Publisher & Managing Editor:
Ikram-ul-Majeed Sehgal

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Air Marshal (Retd)
Mohammad Asghar Khan

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Brig (Retd)TH Siddiqi
Lt Gen (Retd) Imtiaz Waraich

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Ardeshir Cowasjee
Arif Nizami
Ms Maleeha Lodhi
Ms Nasim Zehra
Hameed Haroon
Humayun Gauhar
Ambassador (Retd) Afzal Mahmood
Brig (Retd) Saeed Ismat, SJ

Panel of Contributing Editors
Air Marshal (Retd) Ayaz A. Khan
Vice Adm (Retd) IF Quadir
Dr Shireen Mazari
Farhan Bokhari

Panel of Columnists
Col (Retd) EAS Bokhari
Col (Retd) Abdul Qayyum
Dr. Matiur Rahman
Ms Amina Jilani
Capt (Retd) A.A. Jilani

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Ms Ambreen Jahangir

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Dear Readers,

This is a SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT designed to coincide with IDEAS 2000, Pakistan’s first-ever Defence Exhibition.  For a country with a large defence manufacturing base, it was necessary to have such an event, hopefully this will become an annual fixture.  As Pakistan’s ONE and ONLY  defence magazine we welcome all the delegations from the various countries and hope they will have a useful visit.  The SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT contains articles on “Weapons and Tactics” and “Arms Procurement” besides material on POF, Wah and HIT Taxila.  We are concluding Col. Qayyum’s “Mosaic of Ideas” and starting to serialise Maj Sarwar’s proposed book “Asia and the British Factor in the 20th Century”.  Since it was Gen Pervez Musharraf who conceived the idea of IDEAS (pun intended) and threw his whole weight behind bringing the event to fruition, we have put him on the cover of an issue which we think will become a collector’s item. Afghanistan remains a problem area and the possible signing of CTBT a controversial one, India continues to arm and Pakistan continues to be put under pressure.  These have been covered by our esteemed columnists in some detail.  Pakistan has now had one year of military rule.  As a broad assessment, I wrote an article for THE NATION called “PERFORMANCE EVALUATION”, which I am taking the liberty of reproducing.

When Lt Gens Mahmud and Aziz in Islamabad and Rawalpindi respectively and Lt Gen Muzzafar Osmany in Karachi removed Pakistan’s democratic government on the evening of Oct 12, 1999, the deafening silence in the streets confirmed that Mian Nawaz Sharif’s “heavy mandate” had evaporated. One of Musharraf’s strong attributes is his unswerving loyalty to the subordinates handpicked by him, loyalty essentially being a two-way street it is hardly surprising that at crunch time they remained loyal to him. The national leadership in the hands of the “Kargil boys” (as Musharraf, Mahmud and Aziz had come to be known) may have been seen with some trepidation by the intelligentsia but was welcomed generally, both by them and the masses, such was the universal disappointment in democracy’s performance over the past decade and a half. The former PM’s vain attempt to play ducks and drakes with the military hierarchy had been well anticipated, the counter-coup had semi-tragic (uptil now at least) consequences for himself and his family. Whether the trio seized power to save their own jobs or in the greater interest of the country is a moot point, ipso facto they became relevant to Pakistan’s destiny, they remain so one year later. Performance evaluation can only be rooted in whether the country is a better place to live in than it was a year ago.

Pervez Musharraf has been very decisive since taking over as COAS in the matter of promotions and appointments. Except for one three star rank and that fairly recently (and that may have to do more with the compulsions of Kargil) he has strictly followed a policy of merit and merit alone. That is what all institutions need badly. Giving almost everyone a three star meticulously down the Army List was not correct, only a few really deserving merit promotion to the uppermost hierarchy. Luckily for the Army some aberrations have retired/or will retire in the normal course. Pervez Musharraf’s finest moment unfortunately remained far removed from public eye, when, except for Ziauddin Butt who needed to be incarcerated, he took a very wise decision the morning after Oct 12 not to remove or retire those in the upper hierarchy generally perceived not to be  fully “on board”. Slotted in positions of no real importance, they have retired (or will retire) with stipulated benefits after completing their full tenures. This mature approach forestalled any possible split in the unity of the Army, his core constituency. The Army needs constant attention on many matters, hopefully the CE will address this shortly. One matter is personal, Gen Pervez Musharraf could have shown more finesse and grace with one of his colleagues (and friend) when he took over as COAS. It was not a matter of what he did, it was what Pervez Musharraf did not do; it was out of character.

