by Nilesh Kunwar

In a 2006 interview given to Dawn prior to relinquishing charge as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, former Pakistan army chief Gen Jehangir Karamat spoke out his heart on many issues bedevilling Pakistan. One of the recommendations that he made to Islamabad was to avoid prolonged involvement of the army in Waziristan and Balochistan as it could prove counterproductive.

At that time, some had expressed surprise as to why had he addressed this suggestion to the government, when he knew very well that it’s not Islamabad but Rawalpindi which is the sole and final adjudicator on all issues and aspects pertaining to separatist movements- from overseeing negotiated peace agreements to the conduct of military operations. However, for those who knew Gen Karamat, his apparently misdirected observation came as no surprise.

Gen Karamat is unquestionably a thorough professional, who even as an army chief kept his ears to the ground and implicitly followed the universal soldier’s code of conduct. Readers may recall that in 1988, when his suggestion of re-establishing the National Security Council to give the military representation in country’s politics was not appreciated by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, instead of dismissing the government and seizing power like his predecessors would have done, Gen Karamat decided to resign and gracefully step down as army chief.

His departing words that “The army chief does not express personal opinion. Whatever he says is the collective view of his institution,” upheld both the dignity of the Pakistan army as well as his office and enhanced its public image. So, it appears that Gen Karamat’s indirect messaging to Rawalpindi through Islamabad on the dangers of prolonged army involvement in Waziristan and Balochistan was to avoid undermining the prestige of the Pakistan army.

A Costly Error

Today, Pakistan in general, and its security forces in particular are paying a heavy price on account of their Generals’ monumental mistake of disregarding the sagacious advice offered by Gen Karamat nearly two decades ago. And the most unfortunate part is that despite being responsible for the scourge of terrorism spawned by Gen Zia ul Haq in the seventies to serve Washington’s cold war interests by waging its proxy war in Afghanistan, the Pakistani military remains unrepentant and blames all and sundry for the sorry state of affairs in the country.

Pakistan army chief Gen Syed Asim Munir has conveniently trivialised the rapid decline in the army’s image by blaming foreign powers for exploiting social media and indulging in ‘digital terrorism’ in order to create a gulf between the army and the public. He also claimed the existence of an “organised illegal spectrum” that for its own “narrow-minded political and financial gain...backs terrorism with certain elements providing support to it,” adding that , “Whenever the state takes action against them, their false narratives are spread to undermine those efforts.”

However, with the otherwise reticent Gen Karamat's recent public expression of grave concern on how the Pakistan army has today severely alienated itself from the masses, Gen Munir’s ‘digital terrorism’ excuse falls flat on its face, because by no stretch of imagination can Gen Karamat be accused of being a ‘digital terrorist’ or part of the so-called “illegal spectrum” working for political or financial gain for foreign powers.

So, what explains Gen Munir’s unending blame-game?

‘Deflection’ And Authoritarianism At Work

In psychology, deflection is defined as a defence mechanism where individuals avoid responsibility for their actions by attributing them to external factors and this trait has been palpably conspicuous within the top leadership of the Pakistan army right from the time Gen Ayub Khan took over control of Pakistan. In his book The Story of Soldiering and Politics in India and Pakistan, Maj Gen Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, Pakistan army’s first Chief of General Staff mentions Gen Khan saying “the bloody politicians and the civilians were so useless-corrupt and inefficient.”

This pathetic outlook unfortunately persists and the army’s brazen authoritarianism only makes things worse. In his 2017 BBC TV interview, Gen Pervez Musharraf boasted how "Military rule has always brought the country back on track, whereas civilian governments have always derailed it." And after last year’s contentious general elections manipulated by the army, Gen Munir considered it necessary to educate politicians on the importance of “political maturity and unity” and advise them “move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation.”

The irony is that while holding everyone but itself responsible for the mess in the country, Rawalpindi wants to project itself as the sole saviour of Pakistan from both external threats and internal chaos. Hence, the Pakistan army believes that it has the unquestionable right to transgress into the domain of other state institutions and call the shots. His declaration that any attempt to undermine the (image of the) nation's powerful military is tantamount to weakening the country unambiguously is an example of Rawalpindi’s over obsessed mindset.

