My two weeks at NDU

Being at National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad for two weeks was an exhilarating experience. The university hosted the National Media Workshop-6 and provided an opportunity to more than 70 invitees from all over the country — parliamentarians, representatives of print, electronic, entertainment and social media — to deliberate and debate upon a host of issues in the country.

Since every one of us was opinionated by profession and by nature, the discussions between representatives of various institutions were very interesting.

There was deep consensus in how the political agitation in its immediate context threatens the Red Zone but it was felt that we as a nation will not remain stuck up for a long time in the ‘grey zone’. The majority opined that politicians in the past allowed the military to exploit their failures and even now the current political behaviour of the politicians suggests that the military is once again being forced to exploit their political divisions to ‘once again’ assume the responsibility for the conduct of civilian affairs in the country. It was felt that the ever worsening and deteriorating political situation was fast erasing the merits of the popular political narrative that ‘the military’s hands are full and therefore it will desist from interfering in politics’.

The most interesting aspect of the discussions was the question why the two major political parties of the country could take such a diametrical political position on the role of army on the current political issue in the country? The PPP’s political narrative clearly advocates for the ‘non–involvement of third umpire’ in the resolution of the dispute. But as a clear rebound to the stated position of all democrats in the country, it has been reported that the PML-N hung out its democratic boots and directed the army to act as facilitator, giving a new twist to the unfolding political drama in Islamabad. There was no doubt in anybody’s mind that the government was a clear loser not only because it abrogated the essence and spirit of the charter of democracy that its leader signed but also because it critically damaged the ever-evolving nature of civil-military relations for the past six years or so in this country. If the motive of such an evolution was to institutionalise civilian control over the military then that motive was seriously damaged and dented.

Lastly, the most debated point was — ‘what was the military leadership thinking?’ The lessons from the past were very clear; the military can only be expected to adhere to the principles of political neutrality, constitutionalism and obedience to civilian authority as long as the agitation politics on the streets remain under the governmental control and does not threaten the safety and security of the state. But when the government itself becomes the part of such protests (government rallies also taking to the streets) then such political strategy is consequential and is fraught with immense danger.

Why has the PML-N government allowed itself to be trapped in a corner was another interesting point of the debate? Majority felt that the PML-N government (compulsive as it felt) because its previous government was wrapped up by the military definitely proceeded to lay the bear trap for the institution that fixed it in the past. The hawks in the PML-N government hastily resorted to building an anti-military narrative. The foundations of this narrative were already laid during the election campaign when the PML-N government that promised to appoint two commissions when it came to power — the Mumbai commission to hold an inquiry into alleged ISI involvement in the incident and the Kargil commission to conduct an inquiry into the Kargil war.

Summing up the general feeling among the participants of the workshop was that with every passing day the more indecisive this government is the more unreliable it will look.

PS: My sincerest thanks, respects and admiration to the NDU, the participants of the workshop and those who taught us and enlightened our minds over a course of two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2014.

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