Looking inside
All military coups in the country have been bloodless, more or less. All coups staged by the army chief have been successful and, despite the initial “shell shock” that grips almost the entire corps commanders’ coterie, they have all been effortless. But these coups take away attention from the ones that haven’t been successful. The ones that were not staged by the army chief but someone lower down the line. These were all unsuccessful. Consider the supposedly leftist ‘Pindi conspiracy case’. Consider the failed Islamist coup of 1995.
Another one of those might have taken place but it was nipped in the bud, before it had even begun to be attempted. The Brigadier Ali Khan case, where several of his cohorts have also been arrested. The group had links with the Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the organisation particularly interested in grooming, culturing and mentoring mid to senior level officers in the armies of Muslim countries to take over their respective organisations. The Hizb, it appears, knows where the buck stops, especially in Muslim countries. Why bother with political Islam or even renegade militancy when you have at your disposal the most organised body of force in the country?
It appears that the Brigadier planned to take over the GHQ and hatched a conspiracy along with a PAF fighter pilot who would attack the army headquarters when a Corps Commanders’ Conference would be taking place.
The army prides itself on its professionalism and strong internal accountability. Perhaps if its energies weren’t diverted towards cracking down on the political class or journalists, it would be mindful of the spreading rot within its own ranks. Brigadier Khan was working in the regulations directorate at the GHQ, specifically the body that would check on stuff of the sort.
The need for screening HR at armed forces, not just within Pakistan but the Muslim world as a whole cannot be overstated. Many of these states, with Pakistan at the top, feed its armed cadres a diet of retrogressive, anti-democracy drivel to “inspire” them. Problems arise when too good a job has been done of that.
Please don't show one side of the story while you are reporting or giving an analysis. You should bear in mind that Brigadier Ali Khan has a glorious record of 32 years in army and having a gold medal. All his colleagues know him and can attest about his integrity and good nature. He has been criticizing the Pakistan Army's top lot about their alliance on the war on terror always asking what are the limits of alliance and pressurizing that Musharraf should openly show the agreements made with US regarding the alliance in war on terror. Therefore Musharraf personally presided the meeting of promotion and stopped Brig Ali's promotion to Major General. Also after 2 May incident of Osama's raid, the brigadier in a meeting on 5th May insisted that the responsibility should be blamed on someone from the army. And on the same day he was arrested.
So this is the whole story. He has been victimized due to his anti-American sentiments and due to voicing his opinions regarding the security of Pakistan. He and lots of other sincere army officers have been victimized like this in past. I think this victimization should stop.
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