Quaid’s soldier?

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s in-camera briefing in the Senate last week, as reported, was music to the ears of overwhelming Pakistani for being compatible with the advice of the Founder of the Nation handed out to the army officers at the oath taking ceremony in Quetta in 1948.

The Quaid in his speech underscored the spirit of the oath requiring officers’ total and unconditional allegiance to the civilian authority. General Bajwa’s heart-melting assertion that the army strictly believes in the constitutional and democratic rule in the country clearly implies the institutional recognition of the supremacy of the Constitution and the Parliament.

The incumbent army chief may be thus quite legitimately deemed as the true follower of the Father of the Nation if he keeps his words in letter and spirit during his tenure. It may be added that his predecessors, with couple of exceptions, glaringly fell short of the benchmark thus earning the ire of the people and the history.

Their recalcitrance paved the way of countless predicaments for the nation and the resultant vicious cycle that is continuing in one form or another choking the national life without respite.If General Bajwa keeps his words and to be seen so, he may earn an enviable place in the political history of this unfortunate country. His repute as a believer of constitutional rule is very reassuring.

His total professionalism and its demonstration as such may usher an era of political stability in the country so critical for nation building process that has been hitherto subjected to successive hiccups of appalling proportion emanating from the well-known quarters. Majority of his predecessors blatantly defied the Quaid’s advice and were indeed instrumental of inflicting infinite indignities and humiliations.

They all had gone with the wind, and those who are living are remembered with disdain and profanity for their misdemeanor commissions. They are not considered even worthy of footnotes of the history.

History, as always, brought such megalomaniacs, past and present, in the dock to pronounce unforgiving verdict optimising its merciless revenge. General Bajwa may be remembered as the army chief with singular distinction if he successfully sets his institution’s direction consistent to the advice of the Quaid.

The timing of the army chief address cannot be better than as the country is passing through the most critical times. The country is bracing the internal and external existential threats those have assumed the horrendous proportion in the face of the political leadership’s whaling insults and allegations on each other giving no space to sanity, objectivity and balance in the context of the democratic politics notwithstanding Pakistan Peoples Party leadership’s decent role of in face of invective politics pursued by others.

The religious fanatics’ likely entry in the mainstream politics accentuated the polarisation and the Faizabad capitulation of the state shocked the nation and the international community alike.

The tightening of the diplomatic siege around Pakistan by India and its regional cohorts with the declared support of the Superpower (USA) heightened the security threat to almost dangerous level.

Unity and sanity are the need of the hour to stem the challenges through collective wisdom. General Bajwa’s address in the Senate, if followed by noticeable improvement in civil-military relations resonating unity of the perspective on internal and external challenges, may effectively thwart the looming dangers.

Their being on the same page may stabilise the teetering statecraft enough to navigate the unchartered waters unharmed. In the absence of such unity, it is terrified even to imagine the catastrophic consequences for the nation and the federation.

Credit goes to Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani who has been consistently advocating the cause of engagements among the state institutions considering so critical for strengthening the democratic institutions and enabling them to serve the state and the people who are at the receiving end.

Disconnect among the state institutions is wrought with dangers to democracy and indeed to the federation. Senator Farhatullah Babar has also been great supporter of the use of the parliamentary forum to address/discuss the important national issues pertaining to security and foreign policy. He always raised his voice whenever the Parliament was by-passed by the government on important issues of public interest.

The army chief’s initiative was badly needed at this point of time when Pakistan was in the midst of crisis and under attack from multiple directions. Periodic dialogue among the state institutions indeed is the win win situation for all and most importantly for the country.

The initiative has invoked the support from all strata of society except those who have been desperately seeking to enter the corridors of power by hook or by crook. Now, they may have been left with no choice but to earn this privilege through the vote not through treachery or through political shenanigans.

