I think leaving bit about caliphate out, rest of statement could be considered opinion of vast majority of Pakistanis.
KARACHI: This is apropos of a report in your newspaper of March 7, regarding the court-martial of Brigadier (retd) Ali Khan on charges of helping the Hizb-ut-Tehreer (HuT) to set up a caliphate in the country. It is being claimed by the prosecution witness that a few months ago Brigadier Khan had expressed distrust in Pakistan’s incumbent civil and military leaderships and had called for establishing an Islamic caliphate in the country.
I think leaving the bit about the setting up of a caliphate out, the rest of the statement could well be the considered to be the opinion of a vast majority of Pakistanis. In view of the decay and corruption that has set in, which is only accelerating in volume and speed with every passing day, devouring most of the state institutions, one cannot really rate the performance of the civilian government very highly. Unfortunately, even the military establishment, which no doubt has made substantial sacrifices in the service of the country, does not seem to be meeting the public expectation. This sentiments has been perpetrated in the military’s handling of the Abbottabad operation, and the killing of our soldiers by the US in a deliberate and brutal attack.
That aside, let’s examine the allegations against Brigadier Khan in some detail. According to one of the military officers who has given a statement in the military court on this issue, Brigadier Amir Riaz of the 111 Brigade (and now promoted to the rank of major-general), Brigadier Khan claimed that the HuT had already prepared a constitution and a shadow government for Pakistan and was ready to take over the country. The normal and practical approach in such cases is to keep the plan within a small group of trusted lieutenants, with refinements like forming a government and drafting the constitution coming much later after the group has acquired complete control over the state machinery.
It is also claimed that the accused tried to get the services of air force pilots to allegedly eliminate the top military leadership by attacking a corps commanders meeting with F-16s. Such a drastic plan which involved widespread bloodshed would make winning over of collaborators much more difficult. Moreover, such a bloodbath would make mutineers unacceptable to the armed forces, the masses, the judiciary as well as the international community. Why would anyone make such a mad plan which has minimal chances of success?
In any case, I am sure the military must have in place necessary checks and controls to ensure that no rogue element within the air force or even enemy pilots could eliminate the entire senior military leadership with that much ease. If it was possible, it would have been done already by our enemies — which are substantial in number.
It is possible that the accused brigadier Ali, in his frustration, made some remarks in casual conversation which sounded mutinous but were not meant that way, and that no intent to damage the armed force or the civilian government was present at any time.
SRH Hashmi
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2012.
