|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Pakistan army’s role found frequent mention in the midst of speculation over the fate of President Asif Ali Zardari after he flew to Dubai recently all of a sudden, ostensibly for medical reasons. Most reports indicated that the army was about to take over the administration. Some other reports had it that Zardari was under pressure to relinquish power because of his unhappy relationship with his army chief. Whatever the truth, one thing is clear: under the prevailing circumstances, the army cannot afford to stage another coup to dislodge the elected government in Islamabad. The Pakistan army has suffered considerable loss of face during the past few years. Its action to end the siege of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid made it unpopular because of the manner in which it was used for the purpose by the then military ruler of Pakistan, Gen Pervez Musharraf. This led to frequent suicide bomb attacks. Those involved were tribal youngsters from Waziristan and the surrounding areas. They took the extremist path as most of the madarsa students who perished in the Lal Masjid army operation were tribals. In the process, however, the Taliban movement got strengthened. The extremists began to demonstrate that they were law unto themselves by issuing their own do’s and don’ts to the public. They posed a serious threat to peace and security not only in Pakistan but also in the rest of South Asia and beyond. This led to tremendous international (read US) pressure on Pakistan to get tough with the Taliban and other terrorist groups. Initially, the Pakistan army was reluctant, but a stage came when it had to launch a drive, though half-heartedly, to tame the extremists. However, this caused more harm to the masses than to the Taliban and its associates. The Pakistan army was accused of killing its own people. The primary reason for the situation that came to prevail was Pakistan’s unwise policy. It wanted to allow pro-Islamabad Taliban groups to prosper and punish those not listening to the government’s dictates. The friendly Taliban factions were considered "strategic assets" to be used for achieving Pakistan’s geopolitical objectives in Afghanistan. The world community could not tolerate all this. Hence the US drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas with the undeclared cooperation of the Pakistan army. People gradually came to know of the duplicity in the behaviour of their army and the result was more distrust and anger against Pakistan’s armed forces. The army got further exposed when "memogate" came to light. "Memogate" resulted in the removal of Ambassador Hussain Haqqani, who was reported to have sent a note to a retired top American military official through a US-based Pakistani lobbyist with an alleged request from President Asif Zardari to prevent an imminent army coup. This was enough for the army to dislodge the government, but it had no courage to do so because of what had been happening in the past, disparaging its image in the eyes of the public. In view of the raging anti-Americanism in almost every segment of society, Islamabad took a tough stand against the US following the killing of 24 Pakistan army personnel in an attack by NATO troops in November, yet it appeared confused. After a few days Islamabad declared that, as a matter of defence policy, any aircraft, including US drones, violating Pakistan’s airspace, would be shot down. The extremist forces had been waiting for such a denouement. This will provide them an excellent opportunity to regroup themselves. Their ideological brothers on the other side of the Durand Line, who have already been feeling upbeat with the planned withdrawal of the US-led NATO troops having begun, are also bound to get emboldened. Thus, the security scenario in the Af-Pak area remains as disturbing as it was in the past.
|
||||
|
|
||||