The military surefootedness did not translate into the choice of civilians to run the government, of uneven content some of them are On-the-Job Training (OJT). If the public is not giving due credit for the many initiatives it is mainly because the public is not as well informed as it should be. And this despite the fact that this is the only military regime in history that openly tolerates a free Press, and one daresays gains tremendous credibility because of it. The prime responsibility of  inter-acting with the intelligentsia and the common man in the street is that of Musharraf’s civilian appointees. Technocrats all, they do not have the foggiest notion of how to reach the public except through press handouts and canned media events. They are not bad people and neither are they incapable, they simply cannot go beyond the routine. For resuscitation of Pakistan they could be termed right, for re-vitalization of the country they are totally wrong.

Only raw dynamism will motivate calculated risks to substantially  change  Pakistan’s  economic and political lifestyle. In Lord Wavell’s words, “the unerring tenth instinct, like a kingfisher flashing across the surface of a pond”. Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, is attempting to force-feed Pakistan into the IT world on a crash basis and Lt Gen (Retd) Moinuddin Haider has at least attempted substantive change in the Ministry of Interior, the others have not really done anything spectacular. Shaukat Aziz would have been better slotted managing Foreign Affairs, the deeply entrenched gnomes of the Finance Ministry led by its durable Secretary General took him over as they do all Finance Ministers, by the 9th hole of the Islamabad Golf Club, “governments may come and governments may go, Moeen Afzal goes on forever”. Not that Shaukat Aziz has done badly, with his qualifications and such draconian support from the military anyone would do as well. Pakistan’s myriad economic problems need complete a turnaround rather than mere management, being capable is simply not good enough. Ishrat Hussain as Governor State Bank remains a brilliant move, Shaukat would have done well to totally focus on the acute shortage of revenues and the ineffectiveness of the department responsible, CBR. The expectations being higher, the downside came in not achieving them. Cruel though it may be, both the perception and reality is that the masses are not satisfied with their lot. Quite a segment of our middle-class population is hovering on or around the fail-safe line between absolute poverty and discomfort.

The Chief Executive rightly said that the depreciation of the Rupee was due to IMF pressure, but why the keenness to bow to IMF pressure? Give credit where credit is due, the previous government had successfully negotiated re-scheduling of some debts’ repayments, one of the first agreements Shaukat Aziz signed on as Finance Minister. Our primary effort must be along that route as well, to encourage home remittances through official channels, even a US $2-3 billion increase will lessen the debt burden, after accountability this should have been our primary aim. To the undying credit of the military regime, for the first time in Pakistan’s history real-time accountability has taken place, a significant achievement given the stranglehold the elite enjoy over the various monitoring agencies. However, genuine businessman like Anwar Saifullah are still held up on charges that do not stand legally or morally, his continued incarceration is a glaring disincentive for investment. People like him should have been mobilised to attract foreign entrepreneurs. A suspicion arises of personal animosity overwhelming professionalism, even a hint of corruption. Dominated by a past master of intrigue who pulled all the strings, honest Amjad was hopelessly circumvented. Hopefully the new incumbent will be influenced by his conscience instead of the machinations of cronies who do not have the guts to put their own name publicly to what they either espouse or profess. This is a direct challenge, if you have courage of conviction, stand up and be counted, do not hide behind the petticoats of anonymity.

India’s diplomatic “roll” cannot continue forever. Sophistication is not enough, making our views heard and having them understood at the highest levels of decision-making is more important. The recent attitude change of the Ambassadorial guard has been potent, the Excellencies are not holed up anymore in their ivory towers as normally foreign service professionals (and outsiders not appointed on merit) are apt to do. Moreover, economic as well as diplomatic channels need to be activated. Businessmen access in foreign countries through their Principals/Joint Venture Partners cannot be under-rated or under-estimated. Who were the principal lobbyists rooting for China recently with the US Congress on the trade issue?

Wrongdoing in Defence Purchases may not have been on the scale being bandied about but why is the CE putting his credibility on the line for a few scum of this earth? The tanks may be excellent, the sniper rifles outstanding, the procedures foolproof, does that make kickbacks legal? That in effect sums up our dilemma, given that we recognize that his intent is sincere is the Chief Executive being correctly informed? Ms Benazir and Mian Nawaz Sharif were also given “Sub Accha” (everything alright) Reports regularly, a wide gap remains between what the public perception is and what the government is claiming, given that public perception is rather more harsh than it should be. To reduce the gap between fact and perception, the presence of politicians will move up the credibility of the regime to a higher notch both within and outside the country, a national government is, therefore, imperative. The military gets “A”s for intent and sincerity of purpose as well as for effort. In coalition with its chosen civilians the regime manages only “C”s and “D”s. That Pervez Musharraf may be putting a brave face to the ugly reality on the ground is understandable but if he is completely out of sync with what is the true picture, that is extremely dangerous. If the CE really believes everything is hunky-dory, then he is living on Planet Nirvana, the headiness of power has got to another good man whose boots were made for walking and we are in real trouble.