Leading by example

What General Sharif is doing is his job description

The brazen attack by TTP militants on the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) camp at Badaber in the heart of Peshawar shows that despite claims to the contrary, the terrorists still have the capability to disrupt and inflict mayhem. Obviously the war to root out terrorism across the country is still to be won.

It is an impossibility to entirely obviate the likelihood of such incidents. But after previous attacks on GHQ, PNS Mehran naval base and Kamra air base, extraordinary measures should have been taken to guard our defence installations and bases.

Undoubtedly General Sharif — the perennial man on the spot, his hands full with combating terrorism — is leading by example. However his image-makers, with a lot of help from a pliant media and self-styled pundits, are bent upon creating a larger than life size image of the army chief.

The former army chief General Pervez Musharraf, not to be left behind in embarrassing his former protégé, has called for extending the tenure of General Sharif. The timing of the former dictator’s call is rather odd as the COAS, who is due to retire by November 2016, still has more than a year to go. By all accounts he has expressed no interest in seeking an extension to his term.

Understandably so. His predecessor General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani extended his term by another three years with disastrous results. Why repeat the same mistake?

I vividly recall meeting Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in the immediate aftermath of General Kayani having been given another three years to go. The beleaguered prime minister complained about the pressure he was facing from the Kayani-Pasha (the ISI chief) duo.

On my query that under the circumstances why did he extend Kayani’s term? His simple answer was: “I did not give it, he took it.”

Of course the present military chief has a different persona than his predecessor. In fact it will be fair to say that Sharif and Kayani differ like chalk and cheese.

The present general is a nuts and bolts man, professional to the core. Unlike Kayani he has no pretensions of being an intellectual. Not fond of engaging the media, he shuns meeting media persons.

The present general is a nuts and bolts man, professional to the core. Unlike Kayani he has no pretensions of being an intellectual

General Raheel Sharif can justifiably be given credit for starting the existential war against terrorism and taking it to its logical conclusion. Unlike his predecessor generals, he refused to hide behind the thin façade of a flawed security paradigm to take out the militants busy destroying the Pakistani state in the name of a flawed interpretation of religion.

What General Sharif is doing is his job description. However, sycophants – plenty abound in our flawed political culture — are bent upon creating a larger than life image. The other day one Hafiz Mohiyuddin, erstwhile head of the so-called Musharraf’s Lovers Party (yes lovers), held a conference in Lahore to eulogise the services of General Raheel Sharif.

Speaking on that occasion the Leader of the Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah claimed no one could remove the prime minister in the presence of an elected parliament and democracy. Just a day earlier Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani did not strike such an optimistic note.

While chairing the Upper House, he lamented that constitutional safeguards against military rule had become redundant. He was specifically referring to the futility of Article 6 of the constitution and the inability of the government to try Musharraf for treason.

The co-chairperson of the PPP, Asif Ali Zardari, is also perturbed about the future of democracy. He has counselled all institutions to work within the limits prescribed by the constitution.

Even the prime minister bitterly complained the other day that some “power-hungry people” wanted to dislodge him. He was probably referring to Imran Khan’s call that the Rangers should move in Punjab, a la Sindh, to nab the corrupt. But some thought Sharif was cracking up in the wake of real or perceived pressure from the military establishment.

Of course it is quite evident that like in Hamlet, Marcellus (an officer) declares that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, having just seen the ghost of Hamlet’s father, the late king of Denmark.

Similarly the high approval ratings of the army chief are giving jitters to the politicians, especially of the PPP and PML-N ilk. On the other hand, Imran Khan, who somehow still naively thinks that he would be the beneficiary of a supra constitutional change, is still clamouring for the fabled third umpire.

More than halfway through its term, the Sharif government is hardly a picture of efficiency and good governance

There is a counternarrative as well. The efficacy, dedication of purpose and a concerted effort by the military chief to lead by example has tremendously enhanced his image as well as that of the military.

But is this at the expense of civilian institutions? Thankfully under the garb of apex committees and a consensual National Action Plan (NAP) to root out terrorism, civilian-military relations on the surface are very smooth. Not too infrequent meetings between the military and civilian leadership also help to create this positive image.

The other day the London based newspaper The Guardian wrote a piece claiming that, “at the time of intense pressure on the media to co-operate with an army public relations campaign that is burnishing the image of General Sharif, channels routinely edit out or drop the sound on the mildest criticism of the military”.

According to the paper, the Hamid Mir incident in which he survived a murderous attack by still unknown assailants more than a year ago was a strong message to the media. Whatever the truth behind such allegations, acerbic criticism of the military does appear in the print media from time to time.

Nevertheless, there are quite a few analysts on the electronic media who, in the garb of castigating the politicians for their maladroitness, openly clamour for the return of the man on horseback. Of course the military’s public relations wing, ISPR (Inter-Services Public Relations), is omnipresent as well.

In the present milieu it does not have to move many strings. The politicians are no match to the (army) chief, leading from the front.

More than halfway through its term, the Sharif government is hardly a picture of efficiency and good governance. Lack of transparency, misplaced priorities and a general absence of direction have become its hallmark.

The PPP in Sindh is another sad story of incompetence and unbridled corruption. Neither has the PTI, despite tall claims to the contrary, earned any brownie points for running an efficient administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The politicians, apart from claiming that the military is encroaching upon their turf — to the extent of the proverbial camel virtually displacing them from the tent – should concentrate on delivery as well. If democracy does not improve the lot of the stakeholders, it simply cannot be sustained.