Lessons for " Bloody Civilians"

[pak-marine]

Lessons for “bloody civilians”

August 2, 2011

They pointed their guns at me, and started comparing my face with different photographs of wanted terrorists.

“What do you do?” an officer asked.

After an anguished bit of silence, I replied.

“I’m a teacher.”

“Teacher of what?”

“I teach film.”

“Sir jee he is lying! Who on earth teaches films after all?’’

This was about two weeks back, while I was entering the Lahore Cantonment, when army personnel stopped me at a check-point. The minute I was about to leave after the usual investigation, I heard an army officer say something out of the blue, that offended me to the core:

“Bloody civilian!”

I instantly turned back and strictly asked the reason for their immoral stunt, also impelling them to apologize. They did not expect such a reaction, and thus resorted to harassing me in the way I’ve mentioned above.

What had given the courage to this uniformed gang to affront the people? Our people’s almost sacred love for the military!

A constant delusion of Pakistan’s majority regarding their armed forces has been the most effective tool for the military forces to keep their hegemony alive. This delusion is the upshot of our state’s policy of distorting and narrowing the history since its inception in 1947.

“Hindus are our worst enemies, India is behind every misery, Islam is the center of the universe and Pakistan is the greatest nation” are the compulsory clichés of our curricula and hence the first few things our children begin to learn and believe in. Why are we surprised over this hate culture which culminated in an era of terror and horrid bloodshed? What else can be expected from a generation which has grown up in the siege of state-sponsored illusions and cultural narcissism?

On the one hand, the content of our state-prescribed text books inject our minds with hatred for almost everything that has officially been declared “against the religious and national sentiments” of the country. On the other hand, they continue to preach the ‘heroics’ of Pakistan’s military forces, with a strong emphasis on the “great nationalist” army dictators, portraying them as the protagonists of the state’s chaotic history. This nauseating propaganda is the foremost reason behind this delusional culture. People mostly see the military as the most “organized, committed and corruption free” national institution, ignoring a history of their crimes and failures.

An exaggerated fear of India’s conspiracies has been a stereotypical justification for supporting and strengthening the military forces since 1947, although according to all records outside of Pakistan, they have lost all four wars with our neighbouring country.

Pakistan’s military has also frequently imposed martial laws and emergencies. They had also inevitably brutalized the people of the former East Pakistan during the war of 1971. They, along with the ISI and CIA as their key backer, are responsible for producing and training the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, an act whose fallout in the form of Islamic extremism keeps haunting us.

Pakistan’s military has also turned out to be a trained syndicate which is the major stake holder in every immense business of the country ranging from commercial banks, housing societies, airlines to hospitals, schools and super stores, not to mention the greater percentage of GDP our poor country spends on defence every year. This haunting tale that has left Pakistan as a traumatic state, doesn’t merely end here. The vicious circle has reached to a point where they feel pride in calling us “bloody civilians!”

If the Pakistani masses choose to shut their eyes from reality, we may soon see a time when our children will be forced to memorize that India was once a part of Pakistan!

 

[Patriot]

No Sane Army Officer much less NCO/JAWAN (As they monitor the check posts) would say Bloody civilian and whats wrong with Military Police asking few questions?I've been stopped several times and they only ask few questions and check your car and let you go.Now this guy is probably just ego butt hurt that he had to stop and be checked (Probably has some connections and thinks he is above the law).If MP let everyone go without checking then there are bomb blasts and people will blame Army for security failure.I wonder how this guy will feel at Immigration IN USA.I hope he goes to USA and gets first hand treatment from TSA.

 

[Rafi]

No Sane Army Officer much less NCO/JAWAN (As they monitor the check posts) would say Bloody civilian and whats wrong with Military Police asking few questions?I've been stopped several times and they only ask few questions and check your car and let you go.Now this guy is probably just ego butt hurt that he had to stop and be checked (Probably has some connections and thinks he is above the law).If MP let everyone go without checking then there is blasts and people will blame Army for security failure.I wonder how this guy will feel at Immigration IN USA.I hope he goes to USA and gets first hand treatment from TSA.

Exactly right, and if there was a terrorist incident - this guy would be the first one crying about "no security" - in my experience even the lowest Jawan are very polite.

