Mehr Ispahani
There has of late been media speculation that the Army Chief, General Raheel
Sharif’s tenure of service will be extended but recently he rubbished all the
reports by stating that he was not interested in getting extension. He however
reiterated his resolve that he would go to any extent in his relentless effort
to eliminate terrorism from the country.
Gen Raheel Sharif is one amongst the Army Chiefs who stands tall and is being
lauded by all, across-the-board, for his principle stand, as well as his
leadership role towards stemming out terrorism. The launching of
all-encompassing operation “Zarb-e-Azb” and gains achieved thereof have brought
highly positive and productive results. The achievements have not only helped
garner support of the international community, but it also resulted in forging
unity and bringing consensus at home, though there is a lot more to be do done
yet.
The Zarb-e-Azb operation was launched in June 2014, which has succeeded in
eliminating around 3,500 terrorists. Over 1,000 terrorist hideouts have been
destroyed while huge piles of arms and ammunition have been busted. According to
latest figures released to the press 2,763 terrorists have been killed and 1,000
arrested during the last one year. Overall a 90 percent of the North Waziristan
area has been cleared while the remaining 10 percent is supposedly going to come
into mainstream administration very soon. Amongst the 30,000 personnel taking
part in this large-scale operation, 347 have embraced martyrdom while 947 got
wounded.
Under the leadership of Gen Raheel Sharif the Armed Forces of Pakistan have set
an unprecedented record of professionalism, sacrifices and bravery. His action
without discriminating good or bad Taliban or other affiliated terrorist groups,
including that of the Haqqani network, has won appreciation from all over the
world. Terrorists are terrorists be it Tehrik-e-Taliban, Shereyar Group, Mansoor
Group, Sajna group, BLA, BRA, LeJ, LeT, Haqqani Network, Gul Bahadur group,
Punjabi Taliban, Uzbek Taliban, Chechen Taliban, Uhigar Taliban or whatever.
That’s why with the 9,000 intelligence operations conducted so far, 218 wanted
terrorists have been killed while thousands arrested are undergoing
interrogation and trials in the ATCs as well as military courts.
Gen Raheel Sharif’s announcement of taking no extension in his service tenure
represents the strength of not only his mother institution he belongs to but
also the democratic institution of the country. One cannot undermine the
significance of accomplishments as well as the successes and achievements of the
General made during his tenure. Being the Army Chief, he has earned laurels for
turning the tide of terrorism back when it was threatening to engulf the whole
country from Karachi to Khyber. Pakistan shows that war on terror is just not an
abstract ideal it is in fact a living and vibrant reality. Calls for extension
for the COAS are a common theme in the public. He has been able to play an
important public role reminding the terrorists of not compromising on their
conditions and going on with the operation with full courage and vigour. Gen
Raheel’s tenure has actually made the public change their view, when he came on
the scene he faced the challenge of militant politics and terrorism and won
support from public masses from Karachi and the northern areas. No doubt the
General has been able to win hearts and has become a popular figure among the
public.
There is always a difference of opinion and some political leaders must be
looking for their own interests, trying to defame the efforts and achievements
the armed forces made towards fighting terrorism and defending the country.
There will always be some political leaders with their own interests portraying
everything is hunky-dory with having their own agenda set. The main thing that
we should recognize General Raheel Sharif remains or not the fight against
terrorism will go on in this regard we should not forget about the achievements
made by the Pak Army.We need to follow the rules and regulations according to
Army law and the command structure intact.
I think our civil government needs to understand that it cannot make any changes
in the power structure of armed forces and if the post of CJSCS is given to the
current Chief with same powers as suggested it can disturb the structure and
balance of power, it can also give a wrong precedence for future. In my opinion
the offer that has been given to the Army Chief by the government is quite lame
because there cannot be two commands within the Army. What are the other options
that can make the General stay on that is to make him the field marshal as it
was done in Ayub Khan’s era and the other option is to make him the commander of
a unified combatant command like Centcom.
We should learn from the past regarding civil-military relations and try to be
careful for whatever action we take rather I feel it is too early to talk about
it right now we should be concerned how to deal with terrorism as a whole and
give courage and support to the Armed Forces and its not only the duty of our
armed forces to fight for this cause even we all of us being a nation should
come forward and play our part for whatever little we can do to bring the whole
society in peace and fight for our cause we should set an example for others to
see that we support our armed forces for their fight in terrorism and it shows
that the institution remains committed to their cause with or without the
present Army Chief by giving his decision he has made it clear that national
interest is of paramount importance and that will be defended at all costs and
we should as a nation be united and stand by his word with confidence.
The reported offer given by the PM for an extension focuses on his chance of
seeking tenure as PM. We should not forget that the institution stands bigger
than any personality no one is indispensible, not even RS, NS, AAZ or IK. It is
the institution that matters whether its civil or military. Gen Raheel is
determined to totally wipe out the terrorists by the end of his term. The
apprehensions in our nation’s mind that if he goes and the other one comes will
the operation go on at full pace? We must unite as the saying goes united we
stand, divided we fall. (Ends)
(The author is freelance columnist based in Peshawar)