Now for the transformation

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Now for the transformation



By Kamran Shafi


I HAVE to start this week’s piece by alluding to the reaction to last week’s article in which I had criticised the army’s indulging in the retail business. A correspondent writing in the letters’ section even accused me of ‘army-bashing’.

Not true, not even remotely. I have been writing in the national press for over 25 years now, and have always acknowledged the army as my second mother: I did join it as a very young boy of 19 after all, and spent some of the best years of my life in it, learning some great lessons that made officers and, hopefully, gentlemen of us.

I hasten to add that I was always in thrall to the Pakistan Army Act unlike the Commando; I always had the utmost respect for my commanding officers unlike the Commando; I was in no way as macho as the Commando. I was just a run-of-the-mill officer who tried to follow the dictates of good order and military discipline at all times. And when I failed I jolly well said sorry, again unlike the Commando.

That is why old soldiers like I get saddened and dismayed, indeed enraged when we see the army running real estate agencies and marriage halls, and bakeries and tikka and fast-food joints out of army officers’ messes. We are ashamed when we see officers’ messes renting out part of their premises to commercial organisations like banks, and when we see poultry and fish farms within unit lines.

We are astonished at the extent of the all-pervasive greed, for what else can one call it, and the free-for-all way in which the army high command has allowed it to grow. Go to the local flyblown bazaar at Marala Headworks near Sialkot and you will see a shop run by the local unit selling biscuits and toothpaste and what have you, a uniformed soldier standing behind the counter; go to Skardu and you will find a pastry and cake shop run by the Northern Light Infantry (once upon a time the Gilgit Scouts of legend, and the courageous Karakoram Scouts), a havaldar and two sepoys serving the customers.

As to the criticism that I wrote about the Mardan tragedy so close to its happening, the whole point was to bring into stark relief the fact that if the army was not into the retail business in such a big way that it was running its own marketplace where all comers were welcome and the more the merrier, mayhap the bombers would have found it slightly more difficult to do their dastardly act.

The point has to be made that all over the world, the armed forces stay within their own barracks and forts and, in the case of the subcontinent, cantonments. The United States; the United Kingdom; China; Russia; India; you name it, and units of the armed forces live and work within a secure environment. They do not sell merchandise in open markets and expose themselves to easy attack.

Just outside Washington DC is Fort Myers, among hundreds of other defence installations across the country, which you enter after only the most stringent checks. In the UK, there is the area of Salisbury Plain with its no-go areas for non-military persons. Even the Chelsea Barracks in the heart of London are off-limits to all except defence personnel, as are the Horse Guards and Household Cavalry. I must add here too that none of the above lend their premises for wedding receptions; none of their messes serve burgers and fries and fish and chips to the general public.

No army in the world sells state-owned land to its officers at throwaway prices, who then make a killing selling it to civilians in so-called Defence Housing and ‘General’ colonies. No army in the world runs banks (with the sole exception of the Thai Army which too is a state within a state) and travel agencies and security companies either.

It simply is not enough that the army withdraw some of its senior officers from high-profile civilian jobs. It must disengage itself from all commercial activities, particularly at this dangerous time when it is in the vanguard of the so-called war on terror, and is consequently the target of those that feel wronged by America’s not-so-sensitive attitude towards collateral damage.

A word about the leak in the papers about the possible sacking of Ashfaq Kayani. No one takes it as merely ‘malicious gossip’ please, for it comes from a ‘renowned defence analyst’, my old friend Ikram Sehgal. Ikram does not write carelessly, especially about such high-profile matters. There simply has to be some fire there somewhere. Perhaps set by an increasingly beleaguered Commando, thinking there was no harm in testing the wind by indulging in a little kite-flying.

For we are in the middle of sorting ourselves out: the political forces are trying to chart their way through the maze put into place by the Commando, a maze that has his own agents hidden within it. There are implied threats being made by the Commando and said agents, and so on. Why can the Americans not leave us in peace at this time so we can try and salvage whatever we can of this blessed country in our own way?

As to the threats, I am one of those that want the Commando to act NOW, not tomorrow. Let him dismiss the assemblies for all I care; let him sack the army chief and appoint his own relative (as ‘maliciously’ rumoured) for all I care: let the Commando do whatever he wants. For therein lies our salvation. For it is only then that the true and very ugly face of the state of Pakistan will really stare the people in the eye. And it is only then that we shall truly transform this country from a dictatorship to a true democracy.

Some weeks ago, I had counselled the Pakistan People’s Party to keep it simple and to do what it had promised to do, not once, but twice, both times going back on its word: restore the judges wrongly removed by a chief of army staff. It is imperative that this be done in accord with advice from the best legal brains in the country, through a simple executive order. The party will hurt itself very deeply if it continues to obfuscate matters.

Bushism of the week: “The folks who conducted to act on our country on Sept 11 made a big mistake. They underestimated America. They underestimated our resolve, our determination, our love for freedom. The misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbour in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander-in-chief, too.” — President George W Bush, Langley, Virginia, Sept 26, 2001.

kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk
DAWN - Kamran Shafi Corner; May 27, 2008

How far is the correctness of the article.

In the IA, they rent out a part of Military Clubs for marriage or private function of officers and retired officers and also do the catering and service.

But no other commercial venture is practised by the military.

 

[blain2]

Unfortunately its true to some extent. The activities should not be generalized. But some units and their commanders are more enterprising, most others are not. Also keep in mind that those units located closer to well settled cities are more likely to engage in such practices.

This definitely did not happen in the 80s or even early 90s but as of late, due to the Musharraf era and the posting of officers to civilian institutions have made this a bigger perception issue. Hopefully the bashing will result in curtailment of such activities.