- A treason case against a parliamentary party?
The DG ISPR took up issues related to India, banned outfits, seminary reforms and the PTM at the same presser. He could in fact have left all these issues for the relevant federal ministers to dilate upon. That Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor himself chose to take on the PTM can create a perception that the PTI government was unwilling to take ownership of the policy regarding the network. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari maintains that the military spokesman should not be making political statements. As he put it, if the government had something to say, the minister concerned should have come out and said it “so that the respect of our institutions is not tarnished”.
The DG ISPR has accused the PTM leadership of receiving money from the Indian and Afghan secret agencies. This is a serious charge. He has also taken up the issue of certain slogans raised at the party’s public gatherings The PTM has two MNAs and its leaders continue to draw big crowds. The party maintains that it abides by the Constitution. Bitter memories of the Agartala conspiracy case and its consequences still persist. The Hyderabad conspiracy case too led to bitterness and ended in smoke. The best way to settle the issue is by taking it to Parliament where the PTM should be asked to defend itself against the charges or make necessary amends.
What Pakistan needs badly today is internal stability. Declaring a parliamentary party’s leaders anti-state leaves no political space for it. This virtually forces the party to take recourse to extra parliamentary means. This has to be avoided.
The DG ISPR’s statement that “it is not difficult to deal with the PTM” is unfortunate as it reminds one of the display of similar over-confidence in 1971, and when then President Pervez Musharraf decided to take out Nawab Akbar Bugti. While talking about disappearances, the vacuous “all is fair in love and war” should have been avoided. There are international conventions for the protection of the civilians in a war between countries. In the case of operations against the terrorists inside the country, it is all the more necessary to ensure the non-combatants’ security of life and liberty.
