COMMENT: Kayani’s caring gestures —Elf Habib
Democracy in Pakistan is in an especially precarious state, as it has not only to sustain and stabilise itself, but also has to deliver the dreams long cherished for human and economic development
General Kayani’s offer to sponsor the education of 350 Baloch youths is indeed a welcome initiative, reflecting his vision about the inevitable need to spur and strengthen cerebral and skill development. Last November, he similarly offered a blank cheque to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police to refurbish their potential in our first real war for survival and progress as a modern tolerant democratic state. The frontier police and population had repeatedly endured the monstrous and murderous militant onslaughts. The police certainly bore the heaviest burden. Realising this, General Kayani also donated 20 million rupees to the police martyr fund. Profuse praise and encomium for this gesture were accordingly poured on him, including a quite laudatory editorial in this illustrious paper.
General Kayani, in fact, happens to be a commander-in-chief at a very critical and historic juncture, when the nation, ruined and ravaged by repeated dictatorships, seems to be genuinely fired with a new enthusiasm to resume its long lost democratic path. Yet, it is mired in the politics of vendetta, ethnic and sectarian schism, militancy and remnants of dictatorship out to derail the democratic process. The Taliban are spilling blood, spreading devastation and devouring the resources, which were already too inadequate to meet our intricate socio-economic imperatives. The excruciating economic recession is rattling even the most robust and established democracies. Democracy in Pakistan is in an especially precarious state, as it has not only to sustain and stabilise itself, but also has to deliver the dreams long cherished for human and economic development.
The repeated bouts of army dictatorship, however, have systematically diverted the national resources to the defence sector, leaving relatively far little for the common basic needs like health, food, energy, education, skill building, social care and employment avenues. Further, the repeated ouster, incarceration, victimisation, vilification and banishment of the popular politicians rocked their confidence to slice even the slightest bits from the defence sector. A really caring gesture by Kayani and his commanders thus would be to keep sharing the most feasible chunks of their resources for the long simmering social and civilian needs and proffer 7-10 percent of their budget to the health and education sectors.
Our forces, indeed, are already rendering remarkably memorable and monumental sacrifices under the weirdly daunting odds in the most rugged and treacherous terrain. They are also certainly hard-pressed for some essential modern equipment and facilities. Yet, given the proper will, sagacity and foresight, an optimum balance can certainly be found between the immediately pressing inevitables and long-term, read justifiable, requirements. An agreement to procure fighting planes for $ 1.4 billion from China was, for instance, signed barely a few days after the revelation of some reservations at a corp commanders conference concerning some conditions in the $ 1.5 billion Kerry-Lugar bill hit the media, triggering tremors to topple the tottering civilian set-up. Every patriotic soul perturbed at our peculiar civil-army equation felt that the commanders could certainly pursue a more careful option to vent their feelings through their normal channels. Even the defence deal could, preferably, be delayed pending an economic recovery. Similarly, a burden of $ 75 billion external and internal debt, pathetic health and education conditions and the crippling energy, industrial and employment scenario could hardly justify the recent Rs 105 billion raise in this sector. Despite the tirade of inefficiency, corruption and unscrupulous spending against the civilian government, any rational analyst would concede that our catastrophic economic deterioration has been caused mostly by our persistently unrealistic and excessive defence allocations.
A really gracious and caring gesture on the part of our proud commanders, thus, would be to delve deeper to pare down a fraction of their projected layouts and spare a meaningful solace for the sufferers. This would evidently also force the government to slash some of its other spendings and strive for a sturdier basis to spurn the Kerry-Lugar and IMF strictures. The exigency for some actual downward review of the defence budget is evidently further exacerbated by the persistently plummeting development sectors. With the bare crumbs left for development, even the most selfless angels, the exemplary economic wizards and gurus of good governance cannot manage the miracle of the long elusive welfare and development.
No democracy, in fact, can prosper without adequate resources equitably distributed to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders. Still another cardinal and more commendable gesture by Kayani and the commanders would be to dispel every doubt about the continuation of democracy being perpetrated by the doom mongers, remnants of the dictatorship and the forces disillusioned of any dominant role in the representative system. Profound trust and confidence in the continuation of a system are essential for its survival and success. In Pakistan unfortunately, the detonators to destroy democracy were inserted right at the start of the system. Most media hawks, rather than digging up the draconian deeds, scams and scandals of the decades of dictatorship, are battering the civilian leadership struggling to sustain the system. A demolition squad in a juggernaut section of the media even theorised how any untoward reaction in Sindh on scuttling the PPP-led government could be countered by manoeuvring the nationalist forces. The assertion evokes the painful memories of the swaggering yet futile strategy to swamp the popular surge in East Pakistan through manipulated minion organisations.
Some other segments are similarly stirring a civil-army dichotomy by praising certain army actions while skewering the related civilian endeavours, particularly in the context of relief operations. The idea, ironically, is either quite naïve or a deliberate ploy to portray the army and the government as two separate or different entities. The army evidently is the most trained, valorous and disciplined organ of the government, like the brave trained youth of an extended clan gathered and groomed to counter any calamity or crisis. Reverence and realisation of the will and command of the family elders, which in modern established societies symbolises the elected civilian leaders, is an inalienable essence of the entire army discipline and training. These ideas are now so ridiculously rudimentary, common and innately ingrained into modern democracies that they are rarely mentioned or debated. Yet, they have to be repeatedly emphasised in a country crushed by repeated adventurism. Even the deepest love, reverence and devotion requires repeated asseveration and reiteration to remove the shreds of suspicion, doubt and uncertainties. So another generous gesture by Kayani would be to squelch and stump the rumours, innuendos and the doubts about his resolve to keep the representative system on an even keel and uninterrupted course.
The writer is an academic and freelance columnist. He can be reached at
habibpbu@yahoo.com
....and education and rehablitation is the job of the civilian govt - oh sorry! they r too busy looting the country!!!
shameful!!!
