The writer served as director general of the ISI from 1998-99
The rise of General Ayub Khan, General Ziaul Haq and General (retd) Pervez Musharraf can be attributed to this one factor. Had there been a selection of army chiefs based on merit, there is no way these pygmies could become commander-in-chiefs. It is always a mediocre army chief who brings about a coup as he does not have the vision to see things in their true perspective. General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was mediocre at his best and could not have made it to a Lt-Col rank based on his career record. He has earned several red entries, which meant that he had been punished several times for misdemeanour and other offences. Musharraf’s biggest asset was his capacity for public relations.
Now that the nation is hell-bent on trying him for his crimes against the state, he must be pulling strings all over the world to save his skin, and to find refuge in any country. No country should give him asylum as he must be brought to justice by the people of Pakistan. Any leniency towards him, by any state, will not augur well for diplomatic relations with that state. In their own national interest, it is advisable that no state should harbour a dictator. Sifarish and bribery must be treated as an offence and legislation made to ensure heavy punishment for its commission. Unless we clean this country of this affliction, we shall continue to have the likes of Ayub, Zia and Musharraf derail democracy and carry out loot and plunder during their reign.
In 1987, my wife met with an accident in Gujranwala cantonment and she and the two children, whom she was taking to school, got grievously injured. I was a brigadier then, commanding an engineer brigade. My father-in-law, who was a retired colonel of the army, was badly shaken by this incident and wished that I be posted from Gujranwala to Lahore so that he could look after his injured daughter and grandchildren. He wrote a demi-official letter to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Mirza Aslam Beg, requesting him to post me to Lahore on compassionate grounds. General Beg had been his junior officer in the infantry battalion and had a great regard for him. Colonel Hassan Kadir, my father-in-law, gave that letter to me in an open envelope and asked me to send it to the chief’s personal secretary for putting up to the COAS. I had never used sifarish for my postings or for any other favour in the army and I felt extremely uneasy about this move. I, therefore, decided not to deliver this letter to the GHQ. Colonel Hassan Kadir understood my hesitation and did not press for it.
As luck would have it, I landed as private secretary to the same army chief in 1989 and worked with him till my promotion to major general, in 1991. When I reported to him on the first day, he said, “you have been selected by the system as the best brigadier of the Pakistan Army. I do not know you personally but I have seen your record of service, which is excellent. While you are serving in this secretariat, there is no room for an error. One mistake and you will be shown the door.”
Let us all join hands to rid this country of the menace of sifarish and develop a culture of respecting the merit-based system.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (77)
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'@ kumar
Just check the net and see who are the top drawer international speakers in demand.like Bill Clinton , Mahathir Mohammad and Pervez Sharif No Indian is there.
Pls disclose the source of Musuraf being the HIGHEST PAID SPEAKER. Otherwise don't fool the people of Pakistan
And how will the former General describe the growing mushroom of black personalities around the afro.american President of the USA?Is it favouratism or nepotism, or a biased judgement or is it based on merits including competence and experience or just a coincidence.
Rex Minor
@fahad: "dear general get a life" . This General, not many months ago, wrote an article in ET, insinuating that Musharraf was rolling in money. While he on the other hand had to count every rupee before daring to spend it. I had assumed as a retired General he got paid handsomely----did not have to barely survive on a Private's pay. . (Sensing the angry response from the public, our courageous general abandoned his post--ings after that).
@ Junaid You are right in taking the bull by the horns. But a few corrections: 1. The list of Dictators also includes Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, whose party was trailing behind Awami League in 1971 elections but he grabbed power, with the help of establishment, and declared himself as "Civilian Martial Law Administrator" totally disregarding the mandate given to AL. 2. General Ziaul Haq was socalled "Mohajir" because his family had migrated from India. . We should not encourage ethnicism but the above facts are brought to the knowledge of pseudo-intellectuals who think that the "Dictators" were from a particular ethnic background.
Butt, an appointee of the The Prime Minister was DG ISI at the time of Kargil. ISI being an intelligence must surely have known about troop movements, large scale transportation of weapons and artillery, massive quantities of fuel etc. Its strange that the Prime Minister did not know about this operation! Is'nt it?
