Govt makes a hasty retreat

NEWS ANALYSIS

The government has seemingly retreated from its stance it took against the army on several issues, including high treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf and talks with the Taliban.
The recent Hamid Mir episode has also contributed in deteriorating the already fragile ties between the government and army. The military leadership has come in the open to assert itself and check onslaught on its credibility. People from all walks of life are taking to streets to show their love and support for the army. There is a perception in the power corridors that the government with its conduct has hurt an ordinary military man.
Before departing for the United Kingdom on a five-day tour, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a meeting with the military top brass in a damage-control measure, but the meeting failed to bear fruits. Nawaz praised the ISI, but fell short of mentioning Geo group or appeasing the angry military.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was absent from the meeting. Likewise, Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid too was out of picture after his statement suggesting that the government would stand by the Geo/Jang group in the ensuing fight.
The only minister seen in the meeting was Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar. He is the only minister who came clean out of the crisis by issuing balanced statements.
With civil-military rift widening, conspiracy theories are floating across the country. Interestingly, there is a lot of buzz going around in the political circles about the PM’s visit. The visit is taking place at the time when the civilian leadership and media figures expect the prime minister to take lead and defuse tension between Geo and the military establishment which is becoming a “never-ending” issue.
The government has also changed its stance on talks with the Taliban which the army never supported. The government, however, claimed to be on the same page with the army. Military analysts say that the army will not even bother to seek the government’s permission when it chooses to attack the militant hideouts.
Columnist-turned-politician Irfan Siddiqui, who persuaded Nawaz to engage the Taliban in the first place and later spearheaded the talks, is missing from the scene.
Maj (r) Amir has already withdrawn from the committee, showing that talks have no future in the coming days. Rest of the Taliban negotiators want to meet military top brass before proceeding further.
Meanwhile, Nisar has hinted at the futility of the talks. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah too believes that talks have no future.
The recent speech delivered by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has made it clear to the Taliban that they have no option but to accept the constitution. Ironically, the government has so far refrained from delivering the same message to the Taliban.
It is learnt that the army would not wait for the outcome of the talks this summer and would pursue its strategy with or without the government’s support.
On Musharraf’s issue, all the hype has gone. There is hardly any urgency on the part of the government or judiciary to punish the former president under Article 6 of the constitution. Interestingly, the shifting of Musharraf from Islamabad to Karachi has gone unnoticed.
During a meeting last month, former president Asif Zardari had advised the prime minister against picking up a fight with the army. When Nawaz shared his problems with Zardari, sources said the latter offered him his services and asked to allow Musharraf to come to Karachi.
Political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said that it seemed that the government had been trying to defuse situation on all fronts involving the army.
“Reason being that there are new fronts opening up. We have power crisis. We see Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri exploiting the weakness of the government. So the government would like to put its house in order to focus more on these fronts,” he commented.