Army reluctant to march on D-Chowk over security concerns

• Govt in a fix as military establishment has conveyed its reservation over holding parade in federal capital on Aug 14
• Govt wizards planning two-pronged strategy to control damage, make army and PTI ‘fall in line’

Top guns in the federal government have put their heads together after the military leadership expressed its reservations over holding a parade at D-Chowk on Independence Day, putting the government’s plans of holding a ‘grand show of unity’ in jeopardy, Pakistan Today has learnt.

August 14 has become a major cause for concern for the PML-N-led government after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan announced to gather “one million people” at Islamabad’s D-Chowk in the federal capital on Independence Day to protest against alleged vote fraud in the 2013 general elections.

In an apparent move to counter the PTI rally, the government had announced to hold an army parade and a flag-hoisting ceremony to be attended by military and civilian leadership, diplomatic community and others at D-Chowk – the same venue chosen by the PTI for its show.

A source in the PML-N government confided in Pakistan Today that the General Headquarters (GHQ) has conveyed to the government that the army is currently focused on the operation against terrorists in North Waziristan Agency and holding a parade at D-Chowk might be a serious security risk.

The source said that the military leadership’s reluctance to march on D-Chowk has left the government ‘high and dry’ and a two-pronged strategy is now being considered to convince the army leadership to participate in the event, and to thwart the PTI’s rally in the federal capital.

He said that as part of the strategy, some cabinet ministers had launched criticism in the media against the military leadership, accusing “some elements in the armed forces” of making efforts to rescue General (r) Pervez Musharraf.

The source said that government wizards believe that stepping up media pressure would make the army leadership “fall in line” and also ensure that it would “stand by the government” in case of a showdown with cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s PTI. The source said that the government had also stepped up efforts to woo Imran Khan by asking him to discuss the electoral reforms matter in parliament rather than on the streets.

“Even though the army leadership’s concerns regarding security are valid, their reluctance also reflects that the military establishment does not want to be a part of any political activity on August 14. Therefore the government is making a fresh strategy to tackle Imran Khan’s ‘million-man’ march,” the source added.

When contacted, prime minister’s special assistant Irfan Siddiqui said that there is a proposal to hold a ceremony of the armed forces at D-Chowk on August 14.

“The armed forces hold their traditional parade at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul at midnight on August 14. The government has proposed holding another parade at D-Chowk in the morning but it is not final yet,” he said. He added that another traditional ceremony of hoisting the national flag would also be held at D-Chowk.

“The flag-hoisting function would be purely apolitical and would be attended by the services chiefs, diplomats and other functionaries,” he said, denying speculation that the government had planned the two events to counter the PTI’s ‘Azadi March’.