The army and discipline
A cryptic announcement became the subject of headlines on Saturday Oct 8 that Lt. Gen. Tariq Pervaiz Commander 12 Corps based in Quetta, had asked for early retirement i.e. four months before he was due in Feb 2000. Actually by age his retirement date was Nov 7, 2000, so he has prematurely retired a year early.
TP, as he is generally known to everybody, is a soldier’s soldier. I met him first in PMA in 1964 when we were “stick orderlies” to the President Field Marshal Ayub Khan at the passing out in October 1964 of 30th PMA (Lt. Gens. Ziauddin DG ISI and Iftikhar Hussain Shah, DG Air Defence Command, were respectively Senior Under Officer and Junior Under Officer of Qasim Company, the company I belonged to while Lt Gens Salahuddin Tirmizi and Saeeduzzafar were of the same Course in other companies). TP was from 33rd PMA, a term senior to me. Another point in common was that he escaped from a POW Camp in India in 1972, I had escaped earlier. He was originally from 6 Punjab but he later joined the same unit in which I served during the 1971 war, 44 Punjab (now 4 Sindh). In fact he took over the command of D Company from me. My batman from 1971-74, Mohammad Akram, passed on to his service and stayed with him for nearly 15 years, thereafter coming back to me for a short time after release from the Army. As such one can say we had quite a few things in common.
After Ziaul Haq’s death and with the commencement of Gen Aslam Beg’s era of “glasnost”, there was far more social inter-action between the political and military hierarchy than was necessary. Late Gen Asif Nawaz put a stop to this. Even though the first man to suffer such a fate was a man I admired very much as a professional soldier, Lt Gen Hameed Gul former DG ISI, the Army meant more as an institution than the individual. Gen Waheed Kakar retired two Lt Gens prematurely on this account, this despite the fact that the nature of their appointments required them to be convivial with civilians of influence. However, the fraternisation continued during Gen Karamat’s tenure and has continued unabated since Musharraf took over. Frankly, this is not conducive to maintaining the Army Chief’s authority. The COAS is the top honcho in the channel of command and he cannot have his subordinates double-guessing his authority by hobnobbing with politicians and bureaucrats. If he permits such dangerous “liaison” he loses the fabric that binds his dominance over his subordinates. This disintegration can very well go down the ladder to the sepoy who may start questioning what he perceives to be either a “lawful or unlawful” command. This may not be a perfect scenario for accountability, it is the price we have to pay for keeping this Army a solid force, that in turn keeps the nation united.
Unfortunately one of the things TP and I also share is being outspoken. Whereas I can get away with it (mostly) being a Columnist with a responsibility to not only report the truth but to analyse news objectively for the benefit of the citizens, TP is still wearing the uniform and he can confine himself to expressing his reservations to his superiors in private if he should disagree with them on any issue. The moment he steps out of that circle of discipline imposed by rank and seniority, he is on very shaky ground. The difference between an Army and a mob is discipline, once that invisible parameter disappears, events like Somalia, Rwanda, etc are not far away, neither are the conditions of anarchy that will follow. While I frankly confess that I do not know the whole story, there is no substitute to maintaining the discipline in the Army, especially in the upper echelons. It is common knowledge that Gen Pervez Musharraf has an aversion to me because of my deep friendship with one of his course mates. One cannot change 40 years of one’s life, so be it! However, Gen Musharraf happens to be the Chief of Army Staff. For better or for worse he thus is the symbol of the institution. In the end the institution is always more important than individuals and their grievances, legitimate or not. As such we have to support Musharraf in maintaining the strong discipline that keeps the Pakistan Army the ultimate guardian of the country’s integrity and sovereignty. This country is passing through bad times and we cannot afford a difference of opinion amongst the senior military hierarchy.
Other than discipline, what separates a soldier from a civilian is that a soldier will invariably accept moral responsibility if he is found to be wrong. That is the honourable thing to do. In keeping with a strong tradition that puts a mantle of responsibility over the leadership in the Armed Forces, a person must either keep his counsel or seek to leave the service in an honourable fashion. TP opted for the honourable way, when he finally doffs his uniform in his parent unit 6 Punjab on 12 Oct in Karachi, he will have reason to be satisfied. Others who fall into the same category would be well advised to go the TP route rather than risk harming the edifice of the Army for personal aggrandisement.
Having the courage of convictions may make a person speak his mind, for the sake of the uniform he has to be judicious about the company he chooses to register his dissent.
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