In the defence of defenders

In a highly-publicised speech recently, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman of JUI-F made aggressive and highly offensive remarks against the Military and martyrs. Speaking at a Jamiat Lawyers Forum convention in Islamabad, he fiercely defended his controversial statement regarding military sacrifices, which he considered as 'paid job' funded by public taxes. Maulana also rejected the longstanding stance of governments on flushing out terrorism from the militancy-affected areas of K-P and Balochistan, by forming lashkars or local militias. Though he correctly asserted that public security is strictly the State's responsibility, he conveniently overlooked the civil responsibility to protect khawra or land, being an age-old tradition, and legal, socio-political norm of the area.

Maulana has an old axe to grind with the Military, and every now and then he tries to remain relevant through such uncalled-for statements that do not go well with his stature as the leader of a religio-political party with 10 seats in the National Assembly, 18 seats in the KP Assembly (JUI-F being the largest opposition party) and 12 seats in Balochistan Assembly. As an opinion maker, influencer, seasoned politician and a Pakistani Pashtun from DIK, he should be supportive of the Military in securing his hometown from the stranglehold of militants who, not in very distant past, made two attempts on his life and killed scores of his party cadre. The Military constantly tips him for his safety.

In Pakistan's prevailing political culture, it is fashionable to criticise the Military for every perceived societal, economic and political ill, and 'mostly' get away with it. The criticism generally aims at earning political brownie points, seeking attention for all the wrong reasons, endearing oneself to some political party and/or seeking foreign funding indirectly from hostile powers. The new free-wheeling youth brigade with social media as its platform, angered by right or wrong reasons, harbouring half-backed ideas, and a knowledge base limited to TikTok and social media memes provide a fertile ground for such anti-state and anti-Military propaganda. In today's free-for-all media environment, false news, AI-generated deep-fakes and dis/misinformation can manipulate generally educated, well-to-do and serious-minded people towards a specific point of view.

Let's scan the 'grievance landscape'. It spans…the Military being responsible for takeovers and not letting the political process (read democracy) flourish; Military's continuous meddling in the national (read political) affairs; corruption in its ranks; the perks and privileges enjoyed by the Generals; etc. Without claiming to represent the Military and without condoning some acts of omission or commission by the past Military leadership, following is an effort to put the record straight for the benefit of the gullible, and education of the manipulated.

First, the takeovers. The three martial laws – the 1958 military takeover by Gen, later Field Marshal Ayub Khan; the 1977 coup (Operation Fair Play) by Gen Zia; and the 1999 take-over by Gen Musharraf – were all result of the failure of the country's political process. Those remembering would substantiate that Ayub's takeover was necessitated by undue political instability, caused by frequent changes of the government. Gen Zia took over after the Bhutto era's political instability, with genesis in Bhutto's 'undemocratic' refusal to let Sheikh Mujib form government at the federal level, despite Mujib's Awami League emerging as the largest political party in the 1970 general election. Bhutto had also unleashed his hated Federal Security Force (FSF) against political opponents, and his misrule resulted in the rigged elections of 1977, denying victory to the 9-party opposition alliance. And Musharraf took over when provincial disharmony led to institutional friction, Nawaz Sharif's misrule and cronyism resulted in the unceremonious removal of the then sitting Army Chief, when he was abroad on an official visit, sanctioned by the same sitting Prime Minister.

So, it is better to study the 'environment' that led to Military takeovers each time, rather than make impulsive and emotional judgement calls. Yes, some Military leaders prolonged their stay after coming to power, but it was under their watch that Pakistan's macroeconomic indices grew healthy. Ayub's policy of industrialisation and Musharraf's reformist agenda are cases in point. No wonder truckers from K-P still display Ayub's picture with catchphrases like 'teri yad ayee teray janey ke bad (miss you after you left) while Musharraf's legacy remains defined by robust economic stabilisation and geostrategic relevance.

So next time someone launches an acidic anti-Military diatribes, they need to be directed to some serious study of history, without cherry-picking. In most seminars and webinars, my challenge to the born-again democrats of all shades – civil, military and political – is to pick out any decisions the Military rulers made, and tell me how they would have taken that decision. And the response is generally a dumb, awkward silence with no cogent answers. It is easy to judge with the benefit of hindsight, but making tough choices while enveloped by crisis is a completely different ball game.

Second, Military (read Army) continuously meddling in the national affairs, derailing democracy. Who sits in our legislatures? Moneyed elite that influences policies for continued and enhanced financial largesse for themselves and their generations. Sugar-mill mafia, IPP mafia, timber mafia, mobile companies mafia (compulsory tower installation legislation), organised crime mafia (we need share in corruption), and convict mafia are all represented being 'electable' strongmen. And the list goes on. Which political party worth its name holds intra-party elections fairly, is not a family enterprise in one form or the other, and awards tickets to honest, deserving, incorruptible 'non-electables' making them 'electable'. One would like to be educated.

Only recently did K-P legislators embarrassingly retract a bill aimed at enhancing their own perks and privileges, choosing self-interest over addressing the province's urgent issues of terrorism; education reform like paying teachers' salaries; and fixing the unscheduled, long and erratic loadshedding especially in the rural areas of the PTI-run province, for example.

In such rotten, skewed and manipulated representative system, would not the Military and the deep state keep a watchful eye, like it does all over the world. Or should it let the mafias and gangs with vested interests and dual nationalities run affairs of the state as they deem fit, with no regard to public welfare and governance. The elite capture of the state in this manipulated system is already complete. And it is not the Military's fault that is fending off attacks against Pakistan on multiple fronts.

Continued…