Assert thyself

[monitor]

Assert thyself
May 28, 2011

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

There were a number of key decisions taken in the past by military generals which amply indicate that the army lacks the capacity to look at vital issues in a comprehensive manner. These decisions subsequently had a highly negative impact on Pakistan’s security, social structure and economy.

Zia-ul-Haq and his generals simply failed to visualise the consequences when they decided to provide all out support to America’s proxy war against the USSR in Afghanistan. The ISI helped CIA bring in thousands of jihadis from all over the world and accommodated them in the tribal areas and in what is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The involvement in the civil war brought in millions of Afghan refugees and tens of thousands of lethal weapons. The country was turned into a conduit for heroin trade and a big consumer of the drug. This original sin gave birth to a chain of negative consequences, some of which still continue to pester the country.

The military establishment ensured that the policy of support to the extremists and militants was not abandoned even after Zia’s removal. A number of top security officials got transformed into extremists as they groomed the international jihadi brigade.

Musharraf and the generals under him failed to realise the dangers of continuing to back the Taliban regime which was harbouring OBL and turning Afghanistan into a launchpad for the terrorists to destabilize the region. Thousands of Pakistanis were encouraged by extremist organizations to get training in bomb making, sabotage activities, guerrilla warfare in camps run by Pakistani instructors. These elements were to subsequently turn their guns against their trainers and patrons.

Musharraf and the GHQ under him again failed to realise the long term implications of yielding to the US demands. In a misconceived attempt to ‘turn the calamity into opportunity’, Musharraf handed over bases inside Pakistan to the US, from which drones were to subsequently fly.

The army leadership is still taking vital decisions relating to security and foreign relations despite an elected government being in office. Instead of allowing the government to decide how to react to the Abbottabad affair, the generals issued a policy statement maintaining that another raid of a similar kind would prompt a review of military cooperation with the United States. The Prime Minister who had supported the US action earlier was made to look like a fool.

Meanwhile the decision by the parliament to conduct an independent enquiry into the Abbottabad failures has not been implemented for opposition from the powers that be. What appears is that the army wants the parliament to be no more than a body which takes responsibility for army’s decisions and lends support to it whenever the army faces the unhappy consequences of its faulty policies.

The policies have led to a point where over 35,000 civilians and about 5,000 security personnel have been killed by the terrorists; the economy is in tatters and, except for China, Pakistan is left with no friend.

Meanwhile, retired senior military officers and pro-establishment politicians and commentators have launched a barrage of criticism to malign the civilian government for a sellout to the US, maintaining that the war on terror is not Pakistan’s war but a US ploy to take away the country’s nuclear assets. The critics conveniently forget that the army leadership continues to remain, as before, the sole author of the policies regarding terrorism and relations with the US and Afghanistan. If the CIA has interrogated OBL’s wives, or the US helicopter destroyed in Abbottabad is being returned or the CIA allowed to scour OBL’s Abbottabad compound, this is happening courtesy the non-political powers.

The problem with the parliamentary leadership is partly lack of initiative and partly fear of the army. However, unless the parliament is ready to assert itself, policies will continue to be formulated by the off-stage players.

The work done by the parliament in modern times is both varied in nature and considerable in volume. A good deal of its business is, therefore, transacted by what are called the parliamentary committees.

The parliament has set up three committees to deal with security and defence. They however suffer from a number of shortcomings. As a recent PILDAT study points out, the absence of parliamentary leadership in defining policy and overseeing its implementation is most stark in the present national security scenario. It is time parliament demands its right to be informed on security related issues.

It is ironic that while the US Congress undertakes a periodic review of its strategy in Afghanistan, Pakistan chooses to remain confined to just responding to events.

The comparison with other parliamentary democracies, such as India and the UK, shows that our committees lag far behind in efficiency. They need to hold more meetings, publish more reports and send more recommendations to parliament than they have done so far. Sustaining democracy requires eternal vigilance by parliament which is presently lacking.

The writer is a former academic and a political analyst.
-Pakistan today

 

[arsalabbasi]

Our leaders have no second thought except for worrying about their ruling period, opposition is obeying the quote " The enemy of your's is mine friend ". so who will think about Pakistan's Security ??

Off course some one is taking pain for thinking about our strategy & unfortunately or fortunately our army is doing it. They are doing it well or not, it will be decided by time. But one thing is clear that our politicians will always fight for " KURCI" (Making Government)

 

[Sinnerman108]

Assert thyself
May 28, 2011

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

He should read up history !
Pakistan and Afghanistan's relation does not start from 1979,
Why don't these people try to understand the happenings of 1960s and 1970s.

 

[monitor]

Pakistan will Stay and Prosper
June 9, 2011
By Saeed Qureshi
Exclusive Article

We all know Pakistan is in deep quagmire. Yet I believe Pakistan will come out of its daunting challenges with flying colors. Since its inception, Pakistan has witnessed and gone through several conceivable trials and tribulations because of both internal and external factors.

Barring the cataclysm of the cessation of East Pakistan in 1971 that truncated Pakistan into two parts, the rest of the problems were of similar import as encountered by nascent nations.

Pakistan’s strength lies in the patriotism of its people, its untapped natural resources, its hardworking manpower, its fertile and vast land, its strong armed forces, resilience of its people to overcome one crisis after another and undying will to survive against odds.

I cannot side with the skeptics and dooms day despondents who claim Pakistan was moving towards disintegration and collapse. Such people are either enemies of Pakistan or paranoid. Or else they don not have the intention to wish well for Pakistan.

The refrain on this setback and that tragedy is the favorite pastime of such individuals who with their trumped up apprehensions sow dejection and despondency to weaken or break the will of the people to live together.

