We seem to have an obsession with a national security ideology that is predominantly militaristic.
KARACHI: This is with reference to recent coverage in your newspaper of the statement made by the military following its most recent corps commanders’ conference. Should our national security policy be a secret document? Should it not be based on our national interests? If it is based on our national interests, then shouldn’t all Pakistanis know what our actual national interests are? Should this not be debated and come under intense scrutiny in parliament?
With a change in threat perception, we need to take a comprehensive view of our national security policy. We need to focus on security of individuals and not just of the nation. Socio-economic development will lead to better security and this is not going to come through an arms build-up. In this context, we also need to be cognisant of threats to us internally and not focus exclusively on external threats.
We seem to have an obsession with a national security ideology that is predominantly militaristic. The result is that the security of the people of Pakistan has been undermined. We must re-evaluate the definition of what constitutes our national interest. Our society is being held hostage to an outdated and irrelevant ‘national security ideology’ crafted and executed by our armed forces. The basis of this ideology is the exaggeration of India’s military threat and this must be matched by us. As a consequence, more than a quarter of our budget is spent on defence. There is no doubt that India does spend a considerable amount on defence, but 96 per cent of its children of school-going age are in school. In Pakistan’s case, this figure is 52 per cent.
Let the civilians come forward and let them shape our current national security policy according to the needs of the people. Let the representatives of the people of this country identify and define our national interests and let our national security policy be based on those interests.
Lt-col. (retd) Muhammad Ali Ehsan
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2011.
