Another extension for the ISI chief

Pime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani chose a curious venue to clear up the confusion over the future of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha. The prime minister, in response to a question from a viewer during his appearance on “PM Online” on PTV, confirmed that General Pasha had been given a second one-year extension. The decision is not necessarily a good one for the simple reason that the officer had been granted a one-year extension last year and has again been given an extra year. The reason cited by the prime minister is that this is for continuity in the fight against militancy and terror. While that is a good sentiment, it remains difficult to understand why the nation’s counterterrorism strategy and plans should be dependent on any one individual. The idea, clearly, should be to build institutions and this demands that each institution follow its own normal rules and regulations and standard operating procedures.

It can be argued that the security situation in the country is extraordinary and demands a correspondingly urgent and extraordinary response, but to use this to justify any one general being given an extension twice is an argument that does not seem to hold much water. For the two years that General Pasha will remain in office, others junior to him who may have filled his post after his retirement will now no longer be able to do so.

Furthermore, since militancy and terrorism seem to have become a deep-seated problem in the Pakistani fabric, it requires a long-term response and one that is not wedded to any particular individual, since, after all, as far as national security is concerned, nothing and no one should be deemed indispensable. To add to this, in recent weeks the Supreme Court has been asking the government to not re-employ government employees on contract once they have reached retirement age and the government has complied in the case of several civilian employees. Clearly, it could be argued, there is perhaps a double standard in place, or at least that’s what appears to be the case to the lay observer.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 03^rd, 2011.