General Raheel Sharif laying floral wreath at Yadgar- e - Shuhada on April 30, 2013. PHOTO: ISPR
Addressing the Youm-e-Shuhada (Martyrs Day) ceremony in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Wednesday evening, General Sharif asked anti-state elements to unconditionally accept Pakistan’s Constitution and join the national mainstream otherwise the military “with the support of people will take them to task.”
In his first public speech since he became the Army Chief in November last year, General Sharif said that ‘democracy is the only way forward’ to join developed nations of the world.
The ceremony was attended by a large number of dignitaries including Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and former Army Chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
But General Raheel’s carefully worded speech, where he unequivocally supported the democracy and freedom of media indicated that tensions between the civil and military leadership had defused.
However, he made it clear that there was no room for any doubt about ‘our ability to deal with’ insurgents.
“The brave people of Pakistan and the army has the full capacity to take such elements to task,” he stressed.
The Army Chief also spoke on the development work undertaken by the military in the restive Balochistan province.
He also termed Pakistan’s Army as a representative of all the four provinces, key for the national unity, symbol of nationalism and guarantor of the defence of the country.
“The induction of over 20,000 officers and soldiers in the Pakistan army from Balochistan is a testament to the province’s trust in the military,” he remarked.
He also termed Kashmir as a ‘jugular vein’ of Pakistan and called for its resolution in line of the aspirations of the Kashmir people.
“Sacrifices of Kashmirs will not go in vain. Pakistan Army is in favor of peace but is always ready to respond to any aggression in befitting manner.”
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Action is needed not the words from both politicians as well as from the military to save from the cancer of terrorism and fanaticism. The supporters of these terrorists must be dealt with heavy handedly to save the lives of our Jawans and helpless innocent people in the street and infection of hatred, bigotry and jingoism should be taken right from those mosques from where this is spread.
The military has avoided confronting the terrorist .. maybe because the "bad terrorist" hide out in the same vicinity as the "good terrorist"? Whatever the reason it's obvious that the military has not shown either the inclination or capacity to confront and defeat these terrorist .. been 5 years since they had a significant offensive.
Good to see that mentioned people first and army second as being brave. As it is the helpless people who are facing the most brunt of the terrorists.
What remains to be seen is when are we going to stop making exceptions and start providing justice to anyone who takes a innocent life?
If words could have been the cure, then we would have been secured and saved uptil now.
Son of soldier and younger bro of martyr salute Pak Army .Pakistan zindabad Gilgit-baltistan payiendabad
@Parvez: That is not the CoAS' job to regulate. The Federal government should be checking all such practices.
Take that so called liberals!
Expecting peace as a result of dialogue with terrorist elements is baseless. They are funded and controlled from outside. The only way to eradicate them is to kill them.
....and a mosque in Islamabad has just been named after Qadri, the religious extremist who murdered Salman Taseer in cold blood. If that's not an ' in your face ' challenge, then nothing is and the perception of the people is that this too will be covered by rhetoric, as talk is easy..
Kudos! A slap on face of all those ministers who accuse army for their personal vendetta.