If the current navy chief is sent home, his successor will know that he has to perform and deliver.
CITY UNIVERSITY, LONDON: The PNS Mehran attack warrants the beginning of corrective action and the first step needed is the resignation or outright sacking of the naval chief, for not having the courage to admit to the nation that what happened was a security lapse. If the naval chief is unable to understand that he has lost the trust of the nation then the prime minister needs to use his authority. I spent a day listening to Pakistanis, here in London who are astonished that the prime minister has asked the same individual to investigate the incident whose institution failed to secure the base.
And lest I be accused of being unpatriotic, I am doing the opposite. I love my country and I want what is best for it. I know that the armed forces of my country have given great sacrifices in the past few years, fighting the terrorists and we have lost thousands of army and paramilitary personnel, as well as policemen. But sometimes such measures need to be taken for the institution’s and the nation’s greater good.
People from different countries studying where I am, keep asking me how the terrorists reached such an important navy installation. They wonder whether they had inside help or whether our armed forces are not capable to defend their own installations.
The demand for the resignation is important because it is related to holding the armed forces of the country accountable for their actions to the citizens of Pakistan and to it constitution. If the current chief is sent home, his successor will know that he has to perform and deliver. This is a much-needed first step towards some real change.
Waqas Ahmed Khan
Cass Business School
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2011.
