The
Abbottabad incident is gradually unfolding and so are the stories revolving
around it. The establishments in both America
and Pakistan
are creating policy rigmarole through their self-contradicting statements.
Criticism on the disappointing silence of our civil and military leadership,
our prime ministers’ unsuccessful
trip to France and Pakistan’s bashing
by the international community on its mysterious role in OBL’s
presence led the government to convene an in-camera
session of parliament, where senior military and intelligence officials
briefed parliamentarians on the ‘hows’ and ‘whats’ of
Abbottabad.
People
are questioning the efficiency
and competence of Pakistan’s armed forces and intelligence agencies,
as well as the hefty defence budget. In fact for the first time since 1971, the
armed forces of Pakistan have had to take a defensive position, with the ISI
chief offering a public apology and resignation, and accepting the
responsibility of ‘security negligence’ (which many term security
failure) in the wake of the Abbottabad incident. This can be a wonderful
opportunity for the political leadership to make the army subservient to
parliament, as mandated by the 1973 Constitution. However, so far the
government seems to be in self-denial on this, saying that it was, in fact, in
control — a claim no one could buy.
It is the
political forces’ weakness that as a nation, we are still unclear whether
we are fighting our ‘own’ war or one that is imposed on us, or
whether the drone attacks on our territory are due to a secret deal with the US
or actual attempts to take out the Talibans.
Of course
an in-camera session would not answer these questions. However, now the
parliamentary forces in Pakistan
should come up with a clear-cut position on strategic matters which would help
in removing ideological confusions among various state institutions and foster
trust between the people and the government. To do this, parliament should
reconsider previous secret agreements of preceding governments, particularly
those of Pervez Musharraf’s government, not only with the US,
but also with other foreign governments who are controlling our air bases.
To learn
from the mistakes of its past, the government should initiate a tripartite inquiry
commission involving higher judiciary, parliamentarians representing all
parties and military officials, to investigate the security failure that, not
only, let OBL stay in Pakistan for many years, but also facilitated the US
military operation in Abbottabad.
It is not
about sacking a few individuals, but rather, about redefining the civil
military relationships. The military establishment should categorically
reassess its positions and tell the nation the truth about our role in the war
on terror. The spy agencies should stop focusing on defence and foreign
affairs, allowing the designated political forces to take independent
decisions. A revised civil-military relationship would help in building a
peaceful, prosperous and tolerant Pakistan as imagined by its
founders. A new social contract should be in place where the state and its
agencies do not consider their citizens ‘agents of enemies’, but
rather protectors of this country.
URL to article: http://tribune.com.pk/story/170490/needed-a-revised-civil-military-relationship/
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