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Leave the army alone

One of the basic requirements of economic progress is the availability of a sound investment climate. Along with other necessary factors an environment conducive to attracting investment can only be created when a country enjoys peace and stability within its frontiers. One has to look only across the borders into the adjacent turbulent areas of Afghanistan, Iran and Indian Punjab (Khalistan) and see that commerce in these areas, barring the business of gun-running and heroin smuggling, has come to a virtual standstill. New investment of any kind is simply unheard of. Economic development thrives in a climate of tranquillity while industry shies away from areas of conflict because battlegrounds are not synonymous with good industrial environment. “Power flows through the barrel of a gun”, one must also accept that “Peace depends upon the power that flows through the barrel of a gun.”

Good economic progress in an era of economic retardation in this region has been possible because of the stability created by our standing Army. During a time of peace the populace has no knowledge of or conveniently forgets the horrors of war, when peace has usually been bought at a high price, with the blood sacrificed by its soldiers. During wartime we fall over ourselves to eulogise and honour our soldiers, the memory fades away quickly as surely as the setting sun. Whereas politicians very rightly have a vested interest in decrying any standing role for the Army in national politics, the sight of businessmen and industrialists climbing onto the recent bandwagon of lamb-pasting the Army is ludicrous. Less than a decade ago when among other things, our economy was in shambles and the general public generally prayed for deliverance, the “robber barons” suffering wide-scale nationalisation carried out in 1972, prayed harder than others to be rid of their tormentors. With anarchy and chaos in the offing due to continuing political upheaval, the Army’s proclamation of Martial Law in 1977 may have been greeted with sighs of relief by the general public but with undisguised glee by the former industrialists and other major businessmen. The casus belli for the public was the aversion of a likely civil war situation, the industrialists found possible hope of return of their taken over ventures. Only a privileged elite enjoyed rapport with the then regime, paper losses extending to millions, when one forgets that the loans standing against most former assets were much in excess to their respective values. Despite enjoying a good economic life, the motive of revenge never really escaped their sub-conscious, it giving no pleasure to anyone else as much as it was for this elite business coterie. Now, having lived a long decade of booming prosperity they seem to be about ready to change masters again!

For most, it has meant unreserved economic freedom, helped along by the born-again chameleon philosophy of our bureaucrats who transformed themselves from public sector protagonists to private sector supporters overnight. Now it is socially the IN-thing for some of our elite businessmen to join the fun and games in criticising the Army. With honourable exceptions, some of these hypocrites had crawled along on their bellies to ingratiate themselves to “the powers that be” among the generals when it mattered and now every Tom, Dick and Harry, without having heard a single shot being fired in anger, is becoming a pocket “Clausewitz” on the cocktail circuit. Particularly galling is the realisation that some of them have been wined and dined by Indian dancers and singers, courtesy of the Indian Consulate General in Karachi, the establishment of which in the face of Indian obduracy for a Pakistani Consulate General at Bombay must rank as one of the more stupid, asinine acts of one-sided ill conceived generosity of the last decade. Armchair strategists, duly fortified by “medicine” in rose-tinted glasses abound in plenty, with theories in abundance of how the Russian invasion of Afghanistan could and should have been handled and what actually happened in Siachen. One must listen to their convoluted logic to believe the Russians venture into Afghanistan was not a culmination of their long-term geo-political interests but only a “limited” happening. In the airconditioned drawing rooms of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad it is difficult to visualize the million or so Afghan lives laid waste by Russian bullets, mines, shells, booby traps, etc let alone think about the acute discomforts of fighting in Siachen at the highest altitude in real estate that man has ever fought for.

The intelligentsia tends to forget that this is the same Army that has had to fight unpopular campaigns inside the country that it had no business to fight and that far from being responsible for it in any manner they were themselves an afflicted party, particularly in the catharsis of 1971 when the finest army broke apart despite the deepest feelings of comradeship existing among its diverse rank and file. Many poor people, including quite a few soldiers, died from both the wings of Pakistan in 1971. How many of our politicians and business elite lost their lives? Almost two decades later, the two nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh, both ruled by Armymen enjoy the best of mutual relationships; two nations and two flags but one enemy. The bonds of common religion and complementary economy apart, a common hatred for an unrelenting merciless foe is a binding enough fabric. That perceptive antagonism is born out of the real-politik of unbridled Indian expansionism and hegemony.

The Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was executed in a haphazard manner after long-term detailed manoeuvre because their hand was forced due to unplanned for developments within Afghanistan not according to the script. A creeping coup d’etat was the Order of the Day, a violent effort was not in the cards and the cataclysm of it produced an Afghan resistance. The Russians or the Indians would not be averse to stepping into Pakistan given the slightest inclination of a chance and Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are living role models. The lack of a deterrence existed in the form of weak armies unable to resist the invasions. Rajiv Gandhi is not building long range Prithvi rockets to shower rose petals on us and the acquisition of nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers is quite an expensive way of taking a pleasure cruise. What with indigenously manufactured Main Battle Tanks and various fighter aircraft joining the Army and Air Force in large numbers, one is apt to be skeptical of the oft stated Indian peaceful intentions. Having one of the poorest of populations in the world and no known significant enemy on its horizons, India’s large, unholy defence budget has only the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives in its perennial gunsights. With a Himalayan lesson from China in 1962 still afresh in minds, India is not likely to try to trouble them at least in this century.

There is no doubt that the biggest deterrent to long-term Indian ambitions in this region (Akhund Bharat) has been the Pakistan Army. One of the prime Hindu ploys since centuries is that if you cannot beat somebody on the battlefield, use psychological and other forms of subterfuge to undercut the base of support and gain victory. The atmosphere in the media is being methodically polluted and vitiated against the Army, complicated by the fact that the long benign martial law had demilitarized the military mind to an extent. Martial laws, unless absolutely necessary, do not do any country any good, and when imposed must be short and effective, without debilitating the capabilities of the Army as an institution. For the Muslims of the South Asian sub-continent and all other ethnic, racial and religious compositions other than Hindu in the regions comprising Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, a strong and motivated Pakistan Army is the surest safeguard against Indian hegemony. Over the years, the numerical strength of the Army has certainly increased relative to the defence posture necessary to meet the twin threats from the North West and East. There has also been recently qualitative increase in professionalism as the graduates of Pakistan Military Academy reach Corps Commander rank and above. Inflation and increased prices has contributed to an anti-defence outcry but Dr. Mahbubul Haq was only pandering to the political gallery when he said that defence expenditure had increased fourteen times since 1977. What is the cost in real terms, and why have the increases been necessary? And while you are at it, Doctor Sahib, what is the quantum of Indian increase? And if it is 27 times what it was in 1977, why not mention that also?

We should give a Nishan-i-Pakistan or something similar to Gen. Sunderji for exposing our relative weaknesses as a result of his much trumpeted Exercise “Brass Tacks” was in 1986 and we should thank God and our lucky stars and maybe a little bit of “cricket diplomacy” that “Brass Tacks” kept as an exercise and did not become a war-time Operation. Due credit must be given to Prime Minister Junejo for ordering immediate plugging of the holes that the lessons of “Brain Tacks” brought home to us, and to Mr. Wattoo for coming up with the necessary funds from somewhere.

It is extremely fashionable to blame the Army for Ojhri Camp. As reports suggest it was not a regular Army dump but a transit point for a clandestine operation. On the face of it, quite a few operational mistakes were made in the selection of site, the security measures adopted, the precautionary safety procedures, the timing of the exercise, etc. The tragic loss of civilian lives condemns whoever was responsible in making the immediate operational decisions connected with selection of site and someone senior should certainly be sacked, but the very fact that the Corps Commander of the area was put in charge of the enquiry suggests that the Regular Army had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, the subsequent handling of unexploded missiles and bombs in unstable condition by the rank and file of the Army with their bare hands and without protective clothing is a level of sacrifice that can seldom be emulated anywhere else and must be eulogised in all corners of the country. One of the first on the scene within a couple of hours was the VCOAS who made a helicopter survey while heat seeking missiles were still going their unguided way all over the sky. Not many will forget that one of the genuine living heroes of the Pakistan Army, Raja Nadir Pervaiz, now Minister for State for Interior, was physically one of the first Government functionaries in the Area and his presence provided some element of control and considerably reduced panic.

A soldier has not much to offer except his life for his country and a deep conviction that in sacrificing his life he will be saving that of countless others or even from surviving a living death under foreign tutelage. Everyone gets paid to do one’s work but only a soldier (a sailor and an airman) is expected to give up his life for his country when required to do so. His life is thus forfeit to the Nation, an equitable mortgage which is held not only for the succour of the nation’s population but as an effective deterrent to ensure peace and stability against adventurism of the Rajiv-kind a la Sri Lanka.

The Civil War will intensify and ebb in Afghanistan but the pressures on Pakistan will increase, both physical and psychological. Needless to say, it will test all of Pakistan’s patience not to be drawn into the vortex or allow the war to spill into Pakistan, particularly into the urban areas of Pakistan which will be the prime enemy target. The single most positive factor in Pakistan for peace and tranquillity is the strong, stable Pakistan Army, the finest fighting machine in the world, a reputation that particularly wards off adventurism from our loving neighbour, India. It is in our self-interest to sustain and motivate this fine Army and not resort to self-flagellation. Criticism, if any, should be well conceived and objectively targeted without slurring the reputation of the Army as a whole. Our population desperately needs economic emancipation to better its present lot and it behoves us to leave well alone one of the surest means of maintaining the pace of economic development.

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