Daily Times

Pakistan’s security establishment has enjoyed unchecked, unrestrained, and unchallenged power through the course of its history. They remained masters of their own fate while maintaining an invisible authority over all the state institutions. They have been more than often politically active, and sometimes strategically over-ambitious. They have assumed roles that were constitutionally not assigned to them, and have claimed positions that were never designed for them. The dysfunctional political system and inept political elite created the vacuum that allowed the military to, repeatedly, send elected representatives packing. Some would say that this ‘discredited’ political leadership is the direct result of repeated military interventions, which denied them the chance to mature and flourish. Politicians often grown in military nurseries surely lack the nerve to wage notable resistance to their primary benefactors. Unfortunately, almost all the adventures of the military leadership in the political arena ultimately ended in disaster.

Interestingly, throughout these 64 years, irrespective of the highs and lows in their popularity, the combat and defence capability of the armed forces have been seldom eyed with suspicion by the public (or the analysts). However, today our armed forces and intelligence agencies have been exposed to exceptional circumstances; for the first time since their inception, they have been engaged in a decade-long war against an opponent determined to challenge their core competency. Targeted assaults on military personnel and installations, though continuing for quite some time, have now taken a turn for the worse. The rampage by, supposedly, half a dozen highly trained militants carrying sophisticated weapons on PNS Mehran in Karachi is the latest episode of the series.

As the details of the assault unfold, it is quite fair to conclude that the security personnel deployed for the safety of Mehran Base were caught off guard by the assailants. According to the interior minister, militants were able to sneak into the base unnoticed due to a blind spot in the surveillance cameras. The fact that there were ‘blind spots’ in the surveillance mechanism devised by the security officials is a matter of grave concern, but even more alarming is the conclusion this statement leads us to — that the attackers were actually aware of loopholes in the security plan. According to the initial reports, the aggressors were well aware of the base’s blueprint, and after destroying the valuable P-3C Orion planes, they, in teams of two, took positions in different buildings. These details point towards possible insider involvement. The idea of penetration in the country’s armed forces is indeed a bloodcurdling one for any ordinary citizen. Logically, the eradication of these rogue elements (if any) should be the focal point of any future military strategy.

Eventually, after 17 hours of gunfire, the security forces regained control with at least two of the attackers succeeding in fleeing away. In the wake of this catastrophe, the hue and cry in the media by security analysts and the enraged anchorpersons raising concerns regarding the safety of our defence infrastructure is indeed natural. Some might equate the questioning of the military’s abilities to falling prey to the tactics of the militants, but they need to realise that weaknesses need to be identified in order to be rectified.

Apart from the episode itself, the post-event attitude of our authorities has been even more amusing. The lack of coordination between different arms of the government is evident from the fact that the interior minister and navy chief failed to come up with a matching figure regarding the number of attackers (forget the details of the event). The interior minister identified half a dozen attackers whereas the naval chief thought them to be around 15. According to the navy chief, several militants were arrested. One can only wonder why he failed to give the precise number of attackers captured. Moreover, the FIR lodged by his subordinates nominated twelve terrorists, adding that “four bodies were found while the rest escaped in the night”. This is the second time during the same month that the people of this country have been baffled by contradictory statements of the different state institutions following a major security lapse (the details of what happened after the US operation in Abbottabad are still very fresh in our memories).

As the nation was waiting for stern action to be taken against those responsible for the Mehran mayhem, the Pakistan Navy removed the airbase’s commander on Wednesday. The action might have appeased the boiling temperatures signifying a serious probe being held to identify the reasons for the embarrassment but the navy spokesman took the opportunity to mock at the public’s sentiments by terming it a “routine and scheduled” transfer. If that was not enough, an inquiry committee headed by a rear admiral has been formed. It appears that our authorities are still unable to comprehend the atrocity they have been struck with. Entrusting a navy officer with the responsibility of holding his peers accountable is without doubt something far less than what needs to be done.

Many were expecting the Defence Committee of the Cabinet to initiate a judicial probe for finding out the facts regarding the matter, but it thought instructing the military to wipe out terrorists and their sanctuaries would suffice. It is an astounding revelation, for most citizens, that the government had not done so in the past. It is a shame that innumerable innocent citizens and army men have sacrificed their lives simply because the government had not yet instructed the army to ‘crush terrorism with full force’.

The reluctance of our armed forces to present themselves for accountability and the failure of the civilian leadership to initiate independent inquiries to probe into the reasons for repeated occurrence of such incidents is a manifestation of the fact that we, as a nation, are not ready to learn from our mistakes. If we intend to progress in this war, the rules of business need to be changed, responsibilities need to be fixed, and those responsible need to be reprimanded. Trust of the people is paramount to winning wars, and that is waning thin with every passing day.

The writer is deputy editor of an Urdu national daily. He can be reached at usmanshami@yahoo.com