Daily Times

Gratefulness and an effortless nobility of mind to use appropriate and decent language for censure and/or praise are signs of civilised minds and a nation sufficiently mature and sure of itself. The rest is either cattle or a pathetic rabble. The malevolence of the matter could be further compounded if the offending mouth represents a head that is full of arrogance of entitlement, tipsy with power and more dangerously, suffering a slow poisoning of self-righteousness. It does not end there. A media thirsting for blood of a victim, any victim, of this monstrosity and a rather credulous but captive audience makes this witch’s brew more repulsive. The net result is that all that is decent, proper and sane is lost in the huge noise. What is left behind is a stale taste in the mouth, regrets and vengeful bitterness of having been wronged. Country, national interest or the good name and our reputation do not matter when the perpetrators of this wicked exercise are those who are otherwise considered the custodians of constitution and law, keepers of truthfulness of information and impartiality of reporting or verdict. Together they produce a choking mix of hatred, bias and disaffection.

As a people we are loveably forgetful, gullible and dichotomous. We rise to the zenith of resilience and grit when it comes to calamities like the 2005 earthquake and 2010 flash floods. Thousands were killed and millions rendered homeless but there were hardly any cries of desperation. One had to be with them to see what kind of maddening hardship it was and how tragic the losses in life and property, yet they were full of determination to rebuild and carry on with life as usual. What is unforgiveable is the patent failure of the leadership to not only tackle the national disaster but also stem their genetic greed and corruption. A stage came, to our abiding national shame, during the 2010 flood relief operations where the prime minister was visiting fake flood relief camps on the one hand and the international community refused to donate funds on the other, telling us straight that they had no trust in the integrity of the political leadership. Not even a single person in the political line up or bureaucracy expressed remorse or was sacked.

It was also grudgingly reported that flood affectees had placed unconditional trust in the relief operations mainly by the army and were full of praise for their selflessness and a sense of duty. This was quickly taken off the screen as it did not fit into the ongoing but unfortunate collective design to malign the army. However, the soldiers trudged on in mud and water to reach anybody and everybody stranded, hungry, sick or destitute. Take a reality trip along the Indus River down from Muzaffargarh and learn the tales of soldiers’ selfless service to the people during floods first hand, and also the accompanying accounts of the administration’s immense corruption and incompetence.

Floods overshadowed another but far more demanding theatre of operations where the very existence of the country was threatened by the Taliban but more by our leadership’s utter incompetence and monumental lack of vision. They had correctly assessed the absence of gumption in the leadership and swept like voracious locusts through Swat and were at Shangla, literally the door to Islamabad by early 2009.That set alarm bells ringing in the federal capital. Panic was numbing their minds and then the leadership turned to the soldiers once again for help.

The army went about the grim business of fighting the Swati Taliban with great method as it embarked upon one of its most remarkable internal security operations. Close to two million citizens were moved out to properly set up camps before commencing the operations. With determination, courage and superlative sense of duty, the army and the air force completely routed Mullah Fazlullah’s murderous Taliban through a great sacrifice of soldiers’ lives. Pakistan Army lost some of the finest officers leading assault after assault against the well-entrenched Taliban. Visit Swat to know what it feels like living under the rule of the odious mullah. Still vivid is the loathsome sight of the little girl being lashed in a public square with repulsive display of religious righteousness in Mingora by those boorish men.

Once again the self-appointed howlers of human rights, conceited media in league with their political and other paymasters got into their comfortable air-conditioned, foreign-provided SUVs and arrived in Swat sniffing eagerly for droppings of intrigue and slander. They found precious little except for an overwhelming sentiment of thankfulness by the people of Swat for the great job the army did. While our honourable courts threw out case after case on petty grounds against these throat slitters, there was that infamous report of human rights violations by the army during clearing operations by a well projected organization, which was prepared by an official of that outfit with the help of an office assistant and an unheard of local journalist. Astonishingly, they claimed to have interviewed more than 200 people across the board in less than 36 hours stay in Mingora. Much was tried to be made out of it but it fell flat on its face. How many of them have ever visited the GHQ memorial to pay homage to the men and officers killed at Siachen and during Swat and FATA operations? Practically none.

Try holding a national election, hosting a sizeable heads of state international conference, major regional sports meet, combating famine and epidemics or rooting out massive pilferage like mass electricity and gas theft without the help of our increasingly belittled soldiers. It might give you a good idea of what we are losing.

Still if you so choose, go on slighting your soldiers and officers in your Facebook, Twitter, emails, newspapers, TV channels, courtrooms and corporate offices. Mock their remarkable service culture, do not let them speak and let no one hear them when you decide to disgrace them in public and in private. Tear down their battle tested command structure and demonise their commanders. Be relentlessly sarcastic, douse them in scorn. Slap charges of insubordination, stick labels of hangover from martial law times or simply issue contempt notices to those who speak out against this expanding slur. They will be silenced, their gaze will shift and then they will walk away in disgust and disappointment. You will be left with horse grooms, grass cutters and fence sitters. Once that happens, nothing will be left standing by those crouching in wait behind the Hindu Kush, east of the Sutlej River or the black horde from within. All the pomp and show, and all your wealth and prestige will meet the fate of the sack of Baghdad by Halaku Khan in 1528.You will be wrapped in the proverbial carpet and their tanks will roll over to avoid spilling blue blood.

King Leonidas I of Sparta along with his small army were killed almost to a man defending their country against the great Persian army under King Xerxes at the famous Pass of Thermopylae in 480 BC. A memorial at that place read: “Stranger, go tell Sparta we laid down our lives at your command.” That is how thankful nations honour their soldiers. However, go ahead and ridicule your soldier if you like.

The writer is a retired brigadier of the Pakistan army and can be reached at clay.potter@hotmail.com