by PRAVEEN SWAMI
Late in 2009, Pakistan’s army chief laid out his vision for the nation’s future to an audience of policemen in Peshawar. “Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam by our forefathers,” General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said, “and each one of us should work for strengthening the country and should make a commitment towards achieving the goal of turning the country into a true Islamic state.” This April, Gen. Kayani had a different message for the nation. “We believe in democracy and its institutions,” he said in a speech delivered at a ceremony to commemorate Pakistan’s fallen soldiers. “Pakistan’s prosperity, progress and independence depend on democracy.”
Even as the world watches events precipitated by the judicial fiat which evicted Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani from office, a portentous power struggle is playing out in the army.
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Following a November 2011 NATO airstrike that claimed the lives of 26 Pakistani soldiers, matters came to a head. The powerful Inter-Services Intelligence directorate warned Gen. Kayani that the failure to retaliate could breed rebellion. Pakistan shut down the land routes that allowed NATO to supply troops in Afghanistan — confident that the U.S. would soon apologise. It proved a bad calculation.
Pakistan’s army leadership has since been seeking to defuse the crisis. The U.S. facilities at the Shahbaz airbase near Jacobabad are still functional; so are on-ground espionage networks needed to plant the electronic chips that guide drone-fired missiles to their targets. In his April speech, notably, Gen. Kayani said he “believes that others should respect our sovereignty, honour and dignity”. He left the door open to the civilian government to reopen NATO’s logistical routes, saying “the army would work in accordance with whatever policy is made”.
Asif Ali Zardari, however, has lobbed the ball back in the army’s court, fearing the electoral costs of being seen as buckling under western pressure — just as the army fears internal tensions if it is seen as caving in.
The Hindu for more
(Thanks to Robin Khundkar)