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Lebanon
Rein in Pakistans military cabal
June 10, 2011 02:41 AM
By Mustafa Malik
I was saddened but not surprised by news of the recent slaying of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shehzad.
He didnt have an American passport or other credentials that had once enabled me to come out in one piece from a dungeon run by Pakistani intelligence.
Shehzads killing bears all the hallmarks of previous killings perpetrated by Pakistani intelligence agencies, said Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan representative for Human Rights Watch.
The Asia Times correspondent had antagonized Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate by exposing the Pakistani navys links to militant groups.
Dedicated to his profession, the reporter had defied the ISIs warnings against digging too deep into military matters.
I have had personal experience, as have numerous other journalists, with the wrath of Pakistans military and its intelligence services. The lines between the two are often blurred.
On Aug. 21, 1989, I was interviewing a retired army general, Khalid Mahmud Arif, at the Rawalpindi offices of then army chief of staff General Mirza Aslam Beg.
I was on a research trip to Pakistan and told Arif that I had heard complaints from Pakistani politicians about the huge military budget, equivalent to 36.7 percent of the total national budget outlays the previous year.
I inquired whether it wasnt time to seek peace with India against which Pakistan cant expect to prevail in any armed conflict.Visibly angry, Arif asked what made me think Pakistan cant prevail in a war with India. I reminded him that the Pakistani armed forces had lost all their three earlier wars, and that in the 1971 conflict 93,000 Pakistani soldiers had been taken prisoner by India.
Were not the Pakistani armys repeated coups, I inquired, affecting its morale and professionalism? I would learn later that Arif had been deeply involved in the coup led by General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq.
Enraged, Arif ambushed me with a series of rapid-fire personal questions, including one about whether I was a practicing Muslim. When I refused to answer some of his queries and sought to end the interview, he ordered me to wait and went out.
Two armed guards prevented me from leaving. About 20 minutes later three plainclothes men barged in, arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded me, placed a hood over my head, and drove me off to an unknown location.
I was interrogated by two angry men in a basement room with spooky images on the wall and smudges of dry blood (or perhaps red dye) on the floor. Sporting wooden staffs, the men harangued me about the quality of my upbringing as a Muslim, any links I might have with Indian intelligence, the reason for my snooping in Pakistans army headquarters, and so on.
During the six years I had worked as a journalist in Pakistan, I had known how the military and intelligence harassed, tortured and killed journalists.
Now desperate to calm down Arifs demons, I hastened to tell them that I had served as press secretary and speechwriter for the late prime minister, Nurul Amin; that I was scheduled to interview the then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, three days later; and that I was an American citizen and wanted to contact the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
The interrogation gradually became more civil, even though I had to wait for several long hours before being released.
The embassys vice consul, Michael Gaye, investigated the incident and told me Sept. 9, 1989, that my 26-hour ordeal had occurred at the hands of Pakistans Military Intelligence service.
He promised to get back to me with his follow-up action. But he never did.
That was no surprise. The United States has traditionally ignored the Pakistani armed forces brutality and their recurrent coups against democratic governments.
The U.S. needed Pakistani help during the Cold War and the war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. To please the Pakistani generals, the Reagan administration even called off an FBI investigation into a 1988 plane crash that killed the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Raphel, along with the dictator Zia ul-Haq.
The military brass had suggested to their American interlocutors that the blowing up of the C-130 aircraft had been an inside job, and that digging into the matter would create problems for them. Today, Washington needs the help of Pakistans military and intelligence services to fight anti-American militants. I dont expect the Obama administration to review the U.S. policy of overlooking the generals excesses.
Im hoping, however, that Pakistanis themselves will eventually create problems for their power-drunk military and intelligence authorities.
A new, politicized generation and highly motivated news media appear to be in no mood to endure the militarys repression and usurpation of political power. In Pakistani streets and living rooms the military is excoriated as never before for its hubris, corruption and incompetence.
The Shehzad killing has highlighted this trend. It has also rallied Pakistans journalist community, civil society groups, political activists and students behind a demand to bring his murderers to justice.
I dont know of an earlier death that triggered similar outrage throughout Pakistan. Shehzad paid the ultimate price to help galvanize Pakistanis to reform the instruments of their repression, in this case the rogues in their military-intelligence establishment.
Reining in these vain men in arms will not be easy. The Pakistani armed forces have never known civilian control. I dont believe, however, that they can remain immune to the driving winds of democracy and freedom that are swirling inside Pakistan and all around it.
Mustafa Malik, an international affairs columnist in Washington, has worked as a reporter, editor and columnist for American and Pakistani newspapers. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.
