Author: Asif Alvi
Publication: The News
Date: January 12, 2010
URL: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=218132
"Cultivating brevity and calmness"
is yet another masterpiece by Ayaz Amir (January 8). The response to the Indian
army chief's statement by various functionaries of the state was in poor taste.
The government should have responded to the statement on one proper forum
only. But first our army chief and then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff Committee responded to it in anger. At the last came on TV the foreign
minister who made us aware of all the possible meanings and connotations of
the English word 'absurd'.
It looked that there was no coordination among
different organs of the state. As far as the military is concerned, the ISPR
is the body that interacts with the press on official matters. Wasn't the
comment of the army chief, followed by the chairman of the JCSC, a breach
of protocol? The ISPR, being an inter-services body, should have coordinated
the matter. Issuing policy statements is a serious business as it expresses
the sentiments and thinking of the nation. It must come from the appropriate
forum.