General legacy

Perhaps, it is more prudent to pay tribute to the new chief of army staff, not the one who just retired. Worshipping the rising sun always pays. But here is the deal: the new COAS has just stepped up to the plate. We don’t know who he is yet. He will earn a tribute when he hits the home run. On the other hand, the retiring general has successfully completed his innings and hence deserves it.

General (retired) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani will be remembered for four great accomplishments during his tenure. The first civilian-to-civilian democratic transition in Pakistan’s history is, perhaps, his biggest legacy. Now, for a general, this sounds ironic for (at least, theoretically) the army is supposed to have nothing to do with politics. And yet, for those acquainted with our chequered history, there is not an iota of irony in it. We know he succeeded General (retired) Pervez Musharraf, who is facing treason charges for his military coup.

He will also be remembered as the unassuming son of a non-commissioned officer (NCO), who rose to the top. That actually makes for a heart-warming story, inspirational for the rank and file.

General Kayani inherited a deeply demoralised force, war-fatigued and overstretched, owing to Musharraf’s prolonged stay in power and the many wars he chose to wage. The army’s popularity was at an all-time low and it was a deeply divided house. In such traumatic times, General Kayani worked meticulously to rebuild the morale of the Pakistan Army. By keeping the army away from active politics and focusing on professional matters, he managed to accomplish that. If there was a constant thorn in his side, it was Musharraf’s fan club that wanted him to displace the democratic government and, when he refused to even show interest in such a misadventure, the group constantly bad-mouthed him. But today, he stands much taller than the former dictator and has earned great respect.

His fourth biggest accomplishment is that he ended the institutional lip service against terrorism and actively engaged in operations against terrorists in Swat and South Waziristan. As we have learned recently, these areas are not out of complete danger yet but, at least, the reign of terror there was brought to an end. His recent statements against terrorism also came as a welcome breath of fresh air. Some have questioned his right to make such statements but to be honest, many of us wanted to hear such strong words from our army chief.

Let us also talk about his failures. Interestingly, in many cases where he is accused of failing, the actual failure was not his. The Abbottabad Operation and drone strikes are often presented as his two big failures. However, they both had more to do with policy matters than with an army’s command. Whether the OBL operation was conducted with Islamabad’s and Rawalpindi’s blessing or we were totally surprised by the use of advanced technology will probably take decades to surface; but it doesn’t change the fact that it was an operation against a mass murderer and not the Pakistani state. In any case, it highlights the lack of parity between the powers of the two states. The drone issue is even more complicated. When Musharraf decided to join the international campaign against terrorism, he wore many hats: that of an army chief, that of a president and that of the chief executive of Pakistan. While the army was his main constituency and the main source of his strength, he was representing an entire state. It is not that easy to reverse such agreements between any two states.

If there was one true failure, it was in not being able to reverse the momentum of the operation in Balochistan and put an end to the India-centric outlook of the army. But nevertheless, he will go down in history as a great national figure.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2013.

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