THE DAILY STAR :: Opinion :: Commentary :: Rein in Pakistan
Lebanon
Rein in Pakistans military cabal
June 10, 2011 02:41 AM
By Mustafa Malik
I was saddened but not surprised by news of the recent slaying of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shehzad.
He didnt have an American passport or other credentials that had once enabled me to come out in one piece from a dungeon run by Pakistani intelligence.
Shehzads killing bears all the hallmarks of previous killings perpetrated by Pakistani intelligence agencies, said Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan representative for Human Rights Watch.
The Asia Times correspondent had antagonized Pakistans powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate by exposing the Pakistani navys links to militant groups.
Dedicated to his profession, the reporter had defied the ISIs warnings against digging too deep into military matters.
I have had personal experience, as have numerous other journalists, with the wrath of Pakistans military and its intelligence services. The lines between the two are often blurred.
On Aug. 21, 1989, I was interviewing a retired army general, Khalid Mahmud Arif, at the Rawalpindi offices of then army chief of staff General Mirza Aslam Beg.
I was on a research trip to Pakistan and told Arif that I had heard complaints from Pakistani politicians about the huge military budget, equivalent to 36.7 percent of the total national budget outlays the previous year.
I inquired whether it wasnt time to seek peace with India against which Pakistan cant expect to prevail in any armed conflict.Visibly angry, Arif asked what made me think Pakistan cant prevail in a war with India. I reminded him that the Pakistani armed forces had lost all their three earlier wars, and that in the 1971 conflict 93,000 Pakistani soldiers had been taken prisoner by India.
Were not the Pakistani armys repeated coups, I inquired, affecting its morale and professionalism? I would learn later that Arif had been deeply involved in the coup led by General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq.
Enraged, Arif ambushed me with a series of rapid-fire personal questions, including one about whether I was a practicing Muslim. When I refused to answer some of his queries and sought to end the interview, he ordered me to wait and went out.
Two armed guards prevented me from leaving. About 20 minutes later three plainclothes men barged in, arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded me, placed a hood over my head, and drove me off to an unknown location.
I was interrogated by two angry men in a basement room with spooky images on the wall and smudges of dry blood (or perhaps red dye) on the floor. Sporting wooden staffs, the men harangued me about the quality of my upbringing as a Muslim, any links I might have with Indian intelligence, the reason for my snooping in Pakistans army headquarters, and so on.
During the six years I had worked as a journalist in Pakistan, I had known how the military and intelligence harassed, tortured and killed journalists.
Now desperate to calm down Arifs demons, I hastened to tell them that I had served as press secretary and speechwriter for the late prime minister, Nurul Amin; that I was scheduled to interview the then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, three days later; and that I was an American citizen and wanted to contact the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
The interrogation gradually became more civil, even though I had to wait for several long hours before being released.
The embassys vice consul, Michael Gaye, investigated the incident and told me Sept. 9, 1989, that my 26-hour ordeal had occurred at the hands of Pakistans Military Intelligence service.
He promised to get back to me with his follow-up action. But he never did.
That was no surprise. The United States has traditionally ignored the Pakistani armed forces brutality and their recurrent coups against democratic governments.
The U.S. needed Pakistani help during the Cold War and the war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. To please the Pakistani generals, the Reagan administration even called off an FBI investigation into a 1988 plane crash that killed the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Raphel, along with the dictator Zia ul-Haq.
The military brass had suggested to their American interlocutors that the blowing up of the C-130 aircraft had been an inside job, and that digging into the matter would create problems for them. Today, Washington needs the help of Pakistans military and intelligence services to fight anti-American militants. I dont expect the Obama administration to review the U.S. policy of overlooking the generals excesses.
Im hoping, however, that Pakistanis themselves will eventually create problems for their power-drunk military and intelligence authorities.
A new, politicized generation and highly motivated news media appear to be in no mood to endure the militarys repression and usurpation of political power. In Pakistani streets and living rooms the military is excoriated as never before for its hubris, corruption and incompetence.
The Shehzad killing has highlighted this trend. It has also rallied Pakistans journalist community, civil society groups, political activists and students behind a demand to bring his murderers to justice.
I dont know of an earlier death that triggered similar outrage throughout Pakistan. Shehzad paid the ultimate price to help galvanize Pakistanis to reform the instruments of their repression, in this case the rogues in their military-intelligence establishment.
Reining in these vain men in arms will not be easy. The Pakistani armed forces have never known civilian control. I dont believe, however, that they can remain immune to the driving winds of democracy and freedom that are swirling inside Pakistan and all around it.
Mustafa Malik, an international affairs columnist in Washington, has worked as a reporter, editor and columnist for American and Pakistani newspapers. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.
THE DAILY STAR :: Opinion :: Commentary :: Rein in Pakistan
