A quick enquiry should be conducted by an independent commission and the findings should be made public.
LAHORE: This is with reference to Ayesha Siddiqa’s article of May 7 titled “Taking stock of May 1”. The Abbottabad debacle is far more serious than the writer is indicating. Pakistan’s military — which gets the biggest chunk of the national budget — has failed the 180 million people of the country who have been deprived of education, health and housing. Yes, it is the right of the people to find out the truth, and heads should roll, not at the subedar level, but at the higher level. A quick enquiry should be conducted by an independent commission and the findings — unlike those of the Hamoodur Rahman Commission — should be made public. Over the years, the military has been involved in toppling civilian governments and playing a Machiavellian role in domestic politics.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto — who had his own flaws — was judicially murdered at the behest of the military. Pervez Musharraf has now run away from the country after reducing it to bankruptcy and is making all kinds of statements from abroad. And last but not least, the foreign secretary — brother of the naval chief — is trying to defend the failure of the military while the defence minister has chosen to remain silent.
Noor Nabi
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2011.
