Gen Raheel’s address has universal agreement

ISLAMABAD: There is not even the slightest room for any differences in any governmental, political or public circle over what the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif stated in his ten-minute dinner speech at the Washington embassy.
Although many might have eagerly expected and hoped that he will dilate, explicitly or implicitly, on any issue having even a remote linkage to the situation in the context of the Nawaz Sharif government-army relations, being bandied about by some conspiracy theorists and wishful thinkers, he confined himself to the counterterrorism operations.
Raheel Sharif’s style since he assumed the top military office two years back clearly shows that he is not in the business of making direct public statements, having political connotations, unlike some former army chiefs, who offered themselves no less than politicians. Whenever he speaks, he talks about professional military matters and the ongoing operations against terrorists and extremists, which he leads from the army side. If at all, anything having political connotation has come out during his incumbency, it has been released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in statements which have been attributing remarks to him.
There is a universal agreement in each and every circle over what Raheel Sharif said in his address. Not only Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but even the leading members of his core team had been frequently saying the same things that the General stated.
The army chief articulated his unflinching determination to persist with the nonreversible operation till its logical conclusion, and this is exactly what the government keeps emphasising day in and day out. Even on Saturday, the prime minister said in his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the Khanewal-Multan motorway section, that his government has taken the problem of terrorism head on and expressed the resolve to eliminate it.
He has often taken credit by stressing that it is his government that has launched the counterterrorism campaign from which the previous regimes shied away. And Raheel Sharif said the operational steps should have been taken ‘yesterday’.
The chief declared that the counterterrorism operations will not be reversed at any cost and action will also be taken against those impeding the drive. This is precisely what the premier has stressed on all occasions.
There is also agreement between the government and the army that more is required to be done to declare final victory. The army chief also said that a lot needs to be done regarding the operation and the situation needs to be handled prudently.
During his visits to Karachi and on other points, Nawaz Sharif has spoken about a stern action against the supporters and abettors of the terrorists. The army chief stated in Washington that all and any terrorism “facilitators, sympathisers and supporters need to be taken to task.”
There are also no two opinions on the massive sacrifices rendered by the army personnel and civilians during the operations, but they have not affected the pace and speed of the campaign in any way. Raheel Sharif said a great many sacrifices have been made not to slow down or turn back.
Across the board consensus also prevails that the operations in the tribal areas, Karachi and other parts of Pakistan have made the country safer. This became possible only because of the fact that all the key concerned state institutions including the parliament, political forces, superior judiciary and army came on the same page. Everyone agrees without even slightest reservation that the operation Zarb-e-Azb has become a success story as the army chief put it.
Undoubtedly, the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) is, among others, is the most significant flagship venture of the Nawaz Sharif government that it wants to complete at all costs. The Gwadar port has also the same importance for it. The prime minister frequently talks about them. Raheel Sharif said development projects like Gwadar and Reko Diq will ensure economic progress and the CPEC will materialise in a couple of years.
The prime minister regretted in Khanewal that the process of development was halted after 1999 (martial law imposed by General Pervez Musharraf) and Pakistan was (later) plunged into many problems including terrorism and power outages.
While Raheel Sharif’s speech to the Pakistani community audience certainly disappointed the conspirators as he did not touch the issues that they wanted him to speak on, back home Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan dismissed the perception about strain in civil-military relations and took on the elements churning out such rumours, expecting a political quake. He refrained from identifying such schemers although time has come to pinpoint them publicly so that they are exposed to all and sundry once again and are appropriately punished.
His remarks emitted a feel-good impression contrary to what intriguers wish people to believe. The minister tried to puncture their view when he described the civil-military understanding as Pakistan’s strength and said there was no civil-military divide and everything was normal.
While anti-democracy elements had desperately attempted to present the army chief’s US visit in a different light as per their wishful thinking, Chaudhry Nisar said Raheel Sharif did not embark on the trip on his own and a summary for it had been moved, that was approved by the prime minister.