Even post retirement, Pakistan’s knight in shining armor cannot escape the spotlight
“To be, or not to be” appears to be apt for the dilemma of Pakistan’s former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif (R.S.), who relinquished command, barely 45 days ago, but continues to hog media space; be it in speculative manner whether he is going to accept the command of the 39 nation Islamic alliance to combat terrorism.
This scribe was in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah and returned on January 10. The night before my departure, at a dinner hosted by a close childhood friend of mine at Jeddah, which was attended by both Pakistani and Saudi influentials, the topic invariably turned to the inevitable question of Raheel Sharif’s quandary. Credence was lent to R.S. weighing the options because of his presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) apparently for Umrah. The question appeared to have been settled by Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who confirmed during a talk show on a private TV Channel that the former Pakistani Army Chief had accepted the Saudi offer of leading the 39 nation coalition – coming from the honourable Defence Minister, it was taken as the gospel truth. There were cries of anguish from Iran because prima facie the coalition targets them; even from Egypt which perceives a leadership role for itself. Even highly respected and balanced security analysts like Ayaz Amir, in his Op-Ed ‘Spectacular dive of the ghazi general’ sounded despondent, contrary to his earlier sanguine opinion pieces regarding R.S.
Apparently we became oblivious of the December 23, 2016 faux-pas of Khawaja Asif, who responded hastily to the fake story of an apparent threat to Pakistan by Israel. Reacting through his official Twitter, without confirming the veracity of the story, Pakistan’s Defence Minister fired a broadside at Israel with a counter threat that “Israeli def min threatens nuclear retaliation presuming pak role in Syria against Daesh. Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too”. The embarrassment must have been huge when Israel responded on Twitter to Asif’s blunder, notifying him that the former Israeli Defence Minister’s statement quoted in AWD News was completely false.
On my return to Pakistan, also on January 10, I found bouquets as well as brickbats being showered on R.S. As expected, Khawaja Asif took a complete U-turn and retracted his statement before the Senate, saying that no formal request for granting an NOC had been received from the ex-COAS. Mr. Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs, who had been summoned by the senate chair to explain the foreign policy implications of General Sharif’s appointment, said he would make a statement if such a situation developed. Different members of the Senate expressed serious concern about R.S. joining the coalition especially in light of Pakistan not being a member of the coalition itself, a decision which had been adopted unanimously by the parliament.
A second Op-Ed appearing on January 12 by another respected analyst Nasim Zehra titled ‘Fact and fiction’ in the same space where Ayaz Amir’s opinion piece was published two days earlier, shed some light on the R.S. dilemma. Nasim Zehra mentions five points as being particularly noteworthy. One, based on the former army chief’s discussions in Riyadh, the proposed coalition will initially focus on enhancement of Counter Terrorism capacity including controlling terror funding, Muslim image-building and other aspects. Presently, there is no plan to raise an army and the coalition will not be involved in physically fighting terrorism. The proposed Defence Council will determine its mandate.
Two, initially the governing structure of the coalition will comprise the defence ministers of all 39 countries.
Three the coalition will collaborate with international institutions like the UN, NATO and others.
Four, General Sharif conveyed to the Saudis that his condition for involvement would be the inclusion of countries like Iran and Iraq in the Defence Council.
Five that Sharif will only take up an assignment with the Saudis after he obtains clearance from the government and the GHQ.
The Saudi proposal on the coalition setup and on the former army chief’s involvement is expected to be sent to Pakistan by March. This would be followed by the vetting process, including security clearance, within the GHQ and by the government of the proposal. With the joint command in the hands of the Joint Defence Council, Sharif will likely be asked to be chief adviser.
The informed analyst opines that for now it is unclear to what extent the Saudis will agree to Sharif’s proposals regarding the coalition. However, given the latest discussions that Pakistan’s former chief is being said to have had in Riyadh, it is unclear to what extent Pakistan will get involved in the 39-member Saudi coalition. Equally General Raheel Sharif’s future with the coalition too is uncertain.
Perhaps it is time that R.S. himself clears the air.
The apparent reason unprejudiced scholars like Ayaz Amir sound so bitter is that R.S. had brought with him a glimmer of hope of rescuing this beleaguered nation from the twelve headed Hydra of terrorism. He took bold decisions, slew many dragons and put to rest many shibboleth and myth regarding the army’s reluctance to take on the terror mongers head on in North Waziristan. Resultantly, ordinary Pakistanis, fraught with despondency and apparent callousness and political constraints of the elected government to resolve serious issues, pinned their hopes on their Knight in Shining armor. Perhaps he too is human and could achieve this much, for which the nation is grateful. He also tried to rid the army of corruption and set examples for the civilian government to emulate, but conceivably going way beyond the constitutional mandate of the COAS was not prudent. He did announce his retirement date ten months earlier and departed on the absolute date set. Accepting the leadership of the 39 nation coalition would possibly confirm the rumours that he was after pelf and seeking the appointment all along.
All said and done, it is a matter of pride that R.S. an Army Chief from Pakistan was even considered to lead the alliance. It speaks volumes for R.S. as well as the institution he led and the sacrifices the valiant armed forces and people of Pakistan have rendered in combating terrorism.
The closing comment of Ayaz Amir “Ah, the litmus test: would Mustafa Kemal have taken service under any crown? Is there something wrong with the soil and water of Pakistan?” is apparently a cry of anguish from a sensitive bona fide patriot who has seen and read the tales deceit by the Mir Jafars and Mir Sadiqs of this very land. Perhaps brother Ayaz was premature in his harsh judgmental comment. Time will tell as to which path was taken. Let us hope it is to heal and unite the ummah and not further divide it.
