ISLAMABAD:
The army chief, General Raheel Sharif, made an excellent speech, far
better than expectations, and much to the satisfaction of the nation. We
hope he will stick to his words for the better future of Pakistan.
The
general sounded like a true professional soldier, showed complete faith
in democracy, talked about upholding the Constitution and the rule of
law, appreciated the role of civil society and the media, and paid rich
tributes to the role of the Pakistan Army, intelligence agencies and
police, etc.
To the discomfort of India and the likes of
Narendra Modi, General Sharif referred to Kashmir as the “jugular vein”
of Pakistan and sent a clear message to India that though Pakistan does
pursue the objective of peace, it could neither forget Kashmir nor put
this major irritant between the two countries on the backburner. The
only missing point, an important one, in the army chief’s speech was
Islam and the Islamic ideology.During the recent weeks, there have been
ups and downs in the civil-military relationship, which led to a lot of
gossiping about the “anger” and “uneasiness” in the military circles.
But hearing the army chief in this fashion was like music to one’s ears.
General
Raheel showed his complete faith in democracy, the upholding of the
Constitution and rule of law and insisted that this was the only way
forward and the real path to the country’s progress. Raheel insisted
that all institutions of the state have to play their role in
strengthening the system.
Such commitment to democracy,
Constitution and the rule of law from the army chief would serve as a
real shut up call to some of those retired generals/air marshals, etc,
and some “informed” defence correspondents who, while quoting their
sources hurl subtle threats on the behalf of army and create
misunderstandings between the civilian and military leaderships. General
Raheel’s speech has proved one point that such retired generals/air
marshals and journalists are not trustworthy. They are perhaps pursuing
someone else’s agenda to create rifts and invite troubles for Pakistan.
In
the midst of the ongoing Geo-ISI controversy, General Raheel Sharif
also chose to appreciate the role of civil society and the media. I had
my fears that he might give a passing remark on the Geo-ISI controversy
but he did not mention it at all. General Sharif was instead all praise
for the role of the media. He also voiced his complete support to the
freedom of press and responsible media. With such a man being the army
chief, I do expect better handling of the situation arising out of the
post-Hamid Mir attack Geo-ISI controversy.
As the
anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim BJP’s extremist Narendra Modi, who is
generally expected to be the next prime minister of India, recently
talked of a possible May 2 Abbottabad like strike in Pakistan to target
Dawood Ibrahim, the army chief, General Raheel, sent a clear message to
India that no nonsense would be accepted by the Pakistan Army.
He
instead made India feel uneasy by referring to Kashmir as the jugular
vein of Pakistan. Raheel appreciated the sacrifices made by the people
of held Kashmir and urged upon the need for resolving the issue in line
with the UN resolutions and the desire of the Kashmiri people.
Raheel
Sharif’s speech, on the one hand, has won the acclaim of those
struggling for the rule of law and upholding of the Constitution and, on
the other hand, his words would give sleepless nights to Narendra Modi
in India and those here trying to create a rift between the civilian and
military leaderships.