 

[Imran Khan]

seriously forces use these words ? if yes then public has right to say bloody solder?

 

[Jango]

First hand experience of being checked by NCO , nothing like this anytime, surprisngly , even the police are very polite in their conduct. Could see this article writer being paid for maligning the army. And since when are there officers at check posts??

 

[President Camacho]

The friction between the Army and civilians is almost everywhere. I mean in every major country where the Army has played a crucial role.

One example is there in the opening post. Then second example can come from the US where during and after Vietnam war, veterans often had to bear getting spit on their faces by civilians.

The soldiers think they are doing a great "Ehsaan" (big favor) by being in the Army (the fact is that many seek to join the army for power and salary). While the civilians feel they are working so hard to pay for the soldiers' salaries who do nothing but fight their own wars and then come home to bully them.

The fact is, every civilian, and every soldier has its own front to fight.

However, just as among the civilians many become tax evaders or outright criminals, many soldiers too lose their minds when they feel the power of the guns. But such elements are not in the majority. Nor do they rule the majority.

This man is simply pissed off and venting his frustration in this article.



Except for what I truncated here...

A constant delusion of Pakistan’s majority regarding their armed forces has been the most effective tool for the military forces to keep their hegemony alive. This delusion is the upshot of our state’s policy of distorting and narrowing the history since its inception in 1947.

“Hindus are our worst enemies, India is behind every misery, Islam is the center of the universe and Pakistan is the greatest nation” are the compulsory clichés of our curricula and hence the first few things our children begin to learn and believe in. Why are we surprised over this hate culture which culminated in an era of terror and horrid bloodshed? What else can be expected from a generation which has grown up in the siege of state-sponsored illusions and cultural narcissism?

On the one hand, the content of our state-prescribed text books inject our minds with hatred for almost everything that has officially been declared “against the religious and national sentiments” of the country. On the other hand, they continue to preach the ‘heroics’ of Pakistan’s military forces, with a strong emphasis on the “great nationalist” army dictators, portraying them as the protagonists of the state’s chaotic history. This nauseating propaganda is the foremost reason behind this delusional culture. People mostly see the military as the most “organized, committed and corruption free” national institution, ignoring a history of their crimes and failures.

An exaggerated fear of India’s conspiracies has been a stereotypical justification for supporting and strengthening the military forces since 1947, although according to all records outside of Pakistan, they have lost all four wars with our neighbouring country.

Pakistan’s military has also frequently imposed martial laws and emergencies. They had also inevitably brutalized the people of the former East Pakistan during the war of 1971. They, along with the ISI and CIA as their key backer, are responsible for producing and training the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, an act whose fallout in the form of Islamic extremism keeps haunting us.

Pakistan’s military has also turned out to be a trained syndicate which is the major stake holder in every immense business of the country ranging from commercial banks, housing societies, airlines to hospitals, schools and super stores, not to mention the greater percentage of GDP our poor country spends on defence every year. This haunting tale that has left Pakistan as a traumatic state, doesn’t merely end here. The vicious circle has reached to a point where they feel pride in calling us “bloody civilians!”

If the Pakistani masses choose to shut their eyes from reality, we may soon see a time when our children will be forced to memorize that India was once a part of Pakistan!

...nothing is related to the incident or the cause of that misbehavior w.r.t "Bloody Civilian"!

 

[Roybot]

First hand experience of being checked by NCO , nothing like this anytime, surprisngly , even the police are very polite in their conduct. Could see this article writer being paid for maligning the army. And since when are there officers at check posts??

Or could very well be a one off case? I mean surely there are one or two hot headed arrogant ones in the Army?

 

[Rafi]

The friction between the Army and civilians is almost everywhere. I mean in every major country where the Army has played a crucial role.

One example is there in the opening post. Then second example can come from the US where during and after Vietnam war, veterans often had to bear getting spit on their faces by civilians.

The soldiers think they are doing a great "Ehsaan" (big favor) by being in the Army (the fact is that many seek to join the army for power and salary). While the civilians feel they are working so hard to pay for the soldiers' salaries who do nothing but fight their own wars and then come home to bully them.

