Raheel Has Been a Boon for the Government
By Salahuddin Haider
Karachi, Pakistan
While the army chief, General Raheel Sharif has been the motivating factor for policy guidelines, the Nawaz government too has shown maturity in its actions. The military-civilian combination, therefore, instead of giving birth to negativity, has actually been a boon for the country.
It has given the much-needed strength and credibility to democratic dispensation. The COAS is brave and straight-forward and he has time and again shown unflinching commitment to lead from the front. That has been his strong plus point not only from the military’s point of view, but also in several other matters not directly connected with him.
The results of his initiatives in presenting Pakistan’s case abroad, particularly in America, China, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, is too obvious to escape attention.
He has been both focused and positive in handling sensitive issues. Soldiery is in his blood. His elder brother Major Shabbir shaheed, was decorated with the country’s highest gallantry award. His cousins, and several other family members laid down their lives as heroes for their countrymen to live an honorable life.
Like a true, professional soldier, he has been on the war fronts in Waziristan, spending nights and days with troops instilling new spirit and confidence among men fighting, and sacrificing, for a cause.
Such examples are rare. Previous army chiefs, General Ayub Khan, General Musa, General Yahya Khan, Gul Hasan, Tikka Khan, etc. were all found wanting. The less said about General Ziaul Haq and General Kayani, the better it would be. Neither of the last two cared for training and building the morale of the troops. The fact that both were more interested in their personal affairs is a sad commentary.
Aslam Beg did concentrate on building new tanks, and making valuable additions to the arsenal while General Musharraf set an example of strong leadership by spending a night behind the enemy lines in Kargil, which the Indians discovered much later to their utter embarrassment.
Raheel believes in action. He has been constantly on the move, sacrificing his family interest to spend a night prior to Eid al-Fitr, and offering Eid prayers with soldiers. Such examples are rarely found in military history, not in Pakistan at least.
On the civilian side, not only he himself spent time with the IDPs of areas affected by Zarbe Azb, but ordered his commanders to personally supervise the relief work in flood- affected areas under their jurisdiction. Hence the constant movement by the corps commander from north to south, and east to west.
Pakistan army’s history is replete with examples of gallantry and service to humanity. The war and peace proverb was brought vividly alive in on-going floods, where army officers and men had been spending sleepless nights to help the victims in rescue and relief operations. Several thousand lives were saved in Chitral on the mountains to Sukkur, Ghotki, and Jacobabad in the south--in fact on the entire route of River Indus, raging in full fury and destroying towns and villages. Thousands were moved to safety.
Minus army’s help, the civilian administration and political leadership at various levels, would have been blank and zero. The kind of urgency and commitment, expected of the elected rulers and parliamentarians, was sadly missing. Assembly sessions could have easily been moved to some other dates, but parliamentarians drew greater comfort in nestling in their luxurious lodges and assembly halls, rather than taking care of the suffering humanity.
Many of the government’s weaknesses, and their inability to spare time to overcome the problems faced by the people, was reasonably reduced by troops working under General Raheel.
While the Punjab chief minister, after initial hesitations of being in London and guiding people through videolinks, made up for his mistakes by his physical presence, the chief minister in Sindh and his cabinet colleagues continued to show indifference and carelessness.
Qaim Ali Shah’s own area of Khairpur was inundated and may well incur huge losses because of flood water gushing through the gates of Sukkur and Guddu Barrages but there is still no sense of urgency in Sindh to deal with the impending destruction in coming days.
Pakistan Navy has done whatever little it could do with its limited resources, but the administration has remained in deep slumber.
It is often heartening to note that Nawaz Sharif does consult the army frequently on almost all important issues. By doing so he carries the army with him. Such meetings offset likely friction between the civil and military leadership.
The Prime Minister was wise enough to realize that without the army’s help, he would probably feel handicapped in dealing with crucial moments. The government is now functioning well, especially on the economic front. Its decisions have begun to bear fruit, which is being internationally acknowledged. The cohesion between groups witnessed recently augurs well for a country that has suffered immeasurably during the 5 years of PPP rule. (The writer is a former Sindh minister and senior journalist)