Musharraf is being targeted on the basis of political revenge and baseless allegations which have not been proven till now and courts are just collecting evidences against Musharraf but no one is ready to record his/her evidential statements against Musharraf by Nawaz Sharif and C.J.P. Iftikhar Chouhdry......
Till few years ago, no one could dare write these words against then-almighty Dictator Musharraf in front of whom everyone was a bowing him as a mini-god. But truth is revealing now and justice will soon prevail when Musharraf will face the consequences of his high treason.
So the man who took an economy that was down the gutter in the 90s, and revived it is mediocre at best? The man who introduced more institutions in our society than the 'democratic' politicians could ever dream of is mediocre? Musharaff revived Pakistan from the utter dismal state of the 90s where vengeance was the only form of governance known to the political elite. Journalists were targeted, media was non existent. Foreign reserves were almost empty, no trade existed, no value of Pakistani Rupee, growth rate was lowest in the region and corruption was at its peak. Your 'mediocre' Musharaff changed a lot of that. The only thing I find mediocre right now is this disaster of an attempt at writing an opinion piece.
Mush was a mediocre or not but he for sure was a thug, crook and liar of highest order. As for people bringing in the parochial element in the discussion, for their information out of all the dictators we had ( Ayub, Yahya, Zia and Mush) only one ( Zia ) was Punjabi.
Its ironical that Mush is playing innocent now and his cronies giving all sort of rubbish arguments like starting over from 1956 to confuse people and delay/avoid Mush's punishment.
I agree with the article , but Nawaz Shareef was missing in it as Zia and Sifarish lead to creation of Nawaz Shareef.
@Agnostic: Long live kashmiris and punjabis, we are one and the same people.
This is in poor taste, general. This only brought your stock down in the eyes of an impartial observer.
Incredible piece of writing. Gen. Butt's selection to replace Mush was a blatant case of sifarish on the Kashmiri net.
"Let us all join hands to rid this country of the menace of sifarish and develop a culture of respecting the merit-based system". Really? Why did Nawaz decide to suddenly appoint you the COAS while Musharraf was on an airplane returning to Karachi? Was this not "sifarish" of the highest order? By the way, there are English equivalents of "sifarish" like nepotism and favouritism. I don't know on what basis you were even considered to head the army, unless it was due to the fact that you, like Nawaz Sharif, had parents and grandparents who were Kashmiris.
@ pk
This is a lame excuse General Musharraf has given 'n' times in order to justify his coup d'état. It seems that people like you are totally oblivious of the military history, a compulsory subject taught at Command & Staff College. There are many precedence where an Engineer has been made Army Chief in various countries including UK, Bangladesh etc... Do you know which arm was General McArthy from?
@pk: Oh and btw, General Butt was the senior most General after Musharraf.
@pk: Number 1 get your facts in order sir. While the National Command Authority, the parent umbrella of SPD was commissioned in 2000, it started operating when Musharraf created it in April 1999. Number 2 get your facts in order again sir. Gen. Butt has commanded an infantry brigade and also topped war courses taught in the army and has also been PSO to COAS Gen Aslam Beg. If he had no experience in infantry then i wonder why was he made commander corps Gujranwala, did that thought ever occur to you? Thirdly Engineering Corps is a ‘supporting force’ similar to the Artillery and Signals Corps and not just mechanical or electrical in nature. It is not just a services branch but also a department responsible for providing supplies and ordnance. And btw, if supporting force members cant be army chiefs then it will bode well for you to know that Musharraf also belong to a supporting force, Artillery. Moreover, he has also served as the Adjutant General of Pakistan, a post that Gen Ayub and Gen Kakar held before becoming the Army Chiefs. So, please get your facts in order.
Oh, please...Musharaf IS a true leader. He proved himself, always. He is the leader who brought Pakistan to International platform with respect and honor. He saved our country from bankruptcy and gave prosperity to the nation. It was the job of civilian leadership, but they failed and failed again. We are blessed to have him as our leader.
dear general get a life
@Mohammad Hamza: No he is not! Kyani had the opportunity to serve BB as a jnior officer, when she was the Prime Minister and this did the trick since he was also close to Musharaf, who once pblicly scoffed at Pakistan military Generals. There are certainly many who would like Musharaf to face the justice!!!