The fact is, every civilian, and every soldier has its own front to fight. Just as among the civilians many become tax evaders or outright criminals, many soldiers too lose their minds when they feel the power of the guns. But such elements are not in the majority. Nor do they rule the majority.

This man is simply pissed off and venting his frustration in this article.



Except for what I truncated here...




...nothing is related to the incident or the cause of that misbehavior w.r.t "Bloody Civilian"!

Even in these trying and hard times, the approval rating of the Army according to neutral international polling agencies is about 80% - so the vast majority of people love their army, with the acceptance that not all the soldiers are angels, and especially in an institution with hundreds of thousands of personnel.

 

[Jango]

Or could very well be a one off case? I mean surely there are one or two hot headed arrogant ones in the Army?

could very well be, but only a one off one. (hopefully)

 

[S.M.R]

What BS article..... I have never heard such words though i hve lived my whole life in cantt areas. Even I daily face those jawans checking my car at Malir Cantt. These 'golden words' might have been picked by some producer and used in some movie / drama, otherwise they are usually very polite, especially lower grade Jawans who becharay are trained just to salute.

Whenever I visit aviation mess (COD) to meet my friend, on gate when i am stopped, i say 'col.______________ kay pass jana hai' he simply salutes by just listening 'col _________________' and asks for my card. Then i clarify keh bhai main col nahi mujay flaan kay paas jana hai.

 

[SQ8]

ITs always one or two cases that leave a bad taste.
recently a trip to Hunza and beyond by a local tour group got into a tangle with a army checkpost in that area.
Even though one of the cars was let go.. the army guys held back the other three cars.
The officer in charge was asked to explain..
and upon letting him know that the tour group wished to go further north.. they were rudely told to "go back to hunza"
He refused to listen or reason with anyone.
and at some point the jawans even pointed their weapons at the tour group which included journalists.

They did not go.. and apparently some angry journo's will soon be venting out their anger at this incident soon.

On the flipside.

In the recent heavy rains in Rawalpindi.. a car flipped over in front of me.
I slowed down..and a army pickup behind me did the same.
three troopers jumped out to assist in the pouring rain..

There are good and bad apples in every organization.
Critique of the bad ones must not be at the expense of the whole system.
Nor do the good apples excuse the bad ones from critique.

 

[Jango]

ITs always one or two cases that leave a bad taste.
recently a trip to Hunza and beyond by a local tour group got into a tangle with a army checkpost in that area.
Even though one of the cars was let go.. the army guys held back the other three cars.
The officer in charge was asked to explain..
and upon letting him know that the tour group wished to go further north.. they were rudely told to "go back to hunza"
He refused to listen or reason with anyone.
and at some point the jawans even pointed their weapons at the tour group which included journalists.

They did not go.. and apparently some angry journo's will soon be venting out their anger at this incident soon.

On the flipside.

In the recent heavy rains in Rawalpindi.. a car flipped over in front of me.
I slowed down..and a army pickup behind me did the same.
three troopers jumped out to assist in the pouring rain..

There are good and bad apples in every organization.
Critique of the bad ones must not be at the expense of the whole system.
Nor do the good apples excuse the bad ones from critique.

An other example, while in muree, the road leading to Bhurban was being renovated, a car got stuck at the side of the road, a mehran, we stopped, behind us two Army pickups also stopped. The troops got out and literally lifted the car out of trouble. So, there are alot of goog people, but alas, they are never shown.

 

[VCheng]

.......................................

Pakistan’s military has also turned out to be a trained syndicate which is the major stake holder in every immense business of the country ranging from commercial banks, housing societies, airlines to hospitals, schools and super stores, not to mention the greater percentage of GDP our poor country spends on defence every year. .........................

The above excerpt is the important fact to realize in the piece above.

 

[pak-marine]

The above excerpt is the important fact to realize in the piece above.

well what you hear back is army just owns it

 

[Jango]

The excerpt you bolded Vcheng, Shaheen airline gives a low cost option to the lower class,

The schools, APSACS, is a great source of relief for the people living in cantts and as well as civilians. Children from Humayun road campus regularly get the highest marks in FBISE. Fauji foundation provides medical colleges of good quality. So, these organizations are good for the public, but if the high-ups have mischief up their mind, who can stop them?