News
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Don’t cross the limits: Kayani* COAS says no individual, institution has monopoly to define national interest
* Any effort that drives a wedge between people, army undermines larger national interest
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani on Monday said all institutions should work within the bounds laid down by the constitution as assuming more than one’s own due role will set “us back”.
Speaking to a group of officers at the General Headquarters, General Kayani said no individual or institution has the monopoly to decide what is right or wrong in defining the ultimate national interest.
The army chief clearly indicated all institutions would work within the constitutional limits and stressed rule of law. “As a nation, we are passing through a defining phase. We are critically looking at the mistakes made in the past and trying to set the course for a better future. An intense discussion and debate is natural in this process. It should emerge only through a consensus, and all Pakistanis have a right to express their opinions. The constitution provides a clear mechanism for it,” he added.
An army official, who wished not to be named, confirmed Kayani was responding in part to the Supreme Court judgement, when last month Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry ruled the
military must stop interfering in politics, a rare challenge to Pakistan’s powerful generals.“We all have a great responsibility to shoulder. We should learn from our past, try to build the present and keep our eyes set on a better future. We all agree that strengthening the institutions, ensuring the rule of law and working within the well defined bounds of the constitution is the right way forward.”
“Weakening of the institutions and trying to assume more than one’s due role will set us back. We owe it to the future of Pakistan, to lay correct foundations, today. We should not be carried away by short-term considerations, which may have greater negative consequences in the future,” he added.
Kayani said while individual mistakes might have been made by everyone in the country, they should best be left to the due process of law. “As we all are striving for the rule of law, the fundamental principle that no one is guilty until proven should not be forgotten. Let us not pre-judge anyone, be it a civilian or a military person and extend it, unnecessarily, to undermine respective institutions.”
General Kayani said the armed forces drew their strength from the bedrock of the public support. National security is meaningless without it. Therefore, any effort that wittingly or unwittingly drives a wedge between the people and the armed forces undermines the larger national interest.
“The integrity and cohesion of the armed forces is essentially based on the trust reposed in them by the people of Pakistan. Strengthening this trust will ensure better security of the country. Equally important is the trust between the leaders and the led of the armed forces. Any effort to create a distinction between the two, undermines the very basis of this concept and is not tolerated, be it Pakistan or any other country.”
All systems in Pakistan appear to be in a haste to achieve something, which could have both positive and negative implications, he observed. “Let us take a pause and examine the two fundamental questions: one, are we promoting the rule of law and the constitution? Two, are we strengthening or weakening the institutions? In the ultimate analysis, all of us would have served Pakistan better if history and our future generations judge us positively.” imdad hussain
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk