I AM NOT AFRAID

Fatigued, fearful or fugitive Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif summoned Fawad

Hassan Fawad to London. Soon after Fawad’s briefing he decided to return to

Pakistan surprising all the ‘political’ observers. Nawaz Sharif headed for Lahore

from where he had gone to London for ‘medical check-up’.

At about a time when prime Minister was preparing to head home, Army

Chief General Raheel Sharif addressed a ceremony in Signal Corps Regimental

Centre, Kohat. In his speech, the Army Chief said ‘across-the-board accountability

is necessary for the solidarity, integrity and prosperity of Pakistan’. He added that

the war against terror cannot be won unless ‘the menace of corruption is uprooted’.

The last part of his three-fold message was: ‘Pakistan’s Armed Forces will

fully support every meaningful effort in that direction which would ensure a better

future for our next generations’. The message seemed to have been received at the

right quarters promptly as Prime Minister who was scheduled to land in Lahore

changed his plan and landed at Nur Khan Airbase, Rawalpindi.

The straight talk of General Raheel triggered heated debate during which the

civilian government’s representatives started talking about the sacred cow pointing

thereby the need to have accountability of men in uniform. The Army responded

by disclosing to the media that the COAS had recently dismissed of 11 officers,

including a Lt General, a Maj General, four Brigadiers, a Colonel, three Lt

Colonels and a major.

The media appreciations of the news from GHQ compelled Prime Minister to

make a counter move; he addressed the nation next day which was third in the last

25 days. In his speech he started with portraying him and his family as the most

patriots, law abiding and honest. He then took on Army, Imran Khan and media

and asked who would seek accountability of these.

After blaming the above three for his character assassination he resorted to

doing the same to them. He recalled the dismissal of his government, his trial and

exile. He dwelled on Imran Khan causing aspersions on his character and then

cautioned the media. He ended up challenging them by saying: ‘I am not afraid’ of

anyone and then gave the news to the nation that he was writing a letter to the

Chief Justice for constitution of a commission.

Minutes after his address, the contents of the letter written to the CJP were fed

to the media. The constitution of commission was rejected instantly by the PPP,

PTI and several other stakeholders. The rejection was primarily because of the

terms of reference of the commission that aimed at widening the scope of the probe

making it impossible for the commission to complete the assigned task in

foreseeable future.

The statement of Army Chief at Corps of Signals Regimental Centre, Kohat

about across the board accountability was not liked by the ruling elite. They

objected to the demand for action against the corrupt by dubbing it as political

statement. According to the elite corruption is a matter related to governance;

which is the domain of democratically elected government.

They were of the view that the COAS has no business to give a ‘political’

statement. Many media wizards, with or without owning a pet passenger sparrow

‘chirrya’, disapproved the statement of the COAS. Najam Sethi out-rightly

rejected the link between corruption and terrorism.

Another ‘intellectual’, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami ruled that the cry of

corruption is a mere excuse to destabilize Nawaz government. Borrowing the

words from a phrase, Shami said ‘corruption ekk bahanah hai; Nawaz League

nishanah hai’. Sajad Mir in his morning programme also expressed his

reservations while commenting on the headlines of the newspapers. Kashmiri

blood-line overwhelmed his prudence.

Even some analysts like Saleem Bukhari of the daily Nation remarked that the

Army Chief should not have given this statement. Those who received General’s

statement in positive frame of mind, like Sardar Khan Niazi of Rose TV, did not

reflect any optimism. Niazi was quite pessimistic in predicting that nothing will

happen against those named in Panama Papers.

The question however arises why the COAS should remain silent on this

issue? The critics ignore the fact that General Raheel is commanding an army that

has been fighting for the last decade-and-a-half. In this war more than five

thousand men in uniform have been martyred and about sixteen thousand wounded

out of which many have been crippled. For the last two-and-a-half years these men

have been spilling their blood on commands of General Raheel.

This relationship between the commander and the rank and file can never be

understood by the ruling elite and their like-minded whose own children may

refuse to spill their blood on their commands. The COAS is father-figure in the

family called Army. When he observes that sacrifices of his children are likely to

go waste, because the homeland they are defending is being eaten up by the corrupt

from within like termite; it hurts him.

His pain is aggravated every time he reads this query in the eyes of officers

and soldiers. And, General Raheel is the Army Chief who has frequent eye-to-eye

contact with his soldiers. Every contact aggravates his apprehensions about the

futility of sacrifices of his children (soldiers). This cannot be comprehended by the

ruling elite no matter how heavy mandate they might have got.

The commanders at all tiers of the Army have to come out with convincing

answer to satisfy their soldiers. With the revelations made in Panama Papers, this

question is certainly being asked more often. The Army Chief has to satisfy his

command and that is why he could not remain silent about the termite that has been

eating up ‘Pak Sarzameen’ from within.

