The views expressed by Imran Khan about civil-military relations would help dispel a growing perception regarding his being the army’s protégé. He says he stands for the supremacy of the civil authority over military and with him as the country’s prime minister, the army and ISI would not be allowed to act without his permission. He argues that weak-kneed governments have been responsible for the erosion of civil authority, encouraging the army and intelligence agencies to create an autonomous niche for themselves. The promise to have the army’s budget audited by a civilian setup would institutionalise a modicum of civilian oversight ensuring transparency in military spending. One fails however to understand why Imran stopped short of promising to bring the defence budget to parliament to examine military demands in the context of overall national priorities.
Imran’s commitment not to allow anyone to use Pakistan’s territory to commit acts of terrorism abroad is equally welcome. Imran inexplicably chose an interview with CNN-IBN to express views on these vital issues instead of saying all this at Minar-e-Pakistan. The views were aired while answering pointed questions that left little room for ambivalence. Combined with his earlier interaction with the BBC Urdu where he claimed that he was a liberal and did not support the terrorists, the CNN-IBN interview would be used by a section of his critics to maintain that, like the leaders of the two major mainstream parties, Imran was also cozying up to the West. Happily though the expression of the views would relieve Imran of some of the extremist ballast he has been carrying with him all along. One hopes Imran would now get rid of the notion that talks alone are the way to rein in the terrorists.
Imran’s statement that he would resign if he failed to establish the supremacy of the civilian authority may go well with the West but would dishearten some of his potential voters. A politician is not supposed to give in when confronted with problems. This is what neither Jinnah nor ZAB, the two leaders mentioned by Imran, would have ever done. “I will never allow this to happen,” would have been a more defiant and inspiring response.