is called maintenance of law and order while Kashmiris struggle for freedom is terrorism. The RAW agents some of which also infiltrate into LeT etc also attack Shias within Pakistan to create sectarian divide and again ISI is blamed for protecting the so called LeT attackers. This helps India to protect its interests in occupied Kashmir by turning the table on LeT and ISI.
Many senior police officers in Pakistan will tell you that they do not lack the capacity to control law and order but the corrupt politicians in sham democracy, with ill gotten assets abroad incapacitate them for obvious reasons!!!!
Accusations of meddling in the democratic govt’s affairs are also incorrect. The tail piece of Mr Najam Sethi hardly substantiates anything. Anybody with a scant knowledge of ISI would easily understand it. I can’t believe that Mr Sethi does not know it except that he intentionally meant to mislead the readers. No wonder his credentials and loyalty has always been doubtful with the ISI. His current appointment as caretaker CM only shows how much ISI interferes in the affairs of the civil govt.
The fact is that political wing of the ISI was created at the initiative of Mr Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He was the first one to have involved the ISI in internal politics. Benazir Bhutto, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Nawaz Sharif, Farooq Leghari all used ISI during their rule to draw political advantage against their opponents, contrary to the perception that ISI interfered in their business. ISI/ Army is resented by politicians as their gross corruption and a total disregard for law is some time checked when it touches the security and very existence of the state, many grave facts are never made public. But, we know that some of our politicians’ net worth quoted on social media is US $ 10 to 12 billion, stashed abroad, which is only one of the aspects to say the least. How their weaknesses could be exploited by foreign agencies is anybody’s guess. Comparatively, despite the long periods of army rules over the country, one can hardly cite scandals against the Generals. Probably all together the charges against the Generals will not amount to even five percent of what have been reported against the politicians only during the last five years of the democratic rule. The five percent reflects that after all army/ISI also consist of the same people.
We do not doubt democracy but democracy in action during the first ten years of our independence had invited the army rule. I do not know if the army had intrigued in those frequent changes of the govts. Probably not army but the ethnic prejudice and ethnic short sightedness had resulted in change of capital from Karachi to Islamabad and had denied the due share to East Pakistanis. Was it not the Democratic Party leader Mr Z.A Bhutto who opposed the transfer of power to majority party of East Pakistan or the one who had walked out of the United Nations? No less has been the failings and corruption of democratic govts which came into power after Gen Zia. In last five years when the so called Deep State mostly chose to remain a spectator, the treasury is looted. Load shedding and target killings etc have been order of the day. The results of recent judicial activism show that not the Army’s rule but failure of our judiciary in past may be the reason for our troubles. Had the Judiciary shown any spine, it would have probably been supported in the same way as it was supported against Gen. Musharraf.
I would conclude by comparing army/ISI’s role in Pakistan with that of dedicated parents whose best and sincere efforts may not after all produce a successful child, as many other factors, including the child’s own individualism, cannot be controlled by the parents.