Author: Ayaz Amir
Publication: The Dawn
Date: May 24, 2002
If war is too serious a business
to be left to generals, what would Clemenceau (the originator of this timeless
phrase) have said about part-time generals? The situation on our borders
is grim and could well spiral out of control. But more alarming than Indian
intentions is the sense of drift at home.
This is a time for national unity,
for subordinating self-interest to the national good. But the military
government with its divisive policies is ill-suited to deliver this goal.
The results are there for all to see: a ruling coterie enclosed in a capsule,
cut off from public sentiment and opinion.
The television pictures of the three
meetings Gen Musharraf held on Wednesday with media persons, his cabinet
and a clutch of leaders of B-grade or Tonga Parties said it all. In all
these pictures the only person shown talking was the Generalissimo. This
has been one of the problems with this dispensation. Even if Musharraf
was a Demosthenes or a Cicero there is such a thing as too much talking.
He has been talking virtually non-stop since the time he seized power.
And look what a soup the country is in. It's high time he did some listening.
At this juncture when only a fool
would totally rule out the possibility of war, the last luxury Pakistan
can afford is part-timism. Gen Musharraf owes it to the nation to shed
his uniform, install the best available general - which means no loyal
Musa Khan - as army chief and himself concentrate on his presidential duties.
Contrary to what he may fear - yes, the Generalissimo is known to entertain
fears - this step will be applauded by all Pakistanis and will strengthen
him more than a dozen spurious referendums.
The next thing the General must
do is to swallow his prejudices and open lines of communication with the
two political leaders who still matter the most as far as popular sentiment
is concerned - Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Far from destroying them,
the military government by its sorry record has rebuilt their standing
and credibility. This is the reality on the ground and wisdom lies in accepting
it. Indeed, getting these two leaders and their parties on board is more
important at this juncture than relying on hopes resting on American intercession.
As for corruption charges against
the two leaders, the military government having not been an impartial referee
is hardly in a position to talk of justice and fair play. Let it concentrate
on repairing internal fissures and manning the nation's defences. Other
considerations can take a backseat for the moment.
And, please, an end once for all
to reconstruction theories. If anything deserves a kick into oblivion at
this time it is the National Reconstruction Bureau with its half-baked
ideas of reform. The Constitution too needs to be protected from further
mangling, no one having the mandate to touch it regardless of the supposed
indulgence granted by the Supreme Court.
Which Supreme Court? That headed
by Chief Justice Irshad Hasan Khan who, in his later incarnation as chief
election commissioner, has certified the referendum to be objective, impartial
and transparent? Enough of these games. Musharraf should look to the crisis
the country is in and desist from wasting time on non-essential issues.
The Constitution in any case is not his to play around with.
Above all, Musharraf should take
political parties which matter, rather than Tonga Parties, into confidence
and make a categorical announcement about party-based elections in October
minus the constitutional amendments he has spent so much time talking about.
Leading to those elections the country needs a government of national unity
with representatives from the PPP and the PML-N sitting in it. The corps
commanders must not be distracted from their professional duties.
In times of war, or impending war,
the spirit of a nation counts far more than hardware. The best tanks, the
latest warplanes are important but of no use when spirit and morale are
lacking. We at any rate being a poor country do not have the best equipment.
Our greatest strength has to lie in the morale of our fighting men and
the fervour of our people. But these feelings will not be aroused by a
military regime which, considering itself infallible and self-sufficient,
is rowing upstream all by itself.
There is no call for false drum-beating
on this score. Unless we are to fall victims to our own propaganda, we
must recognize facts for what they are and take urgent measures to overcome
our weaknesses. The public needs to be aroused out of its torpor, not through
the meaningless rhetoric to which it has been treated these past two and
a half years but through sincere attempts at national unity.
There was no shortage of people
who expected a great deal from Gen Musharraf when he arrived on the national
scene. Now the same people feel betrayed as they see the drift engendered
by his policies. At this hour of national peril, however, Gen Musharraf
has another chance, probably his last, to do well by his country. But only
if he can bring himself to sacrifice personal ambition at the altar of
the national good. Then see what happens. Stirred to its depths, this nation
will be in a position to break the teeth of any Indian aggression.
The incessant chatter of using nuclear
weapons as an option of last resort is a sign of defeatism for it implies
that we are bound to lose a conventional war. Since when has this become
the accepted wisdom? We have an army large enough, and hopefully strong
enough, to foil any aggression. Nuclear weapons are for Armageddon. God
forbid that that moment should have arrived for Pakistan.
All that our armed forces need is
the unreserved backing of the nation. This they will get when the army
command breaks out of its isolation and Gen Musharraf draws a line not
between his supporters and opponents, as he did so disastrously during
his ill-starred referendum, but between self-interest and the national
interest.
The moment this happens, the moment
Gen Musharraf steps aside as army chief and appoints a full-time successor,
and the moment he announces his willingness to reach out to Benazir Bhutto
and Nawaz Sharif, this crisis will abate and the war clouds around the
Himalayas disappear.
India is taking advantage of our
weakness and of the isolation of the military regime. The moment it sees
national unity at work it will have to think twice about engaging Pakistan
in war, limited or otherwise.
Indeed it is fair to say we wouldn't
have faced this crisis if a political leadership had been in power. Far
from making Pakistan strong, military rule has made it impotent. Never
was national honour so low, or national humiliation so near. We didn't
even show gumption enough to ask for the right wages for providing loyal
service in Afghanistan. We thought we had outsmarted India but now face
an Indian threat more grave than at any time since 1971.
Our military godfathers also thought
siding with the US would protect our Kashmir policy. They failed to realize
that Afghanistan and Kashmir were part of the same thinking and that ditching
the Taliban also necessarily implied ditching the notion of jihad in Kashmir.
That being the case, we should have readjusted Kashmir policy in line with
the new realities ourselves instead of having to beat a steady retreat,
step by step, under external pressure.
These are harsh things to say and
maybe difficult to swallow for many people. Our notion of patriotism has
meant supporting the official line no matter how disastrous its consequences.
The nation rallied behind Ayub Khan even when he blundered into the 1965
war. West Pakistan rallied behind Yahya Khan even when he led the nation
into the humiliation of the 1971 war. The questions that should have been
asked were not asked when the army command under Gen Musharraf blundered
into the ill-fated Kargil adventure in 1999.
The stakes are much higher this
time if only because to the periodic war-mongering, which seems to be the
dismal fate of the subcontinent, there now has been added a nuclear dimension.
Two monkeys slashing the air with nuclear razors: the prospect is frightening.
It is obvious Pakistan can afford
no misstep or miscalculation. But more importantly, it cannot afford anything
that induces or reinforces national weakness. It needs a full-time army
chief for whom military maneuvering takes precedence over political maneuvering.
And it needs a political compromise (call it historic, if you will) that
heals the nation's internal wounds and in this hour of peril forges national
unity. To politicking and the pursuit of narrow self-interest we can return
when this crisis is over.
