Press Campaign to Ridicule and Defame the Army

It is uncertain if Benazir was a Security Risk but Asif Zardari surely is!

By Usman Khalid

The Army Chief - General Kayani - who may have to deal with the tricky problem of alleged misconduct of two predecessors. This write up suggests how he can - which is correct and popular.

Since the 19 October SC Judgement in the Asghar Khan Case in which the former CAOS General Aslam Beg and former DG ISI General Asad Durrani were indicted for having arranged campaign funds for certain political parties through Mehran Bank, TV talk show hosts have been trying to outsmart each other in ridiculing and heaping scorn on the armed forces. The spokesmen of the ruling party – the PPP – have been readily available to all TV channels to join in the ‘celebration’ of victory. The unremitting joy in political and media circles was matched by anger in the rank and file of the military. The Army Chief must have raised the issue with the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary must have told the Defence Minister but the ruling party was more eager to rub in salt than to attend to the dire consequences of the SC ‘misjudgement’. The Press Release of an address by General Kayani to officers in GHQ expresses the concern he has over the growing gulf between the public and the military by shrill voices in the media by well known subversives with a well known agenda.

The reaction to the address by the COAS within the armed forces has been muted but ex-servicemen have been more vocal. One typical reaction circulated on the Internet is as follows:

“It is too late to indulge in verbal niceties which miss the head of the nail by a mile, and is directed at an audience which is not dumb by any stretch of the imagination, but to which national interest is of no concern beyond the fact that Pakistan is important to them, only insofar as this is the only country they can loot with impunity, and they have the ‘mandate’ to do so. It is not that they do not know that they are pushing the country beyond the edge and therefore need just a subtle hint to make for course correction. They know exactly what they are doing.”

No one is calling for a coup d’état by the military; but the majority in uniform or in civvies is aware that as the ultimate enforcer of the writ of the state, it can suggest as well implement measures to arrest the rot. However, the PPP leadership – Bilwal and Asif Zardari – have lost control and subtle suggestions would not deliver the desired change. What is needed is a change of government. But the press reaction to SC judgment on Asghar Khan case has made the people less sanguine about a change that the elections next year might deliver. Ever since the PPP came to power in 2008, it has seen the judiciary and the military as a threat to its corrupt ways and dictatorial style of rule. President Zardari did not want restore the judges removed from office for refusing to approve the second coup d’état by General Musharraf in 2007; he wanted to retain a compliant judiciary under Justice Dogar as the CJ. But he was forced to restore the judges under public pressure (long march led by PML(N) Leader Nawaz Sharif) and a telephone call by General Kayani to the then Prime Minister Gilani who announced the climb down at midnight. From that point onwards, the target of the Zardari Administration has been to trim the wings of the military and revile the judiciary.

The opportunity came when the military was accused of being complicit or incompetent in dealing with the US raid in Abbotabad to kill Osama bin Laden. President Zardari asked his Ambassador to the US to contact the appropriate authorities in the US Administration for ‘help’ in using the ‘opportunity’ to replace the present military commanders and put in place a new command system with Hussain Haqqani as its heads as ‘National Security Advisor’. It came as a shock to Asif Zardari that the USA, instead of going along with his request, asked the ‘go between’ Mansoor Ijaz to go public and disclose the request. AZ clearly does not understand that an unpopular leader is of little use to the USA. They have burnt their fingers too often in the past not to have learnt that lesson. But they have yet to learn that infiltration of Pakistani press by pro India subversives has consequences more dire for the US than for India.

The submissions before the Supreme Court included reasons for the then President GIK (and the two accused General Officers) to have been eager that she did not return to power in elections due three months later. In essence, Benazir was thought to be a ‘security risk’ but the military officers that appeared before the SC were ambiguous in their submissions and held back evidence on the basis of which they reached that conclusion. It was perhaps because intelligence – however reliable – is not always good enough to be used as evidence. But intelligence officers are duty bound never to disclose operational information particularly on counter-intelligence and clandestine operations. General Asad Durrani violated that principle and deserves to be dealt with on that account. But to ask for the trial of the two General Officers for high treason allegedly for violation of Article 6 of the Constitution as is being demanded by the counsel of Asghar Khan is going too far. The misconduct of General Durrani has already been dealt with when he was prematurely retired. However, there is something more serious which needs to be pinpointed to deal holistically with the misconduct entailed.

Benazir lost the elections in 1990 but she won the elections in 1993 and became the PM. She appointed General Durrani as the Ambassador to Germany. Was that a reward? If yes, for what?

If General Durrani had been responsible for her losing the elections in 1990, there was a case for him to be punished, not rewarded. As we know now, the distribution of Mehran Bank’s money among politicians and journalists came to the knowledge of General NUK Babar – the Interior Minister at the time – who disclosed that in the National Assembly despite assurance to General Durrani that the information would be kept confidential. General Durrani was betrayed and is now being framed for ‘high treason’ while his real offence is that he disclosed operational information about a counter-intelligence operation. He compounded his error by being selective in disclosing information in his affidavit to an FIA official – one Rehman Malik – who is now the Minister of Interior and is using that affidavit in an effort to discredit and disqualify the leader of the opposition – Nawaz Sharif – in the forthcoming elections. He compounded his error further by not telling the SC why it was believed at that time that Benazir was a security risk. He now says, he did not believe that Benazir was a security risk and did not endorse what Brig, Hamid Saeed said: that ‘Benazir sought to compromise the nuclear programme of Pakistan’. No evidence was produced in the Court and there was nothing in the Press that the 1990 election elections were rigged or the results manipulated. What really happened, however, does involve multiple betrayal – General Durrani for revealing information he had to keep confidential; Rehman Malik for making public a note he calls affidavit he promised to keep confidential; the PPP for putting its loyal supporter General Durrani out to hang and dry after he was no longer of use.

It is not surprising that dealing with a situation of 22 years ago with most of the main players long since dead has caused so much mess. The alleged crimes were committed when the two indicted officers were in uniform. Under the law, they should be tried under the Pakistan Army Act by a Court Martial. Since no military officer is accused of embezzlement of money and no one committed anything more than ‘NOT disobeying an unlawful command’ the officers can only be charged with ‘conduct unbecoming’ which is a crime time barred under the statute of limitation. The media which is manifestly under the control of well known subversives will no doubt cry out for exemplary punishments but the need of the hour is to deal with the political players of today. The Supreme Court has already set a date to hear why the present government withdrew 500 million rupees from the secret funds of the Intelligence Bureau in 2008 and where did it go? In contrast, the money contributed by Mehran Bank in 1990 was 140 million rupees and no money from the public purse was disbursed. The COAS as well the CJ have shown hesitation where resolve was needed, they can now redeem themselves. ++