Rex Minor
@author, General Sahib, the article is written in bad taste. You were promoted COAS but the army corps commanders will not have it. So, sour grapes? Musharraf was a mediocre but a brave general. After Kargil India slowly started to negotiate with him. The West and the Saudis listened to him. @Green Tiger, One phone call from US? Musharraf has amply explained his reasons. If you were in his position and could estimate the combined strengths of the US and Indian Air Forces in that configuration, you would have come to the same conclusion. Only fools go to war on the strength of their weaknesses.
@ green tiger
Atleast the Indian media and Indian Generals are more honest than you. What was a victory in Kargill was lost and surrendered by Nawaz prostrating before the Americans and conceding the victory for a withdrarwal causing high losses of men and material in the process
@Punjaagi: Lt Gen Zia wasnt in SPD. SPD was made in 2001 during Musharraf's reign, get your facts straight sir! While the rest appointment was mere political of an engineer on operational billets. An Engineering branch and a junior general isnt made the army chief. As chiefs are from operational branch only!
never heard of you before, but we all know who Musharraf is, even my spell knows his name.
There's no doubt Gen Mush is a mediocre General. He not only lost the kargil war, but so did he got petrified with one phone call from US on the war on terror. Many of the Generals are cowards, only the foot soldiers are really brave.
@Lone: Good and sincere advice and the only honorable option for Hazrat GENERAL Zia uddin Butt. Hopefully, he has at least the common sense to see the wisdom of this recommendation.
Earlier today I forwarded a link to an article by Kamran Khan (now in Geo) - there was no comment as such but ET promptly censored it. Indeed very unethical and very much against the principles of journalism. It only goes to show extreme bias and alignment to one side.
@ Reality Check
like the cabinet, the PM,FM the CM the women seats, surely the COAS will also be a punjabi from Lahore or GT Road.. Kinnay kinnay jana hai billo de ghar ?
@truthbetold:
Not true! You have not the idea how the world functions?. Let me explain; if one has 300 applicants for a single vacancy, how does one select one? Any procedure that one uses is a subjective decision and it is the "vitamin B pill" as we call it, is the final determinig factor.
Pakistanis are big complainers and highly emotional. It was reported at the time that Nawaz Sharif deliberately ignored the proposed chief of staff and instead selected Musharaf, because he considered him 'dumb' and therefore a good under dog!! And it was the erratic behaviour of Musharaf, which made Nawaz Sharif to fire him!! And this was the second mistake that he made!!!
Rex Minor
@Reality Check:
Confirms how communal Nawaz is. Also respect for Musharraf to ahve appointed Kiyani as his successor purely on merit.for all to see.
If no one else blows your trumpet,what else can you do, BLOW YOUR OWN!
@Reality Check:
Army is predominantly Punjabi with a sprinklel of Pathans from day one. Nawaz thought he could manipulate Musharraf but when he found that Musharraf is no pygmy like Butt , he cowardly tried to hijack him in mid air and gift our Army Chief to India but failed in his act of treason.
Later the Army put Nawaz in his place and he begged the Saudis to bail him out . What a coward
Naawaz should be rtied under Article 6
Sifarish/ Chaploosi culture came in India through Mughal darbars and then spread in public domain. Can't think of Sifarish/ Chaploosi culture in Pre-Mughal India. As of now, entire sub-continent is afflicted with this disease. In west one can not think of Sifarish in matter which are so common in India and Pakistan.
@Sensible:
You are spot on. Only two non punjabis have become COAS viz. General Aslam Beg and Gen Musharraf and both by Divine intervention NOT 'sifarish'
@Mohammad Hamza: Nawaz sharif made Musharraf COAS because he thought musharraf is a karachi bhayya so he would not have a powerful biradari/ethnicity behind him, but time has revealed that it was naivety of Nawaz sharif because the post of COAS is so powerful that the COAS can make a coup without any so-called biradari/ethnicity backing, I think Nawaz sharif has learnt a lesson of his life and hopefully will not make the decision on the same lines after Gen. Kayani is retired.
Sorry to bring the ethnic view in this but the bitter truth is that the army is dominated by punjabis and a Muhajir like Musharraf would find it extremely difficult to use sifarish.
Articles like this raise more questions about the armed forces than what they claim to be addressing.
A man has right to express his thoughts be they negative or positive! The only reason I see in this article is self-concieted vendetta.
"General" saab this is so funny. If it wasn't for favoritism and extreme lack of professionalism by the then Prime Minister you wouldn't have become a General in the first place which of-course you never deserved being a non-mainstream officer. Imagine an officer from admin made air chief or a medical corps officer made naval chief and then trying to justify it. Kindly save yourself further disgrace and live your life in oblivion.
@Meera Ghani:
"How about nepotism and cronyism, of course these issues exist in Western countries as well."
The important difference is that nepotism/cronyism are exceptions in the West but are the rule and way of life in the Indian subcontinent.
It would have been more appropriate if you had had similar views expressed while you were serving in uniform. Becoming all pious after retirement when you have nothing at stake is no good. You also have not said anything on current system of promotion in army. I hope you are not waiting for the Kayani to retire.
One can imagine the personal grudge Gen. Ziauddin has against Gen. Musharraf however, Gen. Ziauddin should have had the moral courage to highlight the fact that all three Generals were selected (out of turn) by the politicians Iskander Mirza, Zulfiqar Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, for their own personal and political gains. So before Gen. Ziauddin starts to make his journey towards the high moral ground and before dishing out any more commendations to himself, he should also not forget the damage done to the country by the politicial peewees.
Ha Ha! Every one works the system to succeed.
quote "He has earned several red entries, which meant that he had been punished several times for misdemeanour and other offences"
Implies promotion criteria in army is not working
@Pakistaniat: iT HAS ALL TO DO WITH TIMING OF POWER GRAB BY PM AND NINE ELEVEN .HE USED IT TO HIS PERSONAL ADAVANTAGE AND ROSE TO FAME BY BEING AT THE HELM OF AFFAIRS NOT IN HIS PERSONAL CAPACITY. MANIPULATION, PR , USE OF GRABBED AND STOLEN PWER YES AT ITS BEST . BUT, MERIT NO. CHECK YOUR FACTS.MAY BE HE DID STAFF COLLEGE ALSO DUE TO SAME QUALITIES.HE BECAME A FVOURITE WITH ns FOR SAME REASONS. BUT ONCE ARMY CHEIF HE STABBED AT THE BACK OF GOVT. WITH KARGIL WHEN RELTIONS WITH INDIA WERE SET TO IMPROVE AND VAJPAI OF ALL PROPLE CAME TO PAKISTAN BY BUS.
@Pakistaniat:
He mentioned in his article that Musharraf's greatest asset was his capacity for public relations. Learn to read.
What about your own rise?.It was pure cronyism.
While I applaud the author for speaking the truth, somehow its generally noticeable Pakistan Army Generals only speak the truth after they retire. Ofcourse, we have exceptions here as well. Ex: Hamid Gul.
A fair percentage of the jobs in Canada are a result of networking, which really means contacts; and when looking to fill positions, employees are quite often asked by their supervisors to recommend someone they may know. However, while this is common practice, the people selected, do have to meet the job requirements. I think the author's grouse is more a case of sour grapes; the General has an axe to grind. As for General Ayub Khan, he stands way above the other military rulers, insofar as our country was respected all over the world during his tenure and it was in the sixties that Pakistan was seen as a model for developing countries. Putting him in the same group as Zia and Musharraf is not fair.
The gist of the General's message: those who rose to higher ranks with sifarish were pygmies and I never used sifarish which makes me the best. I say, grow up General, a 'holier than thou' attitude is never a very endearing quality in anyone.
How about nepotism and cronyism, of course these issues exist in Western countries as well.
And what good has the General done for the country, may I ask.?
