Battle against terrorism cannot be won by the armed forces alone: COAS

[Devil Soul]

Battle against terrorism cannot be won by the armed forces alone: COAS
DAWN.COM — PUBLISHED about an hour ago

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif, chief guest at the Pakistan Naval Academy passing out parade ceremony, giving away sword of honour award. -courtesy Maj-Gen Asim Bajwa's twitter account
KARACHI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif said on Saturday that the battle against terrorism cannot be won by the armed forces alone and he was encouraged to see the whole nation pursuing the national effort with a great sense of purpose.

Army Chief General Raheel Sharif made the statements while addressing the passing-out parade ceremony at the Pakistan Naval Academy, PNS Rahbar in Karachi's Manora island as the chief guest, according to a series of tweets posted by Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asim Bajwa.

AsimBajwaISPR @AsimBajwaISPR
Battle vs terrorism won't be won by AFs alone.Encouraging to see entire nation pursuing this national effort with great sense of purpose-7

10:26 AM - 13 Jun 2015

General Raheel Sharif said that the entire world endorses Pakistan's security concerns and added that ceasefire violations, bloodshed in Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Karachi manifest the enemy's hostile intent.

AsimBajwaISPR @AsimBajwaISPR
COAS-Navy Parade:Entire world endorses r security concern.Ceasefire violation,blood letting in Bln,FATA,Kci manifest enemy hostile intent1/7

10:17 AM - 13 Jun 2015

"Entire nation expresses the resolve to eliminate the menace of terrorism. Operation Zarb-i-Azb is delivering decisive results and terrorists resorting to desperate actions," he further said.

AsimBajwaISPR @AsimBajwaISPR
Entire nation expresses resolve 2 eliminate terror menace.Ops Z-e-A delivering decisive results.Terrorists resorting to desperate actions-6

10:23 AM - 13 Jun 2015

The army chief added that Pakistan has been willing to cooperate with other nations for peace but not at the cost of national interest, sovereign rights and national pride.


AsimBajwaISPR @AsimBajwaISPR
Pak shown willingness to coop with other nations for peace but not at expense of our national interests,sovereign rights,national pride-2/7

10:22 AM - 13 Jun 2015

He said, "We are ready to pay any price to protect our nationhood and safeguard Pakistan's interests, be it Kashmir, development of new ports or exploitation of natural resources."

AsimBajwaISPR @AsimBajwaISPR
Ready to pay any price to protect our nationhood,safeguard interest, be it Kashmir,dev of new ports,exploitation of natural resources-3/7

10:22 AM - 13 Jun 2015

General Raheel Sharif also said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with the Gwadar Port as its catalyst, will be built and developed as one of the most strategic deep sea ports in the region at any cost.

AsimBajwaISPR @AsimBajwaISPR
CPEC with Gwadar Port as its catalyst will be built&developed as one of most strategic deep sea port in the region at any cost whatsoever-5

10:23 AM - 13 Jun 2015

"CPEC holds enormous potential for transforming the lives of people in the region," said the army chief adding that the armed forces are acutely aware of enemy campaigns and will defeat designs against it.

AsimBajwaISPR @AsimBajwaISPR
CPEC holds enormous potential for transforming lives of region's people.Acutely aware of enemy campaigns,will defeat designs against it-4/7

10:23 AM - 13 Jun 2015

 

[Javed Aslam]

The statement of the COAS is absolutely credible, 100% accurate and well thought. The battle against terrorism cannot be won by the armed forces alone because it will need a good teamwork to completely wipe terrorism out of our beloved Pakistan - teamwork is the key phrase here. Which, in a nutshell, means that all 4 key organs of the state need to work in coordination and collaboration with the armed forces to win this battle against terrorism.

Pakistan, in fact, got the world's best armed forces equipped with atomic warfare; most of all their professional skills but courage and spirit (based on LAILAHA ILALLAH) puts them in front of other forces in the world. So I have no doubt in claiming that our armed forces can win their battle against terrorism alone but if the other key organs of the state can support them by playing their part properly then that can basically make their job easier. By the way those 4 key state organs which should really team-up against terrorism are:-

1. The Armed Forces
2. The Politicians including the PM and his team
3. The Police and Executive
4. The Judiciary

The role of the armed forces is at the heart of this battle. We are simply fortunate to have a highly professional COAS.

Then come the politicians - but, with a very few exemptions, most of them are bunch of corrupts and uneducated or incompetent feudal lords with a track record of failure. I personally believe that Pakistan would need to select her leadership rather than electing it because there is too much mess in Pak politics and so called politicians are merely too incompetent to face modern challenges including terrorism. Therefore often on their part we see a complete lack of policy or a will in terms of tackling terrorism. The best way out this is that we should have some sort of written exam or a test prior to allowing someone to contest the elections in order to get some effective policy and legislation.

Then comes the police - our police needs to be made accountable, modernized and trained to a high standard to be basically made capable to keep law & order and be able to coordinate with the armed forces to win the battle against terrorism. In this respect merit should be the criteria and a force such as Pak-Army should be the benchmark for the parameters of selection, training and accountability of police all over the country.

Last but not least important role in the battle against terrorism is of Pak judiciary. This is very unfortunate that similar to our politicians our judges seem to have no awareness of the concept of "the national interest of Pakistan". For example when a terrorism accused gets arrested and is trialed by a court of law in Pakistan the judges are not trained enough to consider and foresee the long term impact of their decisions. They basically allow bails or acquit such suspects showing too much lenience blaming lack of evidence etc. Which is wrong and in no way shape or form can be categorised as supporting the armed forces in the battle against terrorism moreover if we think about it such acquittal can also leave some really negative impact on the society as a whole. To support my argument I give example of the mastermind of Safoora Goth massacre who had apparently been arrested, charged previously but then released by a court due to lack of evidence. Nonetheless there are many many high court judgments of Pakistani origin I have myself read through in which judges have accepted a plea in defense on the basis of a set principle that it is better to acquit a hundred of accused rather than convicting one innocent. But on the other hand I have noted English judges taking matter of "national interest" with extraordinary consideration and even in cases of minor offences such as traffic offences they don't set criminal free therefore the ratio of repeat crimes is relatively low in England than Pakistan.

There is one more step we can take, anyway, but it would help us to control terrorism. That is the registration of all citizens of Pakistan and establishing an effective Criminal Record of them. Such a system can then be linked with the courts, police and intelligentsia of course.

Lastly I would like to, sum up my article, emphasise once more that all Pakistanis in general and the key state organs in particular must support our armed forces to win the battle against terrorism. Because, "battle against terrorism cannot be won by the armed forces alone".

(I am a practicing lawyer in England - You can find/follow me on twitter Malik M Javed Aslam)