This is further evident from a media release issued by Pakistan army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in August 2023. It quoted Gen Munir stating that “LEAs and other government departments will continue the enforcement actions against a spectrum of illegal activities with full force to deny pilferage of resources and economic losses that the country suffers due to these activities.” Isn’t the assurance given on behalf of the “LEAs and other government departments” enough proof of the army chief assuming control over the legislature and bureaucracy?

Alienation

Rawalpindi may think that it can absolve itself from growing public alienation by playing a blame game and coining new terms like “digital terrorism” and “organised illegal spectrum,” it would be evident even to a novice that the Pakistan army’s stems from its barefaced interference in politics and overbearing approach. Hounding a politician and openly intimidating his supporters, stealing the peoples’ mandate by manipulating election results and taking the unilateral decision of holding trial of civilians accused in the May 9 protests in military courts are but some of the issues that have led to public alienation.

Gen Munir may blame foreign powers for sponsoring terrorism and vested interests within the country acting as facilitators. However, the undeniable fact is that under his charge, the Pakistan army has failed to re-establish government writ in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan. Social media is today flooded with videos of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists and armed Baloch fighters openly moving around and checking vehicles in broad daylight in certain areas of KP and Balochistan.

Similarly, though ISPR may have denounced the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) as a “proxy of terrorist organisations and criminal mafias,” can Rawalpindi deny that because of inept handling of the situation after the Jaffar Express hijack incident, the army’s popularity in Balochistan has plunged to new lows due to indiscriminate use of brute force and rampant enforced disappearances? Isn’t it obvious that by using brute force against peaceful civilians Rawalpindi has itself ended up alienating the Baloch people and created an adverse situation that’s not likely to improve in the foreseeable future?

Pakistan army’s hatred towards the Baloch people is not new and here one is reminded of a particularly insensitive and disturbing remark made by DGISPR during a media conference in 2019 that truly exposes Rawalpindi’s scant regards for human rights and civility. When asked about enforced disappearances in Balochistan by senior TV anchor Hamid Mir, the then DGISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor nonchalantly replied, “We don’t wish that anyone should be missing. But when it's war, you have to do a lot of things- as they say, all is fair in love and war; war is very ruthless.”

Prescription

Instead of fighting imaginary enemies like ‘digital terrorists’ and the ‘organised illegal spectrum’ it would do Gen Munir a lot of good to accept the follies that the Pakistan army has made and is still making. He must realise that the army is not beyond reproach and most certainly the only institution in the country that is concerned about the nation. Most importantly, it must restrict itself to its mandated role and quit trying to run the country from behind the scenes.

In his 2022 farewell speech, outgoing Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was honest enough to admit that Pakistan army was being “criticised from time to time,” correctly summarising that “The main reason for this is the involvement of the army in politics for the last 70 years, which is unconstitutional.” Had Gen Munir heeded this sincere advice of his predecessor and not taken the ill-considered decision of playing king maker as well as getting even with former Prime Minister Imran Khan who had him unceremoniously removed from the prestigious post of DG ISI, perhaps things would not have taken such a tragic turn.

But then, bloated ego and acutely myopic vision have always been the characteristic of Pakistan army chiefs and as such listening to sound advice or analysing long term effects of obviously dangerous policies and decisions has always been something foreign to the Pakistan army. The people of Pakistan are still paying dearly for Gen Zia ul Haq’s Faustian deal with the US to create an irregular force of mujahideen to fight the Soviets that turned Pakistan into a veritable breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalists.

Similarly, Gen Musharraf allowed Washington to conduct its anti-Taliban drone program inside Pakistan that ended up killing more innocent civilians than terrorists that not only heightened anti-Pakistan army sentiments in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and KP, but also enhanced popularity of anti-Pakistan terrorist groups like TTP. The most glaring example of Rawalpindi’s monumental delusion is the blind faith that all Pakistan army chiefs (Gen Zia onwards) had that after once in power the Afghan Taliban leadership would forever remain indebted to Rawalpindi and serve as Pakistan’s minion.

However, as power is intoxicating, Gen Munir would never voluntarily give up the extra-constitutional authority he wields and as such, it’s unfortunately going to be business as usual in Pakistan!

Nilesh Kunwar is a retired Indian Army Officer who has served in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. He is a keen ‘Kashmir-Watcher,’ and after retirement is pursuing his favourite hobby of writing for newspapers, journals and think-tanks. Views expressed above are the author's own