Pakistan - its destiny
at crossroads again

Contributing Editor Vice Admiral (Retd) Iqbal F Quadir says Pakistan is again at a crossroads.

The country is fast approaching a crossroads of destiny again. Very soon some fateful decisions would be taken. Decisions, which would determine for a long time to come whether the country is to become a part of the emerging community of vibrant nations that would have a say in shaping the fortunes of the emerging new world or slides into a comity of states that have little future but must continue to exist so that others might live and thrive. These, therefore, are difficult times as competing nations jostle to become a part of the vibrant or have at least one foot into their entrance door before it shuts rather than be relegated to the category of the latter type for an unpredictable period of time. As luck would have it, once again, in keeping with Pakistan's past history and tradition, this crucial decision rests with one man alone, in uniform, answerable only to himself, backed by an unnamed junta and assisted by a collection of specialized uniformed as well as civil advisors, a number of whom are mere courtiers or self-servers.
The speed of approach to the crossroads was that of a roller coaster, which carried no brakes. This left only two possibilities, either continue straight ahead or take a turn at a speed that might force the coach off the road and even overturn it. However, those at the helm of affairs felt quite certain that the coach's wheel base was broad enough to give it the ability to careen round the ninety degree turn without any mishap. All save a few of the passengers in the coach had their doubts but as always in any under-developed country, the majority was considered nothing more than troublemakers or at best mere noisemakers. They, the majority somehow never knew what was good for them or was in the interest of their betterment. And, would they ever learn - the majority - never it seemed? During my days in Islamabad, in the seventies and eighties, the seniors in uniform always felt that all what people really needed or wanted was nothing more than peace, roti, kapra and makan. Economic, social and political development of the country during that decade was, therefore, conspicuous by its absence. It also gave birth to a new crop of selected pliant feudal and a few others to fill the Majlis-e-Shoora, the major qualification for selection being the ability not to look beyond themselves and their kith and kin. With the backing of the Establishment they became the political leaders of the country, now the much-maligned lot.
In the case of present government, from what has been reported in the press and over national television, the aims were indeed much higher. However, the priorities remained flexible and in the case of Local Bodies, very recently a sharp U-turn in planned devolution of power has been reported. Other signals indicated that suppleness in choice of aims and their ever-changing priorities had no limits except for the creation of the nationally dreaded and purposeless National Security Council (NSC). It seems the reason Local Bodies have lost the first love of the Establishment has been the marked independence they have been showing lately so soon after their creation. With the pliant feudal of Zia era it had taken them a decade to reach that stage. This situation would become even more acute as federal government's financial reform agenda under IMF guidance creates a clash of interest between the two bodies. The government keen to continue its fiscal policies so that the present grand life style of the federal government and those who control it could continue unhindered and unchecked, while the Nazims face the ever-increasing groans and grunts of the middle, lower and poor income groups due to rapidly rising cost of living, fixed incomes of reducing worth and increasing unemployment.
It has frequently been stated that the main benefit accruing from creation of NSC would be to put a stop to future encroachments into civil affairs by the Chief of Army Staff. However, the proof of the pudding always lay in its eating. Had the stated reason for creation of the supra body been the case, then one wondered why would it be necessary for General Musharraf to continue as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) after elections have taken place in coming October and a civil elected government taken over, with himself as the President and an NSC in place? Surely, there must be some residual lurking doubts or apprehensions, if not fear, of chances of someone trying to emulate what General Yahya with his three Musketeers had done to Field Marshal Ayub Khan thirty odd years ago that prompted General Musharraf to follow in the footsteps of General Zia and continue as COAS in addition to being the President of the country. In the case of General Zia more than one person have said that they had seen the file wherein President Zia-ul-Haq, after a reported disagreement with Prime Minister Junejo over the question of appointment of a new Chief Of Army Staff, had granted General Zia-ul-Haq i.e. himself, extension in service as the Chief of Army Staff till further orders.
Yet, it must be quite clear and evident even to the remotest villager of the country that the National Security Council would only be as much capable of preventing a take-over of the country by the Chief of Army Staff, if ever he wanted to while in direct command of troops, as any Constitution of Pakistan had ever been able to achieve so far. If, therefore, any further such temptations were to be taken care of then the only sure method would be to change the system of command of troops in a manner as followed in the progressive countries of the world such that operational command of troops was diffused amongst a number of field or formation commanders with no permanent allocation of troops under them and where the Chief of Army Staff acted as the land warfare Advisor to the government through the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and in addition was responsible for raising, equipping and training of troops according to authorized plans; and for administration, logistics and medical etc. through the Ministry of Defence. As we say in Urdu, if there is no baans - there will be no bansri (no flute - no music). With no direct command of troops the Chief of Army Staff would turn into an ordinary mortal as far as forcible take-over of the government was concerned.
This devolution of command element to field commanders on task basis would be the only positive means of avoiding any future take-over but not the proposed National Security Council that would be powerless in the face of a determined Chief of Army Staff, which designation in Pakistan was a misnomer for the Commander in Chief of Pakistan Army with direct command of troops that he actually was under present dispensation. As a matter of historical interest the powerlessness of the Chairman JCSC was decided on the day when General Zia as COAS presented his war plans to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), the first time ever in (April?) 1977 at the end of which he concluded that no one was going to ask him to change his plans because he (General Zia) alone would be fighting the war from his Headquarters. The Chairman JCSC General Sharif either did not take up the matter of overall command during wartime with Prime Minister Z A Bhutto or the latter acquiesced with what had happened at the fateful meeting. It did not take observers long to note that the other two service chiefs soon started paying greater attention to the Army Chief than to the Chairman whom no doubt all seniors and juniors alike greatly respected as a person. Only the restructuring of the higher level Command and Staff system of the three services would ensure the keeping of the Chief of Army Staff distant from the troops and the throne alike and simultaneously make the control and command of armed forces more efficient, purposeful and smoother.With all due respects and regards to them; Indonesia under General Suharto, Turkey, Egypt and Algeria were four countries in addition to Pakistan who have experienced long periods of military control. But despite their excellent human and economic resources none of the five could offer themselves as an example for others to emulate. None of them was presently able, even to survive without some form of foreign aid or assistance, leave alone being a vibrant society. The debt per capita in each country was in thousands of US dollars. Under the circumstances, for Pakistan to adopt policies of one of the other four would amount to nothing less than a blind following the blind. In any case the system of Turkish NSC, the Pakistan Army has sold its heart to might itself not be able to stand the European Union's pressure for too long if Turkey really wanted to become part of that Union. On the other hand look across India, at Malaysia, a country that at the time of its independence was so backward socially, politically and economically compared to Pakistan that it would be difficult for most to imagine. But, now, see what a free democratic society has done to it. Vibrant and still getting ahead despite her frequent disagreements with the larger neighbour, and sometimes even with the sole superpower of the world. Let us hope that better counsel would prevail where it matters and that Pakistan's good future would not be put to test once again by another constitutional right turn or about face.