Admittedly there are myriad problems such as bad governance or alloyed democracy or delicate law and order, religious militancy, sectarian strife, poor civic facilities, socio-economic irritants and so on. But does that mean that we should disown the very country and start tolling the bells for its demise?

These problems are much more ferocious and bounteous in several other countries but no one talks about there about the end game or the disintegration.

Look at whole Africa from North to South and Asia minor immersed into a doom’ day stranglehold. Is Pakistan not better than the horrendous conditions prevailing in those states?

Granted that in Pakistan the law and order is fragile and there are murders, kidnapping, assassinations and vendetta killings, bomb blasts and suicide bombings.

But can these incidents be compared with what is happening in the entire Middle East and the civil war raging and ravaging in African countries, like Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda , Nigeria, Chad, Eritrea ,Ethiopia, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Western Sahara.

No matter how flawed the system of government in Pakistan is but fundamentally there is a democratic form with three branches of state functioning relatively free, albeit not as immaculate as we can find in West Europe or the United States.

Those countries reached the stage of mature and accountable systems and good governance after great tragedies and crises and a prolonged period of time. The American civil war alone is a grim reminder of the destruction and horrendous manslaughter and instability that took place during those wars.

Have we forgotten the ideological tussle between the Catholics and Protestants after the onset of Reformation era entailing the spine chilling barbarities perpetrated by the Catholics against the newly emerging breakaway Protestants?

My vision is that Pakistan despite its countless problems including the oft repeated skepticism about its viability and survival will stay and in due course move steadfastly on the way to becoming a modern state with all attending hallmarks.

The brighter side of the present the present day Pakistan is that the women are more empowered, and there is some kind of accountability although the executive has not moved fast to take action against the culprits.

A stage would arrive when civil society would be vibrant enough to press for dire action against the defaulters, outlaws, delinquents, bribe takers and so.

Notwithstanding the personal objectionable character or the villainous volition of the individuals in power in Pakistan, the fact cannot be ignored that it is essentially an elected government. Still it is a democratic dispensation that retains some semblance of accountability and censure as exercised by media and judiciary.

Instead of condemning or berating the government for every major and minor fault, let us see it in a broader context. At least it is being run by the people’s elected representatives. Let us strive and wish that the incumbent government can move away from its mistakes and follies, corrects its rudder, and drives the country out of dire straits. The “worst democracy is better than the best dictatorship”, goes the adage.

The grassroots revolution that is much wished seems to be a far cry at the moment because there is no leader that can motivate the people to come out in the streets and create havoc against the privileged classes. The army basically in Pakistan is not for people friendly change as it comes in power to serve the interests of its own cadres.

Starting from Imran Khan, down to a labor leader no one has the charisma and the caliber to spur a revolution that should be ruthless or if peaceful must be thunderous to root out the morbid status quo.

The socialist or proletariat revolution would be tenaciously resisted by the rightist groups and the conservative bands. Similarly, the religion based change a la Taliban would be narrow and would be hotly contested by the rival groups professing different faith from the mainstream torch bearers.

We cannot see a religious revolution in the contemporary history. But if it takes place, then such a society turns the clock back and remains far behind the developed nations, in social and political terms. Saudi Arabic is one example. Iranian revolution is not essentially a religious change but bears the character of a nation state.

Undeniably, there is an acute yearning for the change and a burgeoning urge to crush the elite classes. But such a pursuit cannot be attained as this is not the era after the World War I. The communist or people’s revolution that started from Russia at the turn of the 20th century failed.

Therefore, its replay would be fatal and futile in the present times when ideology hardly matters and nation states have their own peculiar image and complexion to stay and survive.

If a miracle happens and the genes of the present Pakistani puppet rulers undergo transformation, and they disassociate Pakistan from the ongoing war in northern tribal regions of Pakistan, then that would be the real day of deliverance for Pakistan.

This war that is thrust upon Pakistan by the western countries has turned Pakistan into a traumatic land where the criminals roam free to kill the people and get away.

The Pakistan’s administration demonstrates callous indifference towards the lawlessness and contemptuous disregard of the people’s woes, recasting the institutions and the crucial task of nation building and aversion for the civil society and rule of law.

Doing good things for the welfare of the citizens is alien and an anathema to the rulers who have entered the realm of power by strange coincidence.

But if God is kind and gives them some modicum of care for the Pakistan they should evolve and make such plans that bring a turnaround in the economy of Pakistan. Pakistan can learn and follow in the footsteps of South Korea and Singapore and go headlong for reconstruction of economy and make it booming.

Unlike South Korea and Singapore, Pakistan geographically and demographically is a large country. By recalling the army from the tribal belt and gearing up a stupendous economic activity and reconstruction, Pakistan has the ability and potential to outclass many developing economies of the world?

Why Pakistan cannot do things that serve the people well and make the country strong both economically and socially? Why have Pakistan earned the stigma and odium of a crony and client state of the United States, though we were always forsaken when the job was done?

Pakistan can survive without foreign aid and alms. If we persist and adhere to our national honor and work assiduously for economic uplift and a civil society and functional genuine democracy, no country how overbearing that might be, can harm us.

If Taliban remain confined to Afghanistan let that government deal with them. At best we can stop and block the infiltration of the militants into Pakistan for which not the armed forces but our tribal population is enough and effective.

It is foregone that once we wind up our partnership in regional wars, the radicals and extremists would call off their anti-Pakistan operations and activities. They can later be persuaded to join the nation building task by democratic and civil means.

The writer is a senior journalist and a former diplomat