@F Khan: My dear friend from across the border, please do not worry. It doesn't take a letter like this from the General for the truth to come out. The world knows it. I guess the only people who are unaware of the rot are the folks in the Pak Army. However it doesn't help to keep ones head buried like an ostrich. But also do not be disheartened. Your brothers-in-arm across the border are also afflicted with some of the same diseases that your army has been afflicted with. The degree might differ, but rest assured, the diseases are the same. It will take a herculean effort from people of the two countries to get rid of these diseases.
@F Khan: But F khan staying quiet about this kind of an issue has what has caused our army to develop onto this terrible shape. It is not only about Musharraf, the army has ruled over the nation for half it's existence, that is beyond abnormal. By continuing to hide their problems we make sure that they continue to exist, by denying the sickness instead of acknowledging and treating it will make it even worse. I DON'T want to be ruled by some guy I hire to protect my borders. Lord knows they haven't been doing a good job of that either.
Dear Mr Butt,
How do you explain promotion of a Lt Gen from Engineers to lead a professional army? Horses led by mules..... was said at the time you were promoted and quickly removed.
Mr Musharaf has done enough damage to this country and its army. But you should have known better before kicking the man who is already down.
@A. Khan: In pakistan one can get appointed as a sweeper with sifarish too, I do not think sweeper is a position of authority. Sifaraish is much more than english petty words that people are suggesting as its equivalent.
If memory serves me right, the writer is was a lieutenant general who was appointed out of turn as COAS by Nawaz Shareef when he sacked Pervez Musharraf on 12 October 1999.
Quit a dull, drab, incoherent and poorly thought out disappointing article. I am not impressed.
HAHA..i am laughing at a mediocre general praising himself and saying pervez musharraf was a mediocre general? musharraf was a highly praised and decorated soldier during his career. just read about his career and look at his career highlights. we'll see who is mediocre.
@ Gen (R) Ziauddin Butt: Where I have no disagreement to the content of your article and agree that it is a pandemic disease across all organizations across our part of the world.I am not a fan of PM either but think that an article like this in public about an organization criticizing the very leaders over the last 50-60 years will only put pak army to more disrepute. I am sure this article will provide a field day on this website for all our nice friends across the border against the very organisation you served so well.
I am surprised that the writer should state that there is equivalent to the word "sifarish" in english. The correct word is "cronyism".
"Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy." - Wikipedia
Why do I smell jealousy ????
Gen sahib. I think what you have said is very true and we as a nation should stand up and face this horrible monster sifarish and squashh it and pull out its tenticals as best as we can do and must do efforts on personal levels too. Gen sahib hats off to you.I hope more people stand up agsinst this evil of our society.
Sir you did Staff course in 1978, much after your course-mates from 30th PMA. Musharraf did so in 1972. This is just one example, so plz correct your facts.
If general sahib had ever read Jinnah's famous Aug. 11 speech, he mght have known that Jinnah used the word 'jobbery' for this.
If he is mediocre , who have given 100s of lectures aground the world and he worlds highest paid guest speaker. I have learned your name the first time.
Please Butt sb. Have some shame and dignity, if you have any left. I detest Musharraf but you arent no Saint either.
Nepotism comes close to 'sifarish' and being from the Army I expected you to mention how most promotions are made through sifarish, the institution itself is corrupt as well and no different than the rest of the country. Maybe if the Army could keep its affairs straight then the country would eventually too, of course the pre-requisite would be for the army to not intervene in the affairs of a democratically elected government.
Very inspiring thoughts general, but Musharraf is an product of our current system. The people are addicted to sifarish. There are only a few morally upstanding people like you, the rest are all complicit in keeping this inequal system alive. And where has this morality gotten you, all the immoral people are rich and successful, while nice guys like you are pushed out of the system. We are a diseased nation, no use of trying to talk sense into us.
I salute the general as a true soldier of our Islamic Republic. Any country or nation would be proud of him. It is this kind of army that we need for the betterment of Pakistan not those who look for excuses to capture Pakistan. Respected general you have served (not ruled) the country with honor and pride and are an example for the pigmies. Shame on those people who say that I am against the army, I cannot find words to praise true soldiers like you!