Daily Times

Robbie Burns, the Scottish bard would not have thought in his wildest dream that how his haunting melody ‘Auld Lang Syne’ would one day inspire a valedictory slow march, continents apart for the graduating officer cadets of a Muslim nation sworn to uphold the precepts like ‘struggle in the way of Allah’. The spectacle was repeated this Saturday during the passing out parade of Army cadets from the famed cradle of military training ie Pakistan Military Academy Kakul, with the usual verve and panache.

What however was worth noting was a merging of contrasts. A Scottish tune and a British Chief Guest reviewing the parade was a perfect counterpoint to the staid oath preceded by heartwarming Quranic verses i.e “And make ready your arms to the best of your ability to strike terror in the hearts of enemies of Allah”.

The British bequest of a military academy patterned upon its very own Royal Military Academy Sandhurst still peeps through the pageant and pomp of the hallowed parade ground. PMA Kakul, the alma mater of many a praetorian ‘pater familias’ of Pakistan, who have crossed the Rubicon to appropriate political power through an incomparable training crucible of international standing for young men stepping in to be groomed as future officers.

When the band struck ‘Auld Lang Syne’ on a crisp October morning of Abbottabad where the mellow sunrays tried in vain to penetrate through the cool mountain air, 136 PMA Long course along with technical graduates slow marched like cataleptic automatons, scarcely displaying a hint of human frailty after staying bolt still for over two hours. Their visage presented eerie familiarity to the US Army’s fabled West Point’s ‘Long Gray Line’ on whose steps annually pass the graduating cadets of US Army. The legendary US General Douglas MacArthur’s sonorous referral of the line rang nostalgically in the ears, “The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Should you to do so a thousand ghosts in khaki and olive drab will rise from their graves chanting these magic words, Duty, Honour, Country”. The Khaki line in close order slow marched to the hallowed steps over which had climbed the likes of Aziz Bhatti, Shabbir Sharif, Akram Raja, and Karnal Sher on the their way to Valhalla, a place where the fallen warriors in battles feast with the gods. The Rafiullah Drill Square, as the PMA parade ground is called, is therefore the veritable promenade to Valhalla for all young warriors passing through the portals of academy.

Pakistan Military Academy came into being in 1947 with Brigadier Francis Ingall as the first commandant. The legendary commandant was instrumental in establishing the academy with active help of Liaquat Ali Khan and Iskander Mirza

The Islamic ethos, Pakistani nationalism, and the British traditions were in full display in an eclectic mix of parade ground movements starting with the march of ‘Parcham Party’ comprising flag bearers carrying proudly the national colour and the Quaid-e-Azam banner. The Pakistan Military Academy enjoys the unique honour of having received the Quaid e Azam banner from Khawaja Nazimuddin.

Pakistan Military Academy came into being in 1947 with Brigadier Francis Ingall as the first Commandant of the academy. The legendary Commandant was instrumental in establishing the academy with active help of Liaquat Ali Khan and Iskander Mirza despite all the usual bureaucratic hurdles placed in his way. Due to straitened economic circumstances, the academy on its inception had no books to teach. Brigadier Ingall came to know of the vandalising incidents about government colleges in Rawalpindi. He got in touch with Commissioner Rawalpindi, got three trucks and organised a ‘looting campaign’ to secure books from civilian colleges in Rawalpindi that were being purloined by scrap dealers and random looters. Later Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan called him and congratulated him in jest.

Brigadier Ingall, who remained the Commandant of the academy till 1950, describes the academy site in these words, “All around the valley stood the beautiful hills, rising towards the east where the majestic Himalayas wore white ermine capes and conversed with the sky. What a superb backdrop for the Academy.” The syllabus of the academy was derived from the syllabi of the four best academies of the world ie Sandhurst (UK), West Point (USA), Dontroon (Australia), and Kingston (Canada).

Ingall called up legendary military historian BH Liddell Hart and requested him to travel to Pakistan to help write military history précis for the academy. Liddell Hart replied that his travelling days were over but he would send his most promising student Brian Bond to do the needful. The academy’s initial scholastic and academic foundations were thus laid by some real dedicated legends who later distinguished themselves in their professions at international level. For drill instruction, Ingall got Regimental Sergeant Major Duffield from the fabled Coldstream Guards Regiment. Duffield soon trained Pakistani drill sergeants who though speaking their own language aped and mimicked his colourful language and gestures.

The two years military cum academic regimen in academy transforms greenhorn young talent into responsible and accomplished stuff capable of taking on the rigours of combat and military profession with consummate ease. For these two years the young men arriving from diverse backgrounds and academic standards are put through the crucible of an organised routine where physical fitness and character building goes hand in hand with professional and academic grooming. Forged in the smithy of tough military and academic regimen, the two years’ training has a real transformative influence on the young minds where they are acculturated into a new value system in sync with nationalistic ethos and belief system.

It was against this background that the speech of the Chief Guest General Nick Carter the Chief of General Staff UK assumed timeless importance. He stressed upon four elements as the warp and woof of military leadership. The first was courage which he said was plentiful amongst the denizens of the area comprising Pakistan due to long military traditions. In officers he however recommended moral courage to be of more value than physical dimension. The ability to speak truth when the truth might entail pain was the true hallmark of a leader.

Integrity was the second sine qua non of leadership that entailed addiction to truth and subordinating temptations and desires to the eternal verities of what is the right conduct. Professional knowledge was the third pillar of leadership, as a good leader could only command respect if he knew and could do everything that he desired his subordinates to do. ‘Do as you would like yourself to be done by’ should be a true leader’s credo. Discipline being the fourth pillar of leadership was mentioned to instill self control and an ability to harness the energies of subordinates. Interestingly, it was another Briton i.e Brigadier Ingall who gave academy its motto, “Nasrun Minallah wa Fathun Qareeb” (With Allah’s help, success is near) after consulting various scholars. Upon hearing the recommendation of Ingall about that motto, a British General in Pakistan Army had remarked in jest that he would personally prefer God in ‘direct support’ rather than ‘in support’. In military parlance of Gunners the fire support is guaranteed to troops if the status is ‘Direct Support’. It’s amazing how colonial, modern, and the indigenous traditions operate cheek by jowl in a grooming regimen placing PMA amongst the top training institutions of the world.

Under the current dynamic Commandant, the PMA is striving hard to live up to the ideals of its founder and the requirements of the modern era which needs thinking leaders of fighting men. One marveled however how much time was spent perfecting those drill movements and steps, the apotheosis of precision and coordination. How much of regimented precision is relevant to the modern battlefield where initiative, flexibility, innovation, and quick decision making is making old orthodox notions of discipline, order, and stability infructuous?

The new grooming philosophy for millennials as well as Generation Z poses special challenges that PMA needs to focus on, in order to stay relevant to the modern era. The thing that remains inviolate and constant is the lambent flame of patriotic fervour and self sacrifice that is lit in the souls of the alumni of this great institution where they climb up the hallowed stairs listening to the lilting melody of a Scottish poet pacing cadenced steps on that most honourable promenade to Valhalla.

The writer is a PhD scholar at NUST; e mail rwjanj@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, October 17^th 2017.