Soldier and gentleman
Last week the Musharraf regime lost one of the prime reasons for its being considered by public perception to be the most decent government in recent memory in Pakistan. While the graveyard is full of indispensible people, for this government “GA”, as the late Lt Gen Ghulam Ahmed was known, may yet prove to be so. A man of mild and pleasant demeanour, he symbolized all that is fair and good in this military regime’s governance mode. A professional soldier to the very core, he was required to be the focal point for inter-action between the military and the civilian establishments, given the mutual suspicion not an easy fit even in normal circumstances. As the Chief of Staff (COS) in the Chief Executive’s (CE’s) Secretariat, a seamless liaison with Islamabad’s hard-nosed bureaucracy as well as effective coordination with the various Provincial Governments, he personified the nouveau image of Martial Law fostered by Musharraf and his colleagues, benign governance depending upon logic and reason to motivate performance rather than the use of brute force. To its credit this military regime has convinced the superior judiciary to willingly devise a mode of swift justice that Army normally abrogates to itself through military courts. This unusual partnership has helped maintain the perception of the rule of law. An honest man not afraid to voice his opinion, GA was respected by his mentor, his colleagues and subordinates alike. In a very real sense he had managed to curb (and if not curb then camouflage) the aberrations that all authoritarian regimes are afflicted with, something his immediate predecessor had been displaying with real-time arrogance till the selector-in-chief sent him off to greener pastures, the loss of absolute power compensated by the US$ 10000 plus in UN pay and allowances per month. Civilian establishments are normally averse to the uniform, giving only lip-service and perfunctory loyalty while actually hating the Army’s guts, but they gave GA grudging respect as a fair and tough interlocutor. Pervez Musharraf will be hard put to maintain the credibility of the working environment his COS had fostered. In the President’s own words at GA’s Qul in Punjab House, Islamabad viz (1) he had no ego problem (2) spoke on everything with very strong conviction (3) had a great desire for justice being imparted and (4) he was the Chief’s confidante, a colleague and friend.
