JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: The memogate scandal in Pakistan is taking a new turn every day, perhaps at the behest of some powerful groups who don’t want a civilian set-up to continue and assert its powers as granted by the Constitution. And each new twist and turn seems to throw up yet more questions, usually with no obvious answers.
One question that I would like to ask is: why were the army chief and the director-general of the ISI asked to submit replies in the scandal? Are they not part of the government and if so, shouldn’t they have submitted any reply with the government? Furthermore, a parliamentary committee on national security was already reviewing the matter so why did the apex court admit Nawaz Sharif’s petition on this for hearing?
If such an action was deemed so essential, the federal government should have been asked to get replies from the army chief and the director-general of the ISI. Also, how did the replies of the army chief, the ISI chief and of Mansoor Ijaz find their way into practically all of Pakistan’s newspapers the very next day? Doesn’t that make it a deliberate leak? Also, the media was highlighting the statement of the army chief who was reported as having said in his reply that the said memo was authentic. How can this be done since that is something for the court to decide in the first place? Clearly, this would have to be seen as nothing more than an attempt to influence the court.
Also, according to various newspaper reports, the ISI chief is reported to have said in his reply that he was of the view that Mansoor Ijaz couldn’t have written his piece in the Financial Times without some proper evidence in hand. If that is to be taken at face value, what does one make of his numerous articles in the past in various western newspapers where he railed against the Pakistani military and its security and intelligence agencies? What about Mansoor Ijaz’s allegation that the head of the ISI visited several Arab states to get their consent to oust the present government? If Mansoor Ijaz’s allegations against Husain Haqqani are to be investigated, why not those against General Pasha? Isn’t that only fair?
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2011.