General Raheel was morally bound to say what he said. He could not hold

back considering the likes or dislikes of the termite. He has to give more weightage

to the sentiments of those who spill their blood for the well-being of homeland. In

addition, for any Army Chief the national interest has to be above all other

considerations.

Even those critics who understood this point argued that it would have been

more appropriate if the sentiments of the rank and file of the Army were conveyed

quietly rather than raising those in public. They are either ignorant or tend to

ignore that General Raheel must have done that many a times as he has been

interacting with Prime Minister more frequently that any of his predecessors.

Reverting to Prime Minister’s decision to return home suddenly; it surprised

many because what Fawad Hassan Fawad conveyed to his boss remained a secret.

Most probably Nawaz was assured that sufficient documentary proof has been

‘procured’ to exonerate Sharif family from any financial wrong-doings. It was for

that reason that Prime Minister remained in a state of denial claiming that he has

done no wrong.

Reportedly, he and the team of his advisers had deliberated on the ways to

counter statement of Army Chief by resorting to the favourite strategy of

demonizing the ‘establishment’. One of the options could have been to send some

Gulu Butts to demonstrate in front of Army House in Rawalpindi, but it must have

been discarded for reasons too obvious.

In view of the above, the PML-N decided to seek help from their ‘reliable’

allies like Mehmood Achackzai and Fazl-ur-Rehman. They could be tasked to

blow hot and cold against ‘establishment’. But they would oblige the regime only

after having been rewarded adequately in cash and kind.

On 21st April the events took another turn. Army released information about

disciplinary action taken during the first week of this month. That was the period

when revelations made in Panama Papers were reported by media and Prime

Minister addressed the nation and claimed that he and his family have done no

wrong.

The electronic media was busy airing the programmes highlighting the

significance of the day with reference to Hazrat Ali Murtaza (R.A.) and Allama

Mohammad Iqbal, when news of dismissal of 11 army officers was received. The

TV channels buzzed with breaking news and instant commentaries.

The news about such disciplinary actions is normally not released to media;

however the departure from the routine was necessitated by some pro-regime

quarters which resorted to uttering their favourite phrase of ‘sacred cow’.

Sheepdogs had started barking louder to keep the ‘wolf’ at bay; thus a departure

from the routine.

The same day Prime Minister chaired a cabinet meeting that lasted for hours.

The news from GHQ forced the Nawaz Sharif to take some decisions for

countering the ever increasing pressure for accountability of the corrupt. The

decisions made were made known next day by Prime Minister in his address to the

nation.

His speech contained only one announcement pertaining to a letter to the

Chief Justice of Pakistan requesting him to constitute a commission; the rest was a

narration of pathetic tale of self-pity and pelting of curses at the establishment,

Imran Khan and media. Soon after the speech the contents of the letter written to

the CJP were released. The terms of reference were framed with the sole aim of

making the accomplishment of the assigned task difficult if not impossible.

The events in the wake of Panama Papers have made certain points very clear.

For instance, whenever demands of accountability echo, invariably the cries of

‘democracy in danger’ are raised; this implies that democracy and corruption are

synonymous to each other.

The defenders of the corruption-prone system come out with lame excuses

and when their arguments start falling apart one by one, they tell the critics to go

and knock the door of superior judiciary. The corrupt consider the judiciary as the

last line of defence. In any case the judiciary in a given society is meant for

preserving the status quo not for bringing a change.

The events also reflect that there is some kind of link with activities of RAW

and corruption in Pakistan. Nawaz regime despises any talk about the two from

any quarter especially by the establishment. Corruption and RAW seem to be the

blue-eyed of the civilian rulers more so for the incumbent rulers.

The news from GHQ about dismissal of senior army officers have failed to

make the desired impact. Instead, Nawaz Sharif has taken the posture of

confrontation. He has not been impressed by the case of the senior-most officer

dismissed which was quite similar to his own case. The dismissed General could

also claim that his hands were ‘clean’ as his son was grown up and the General had

nothing to do with his Ferrari car accident.

Realizing that his case is quite weak to withstand the pressure from his

opponents, Nawaz Sharif has resorted to familiar tactics of wrestlers of Desi Kushti

(Indian wrestling). This has a lot to do with his marriage in the family of renowned

wrestlers. The tactics used is called zameen mull-na (to sprawl oneself on the floor

of akhharra).

This tactics is adopted to deny the opponent an out-right victory. When the

stronger finds it difficult to turn the weaker on to his shoulders; he keeps rubbing

his neck using the earth of the akhharra. It may be said that Nawaz Sharif might

succeed in denying the opponent out-right victory, but he would end up with

bruised neck.

24th April, 2016