Murder or character assassination
In a startling development that will have far reaching consequences, the widow of late COAS Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua has alleged that her husband was murdered for political purposes. Other than the pure criminality of the act of killing an individual, the implications are that a political conspiracy successfully penetrated the security cordon around the late COAS and that it was made possible with the active connivance of official agencies at the behest of responsible officials of the Federal Government. Mrs Nuzhat Nawaz has named two of the PM’s closest aides, Ch Nisar Ali Khan, Minister for Petroleum Affairs and Special Assistant to the PM, and Brig (Retd) Imtiaz, Head of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), as the main perpetrators of the alleged crime.
The allegation has extremely grave security implications that go beyond the actual demise of the late COAS. It opens a Pandora’s Box that will be difficult to close. It first assumes a sinister motive, the present Federal Government was so threatened by the existence of the late COAS, that it had been more than happy to appoint with great fanfare barely a year or so earlier, that his aides went to the extent of ordering his physical removal from this world. Next it assumes that the loyalty/loyalties of individual/s in the close security circle around the late COAS had been subverted. Lastly, given the number of intelligence units and sub-units involved in the maintenance of internal security, it assumes a grave failure on their part ipso facto and de facto, that the dastardly deed was not prevented before it could have been carried out, that no evidence could have emerged till date and if tangible evidence was available then it throws up the additional possibility of the gravest assumption of all, that there was a conspiracy to cover-up the alleged assassination in which the Federal Government and the present military hierarchy was directly and/or indirectly involved.
Begum Nuzhat Nawaz has always been deeply respected in army circles for her dignity and demeanour. Duly affected by her husband’s demise, she has been visibly engulfed by a wave of deep emotions that is not abnormal in the context of our eastern culture. Almost every death inspires a conspiracy theory of sorts but the formal direction of the accusations were somewhat of a surprise. The Federal Government has done extremely well by swiftly naming an Enquiry Tribunal composed of three Supreme Court (SC) Judges that will conclude within a month whether a crime had been indeed committed and if so, would lay the blame squarely at the door of those who have committed the alleged crime. One would hope that the matter would be expeditiously dealt with, in the present political situation the accusations are virtual dynamite.
If a crime was indeed committed, then those who were responsible for it must be given the most severe punishment. Late Gen Asif Nawaz was not an ordinary COAS, in the context of the turbulent domestic and international situation he had taken on a dominant role larger than life. As it is, even in death his ability to direct the destiny of others remains unabated. His loss to the Army and country was grievous and if the accusations are true then those who were responsible for his personal security must also be brought to task, the security lapse must not go unpunished. Lastly if the accusations are true and if subsequent to the deed a cover-up was done, this must also be investigated and those implicated should get the same quantum of punishment as the actual alleged murderers.
But what if the accusations are found not to be true? Ch Nisar Ali Khan is just not anybody nor is Brig Imtiaz, other than their present official positions they have a certain stature in society. Leaving aside the lasting damage to their characters and their integrity whether the charges are true and false, what must be the feeling of their immediate families and friends to have them be so accused? Ch Nisar Ali Khan comes from an illustrious military family background and is without doubt the most potent young politician in Pakistan today. As a political trouble-shooter extraordinary, he has been a strong right arm to the PM. His detractors accuse him of an imperious attitude, the truth is he does not suffer the corrupt and inefficient easily, a number of cabinet colleagues find him thus difficult. Such men inspire jealousies and do make enemies in a country while merit is not only suspect, it is disqualifier as much as success has its own set of enemies. In the same vein Brig Imtiaz as the Head of IB should not be in the business of making friends but indeed he must make enemies in the fulfilling of his job requirement. To be the target of vilification is part and parcel of his job description, he is not the first head of any intelligence agency accused of ordering murder. On the other hand since his prime mission is to protect the interests of the nation, he becomes an obvious target of enemy intelligence agencies and their surrogates. Mrs Nuzhat Nawaz was certainly right that her husband was a target, as the COAS Pakistan Army he must have been, but of whom? It is possible that this honest, God fearing and loyal woman could have been duped by vested interest into making the accusations without knowing that they could be false and that it would conceivably destabilize the country. It is no secret that the recalcitrants hell-bent in to having the PM removed have failed to convince the President that there are legal grounds to dissolve the Assemblies. They know that the only other way to bring the PM down is by resorting to creating a national controversy and what better than using a personal and national tragedy in putting calumny at the PM’s doorstep by using the resurrection of the ghost of the late COAS?
Whether Asif Nawaz was actually assassinated or it was a mere heart attack (of which his family has known medical history) will soon be known. However, there is certainly character assassination of the worst kind being outrageously perpetrated by exploiting the emotions of a simple, straightforward soul. The three Supreme Court judges, therefore, have an onerous task before them, the first two have been stated, whether a crime was committed and if so, who was responsible for committing it? The tasks left unstated is also extremely important for the country, if the accusations are found to be false, how will the Supreme Court corner those found responsible for playing on the emotions of the poor widow and thus coercing her in making those false accusations. More important how will the honour of those presently accused be vindicated and above all, what punishment will be given subsequently to those who may have conspired to wrongly convince Gen Asif Nawaz’s widow and family that the patently false accusations were true? Frankly speaking, it amounts to defamation of character of the worst possible degree, unfortunately it is not uncommon in Pakistan and the people responsible manage to escape justice every time. Here is a chance for our respected Judges to strike a strong blow against those who may are engaged in the assassination and if not, against those are who have engaged in character assassination. No one should go away with the impression that both are not important, it is not the first time that the leaders of this country have been disposed of by other methods.
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