The nation was in a state of acute dejection and the recent surrender in the twin-city and Lahore left the Pakistani with ill-aboding staring in their faces. The permeation of confusion of technocrat government, presidential form of government, uncertainty of holding of elections on time and above all the comments of National Assembly Speaker, were all pointing to doomsday scenario.

The perception in the public domain that the Security Establishment was behind this saga further dampened the ray of any hope of betterment. Then the much needed good news came. The Pakistan Peoples Party’s support clearing the legislation of Delimitation Bill addressed the doubts of the people about the holding of elections on time.

Fata reforms are still hanging in balance but amicable solution may not be a distant cry. These developments and the army chief’s speech in the Senate have lifted the morale of the nation to an extent that has been earlier at the lowest ebb.

Earlier, the Faizabad incident that kept the twin city of millions of people as hostage by a couple of thousands religious fanatics was enough to shatter citizens’ confidence in the state’s ability to undertake its constitutional responsibility of protecting their lives and properties what to speak of other fundamental rights. The perception of the Security Establishment as behind such thuggery was needed to be addressed sooner than later due to its fatal implications locally and globally. The army chief’s tackling it in his maiden speech in the Senate reportedly said that he would quit if army’s involvement was testified in the Faizabad sit-in. The perception of the intelligence agencies support to these outlaws was, in fact, giving them oxygen to become monster.

Other fanatics were also emboldened to flex their muscle to replicate the Faizabad sit-in to cripple the state machinery of Pakistan, a nuclear state. The worst part of such doomsday scenario would be the international community’s grave concern of the safety and security of the nuclear assets of the country.

The army chief plea seeking the parliamentary guidelines in the security and foreign policy domains reflects the happy about-turn of the Security Establishment. It was a surprise invoking the proverb too good to be true.

It was hard to find any comment in the public domain to the effect pointing out with authority of foreign and security policies were not being dictated by the GHQ to the exclusion of the other state institutions.

The change of mind, if so, is exceptionally a good development. The repute of the army chief leaves no room of doubt or skepticism. Pakistan cannot win war against extremism and terrorism if the state institutions are not on the same page. The perception of bane of civil-military relations has been hurting the ability of the government to negotiate with the foreign powers with confidence and ease.

Indian prime minister sarcastically remarked that normalisation of relations with Pakistan was not possible because there were more than one centers of power. It was embarrassing for the government of Pakistan and certainly was not a source of pride for the military establishment as well.

Army chief’s reported assurance of institutional support for the process of normalisation of relations with India may be welcomed as futuristic big leap forward. Only time will tell the change was real well away from the narrative of playing to the gallery.

His pronouncement of army’s lack of interest in interfering in the domestic politics is good omen for the continuity of democracy. His going to the extent of alluding the mistakes of General Musharraf and General Ziaul Haq those were responsible for weakening the federation adding the army as an institution was not prepared to bear the burden of their baggage.

His outright rejection of the presidential form of government was in sync with the aspirations of the people of country in general and of the smaller provinces in particular.The institution may have finally learnt the lesson that misplaced domination of an institution proves as liability than an asset in the final analysis. The political history of this country is open book as what the military dictators had done with the collective destiny of this nation.

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as a foreign minister and as the prime minister of Pakistan was the formidable exception who played key role in shaping up Pakistan foreign policy reflective of the aspirations of the people. The results were staggering as the country was known at that time as an important player in the international diplomatic arena.

The rest of the civilian/democratic governments remained under the pressure of the Khakis assuming foreign and security fields as their exclusive domains not of them. To prove the point, former prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani wanted to reciprocate the most favoured nation status to India but the then Security Establishment was against it, and scuttled the attempts of the democratic government through its proxy by bringing out big procession against the decision at Wagah border.

The government had to backtrack keeping in view the imperatives of survival strategy.The nation, media and the international community will be watching if the army chief keeps his words in good stride. May God bless him courage and wisdom to honour his promises and assurances handed out at the floor of the Senate.

—muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com