Daily Times

The appoint of a new COAS did not prove to be a routine affair though the outgoing general had made it clear, one year before his retirement, that he was not interested in an extension.

Banners and wall chalking suggested him to stay on, and not leave before the conclusion of the war against extremism, earning praise at home and abroad.

Debates and discussions proceeding Raheel Sharif’s retirement were unwanted. Speculations about civil-military relations were quite disturbing. Very wrong messages were dropped in print and electronic media putting a question mark on the peace and stability of the state.

The appointment of heads of state institutions is a matter of merit, careful evaluation of personal integrity, and performance of prospective appointees, rather than a subject of open and aggressive lobbying tactics. One wonders whether some institutional mechanism is in place to check harmful lobbying practices relating to the appointment of Army Chief. Whatever the case, the whole affair surrounding the appointment of the COAS needs to be reviewed to identify the vested interests that brought the issue into the public realm in a coarse manner.

General Bajwa appears to be thoroughly a professional soldier. He, hopefully, is geared to hold up the legacy of his predecessor in making the army a disciplined force capable of meeting security challenges associated with the new millennia.

General’s excellence rests in making the institution he commands more efficient and result-oriented. Change of guards at GHQ should be accompanied with the due commitment to neutralise the threat posed by militants to our ways life. The long and porous borders need to be well protected from unwanted encroachments. These are not merely the foreign armies which have to be fended off but the militants and the smugglers as well.

General Bajwa holds the baton at a time Pakistan is cast in a regional role. With its gradual integration into Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), jointly led by China and Russia, Pakistan has started looking towards Central Asia for trade and investment rather than any other regions of the Asian continent.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a game changer and requires paradigm shift at General Headquarters (GHQ) vis-à-vis handling the problems associated with this mega-project spanning over dozens of states.

Long-range missiles in the country’s arsenals and fast-changing strategic milieu have just broadened the horizons of our security establishment. Military strength has just added responsibilities of the state both at home and abroad.

Neither the state can ignore the divisive ideologies tearing apart the fabric of its society, nor can it remain unconcerned about the non-state actors disturbing the peace of neighbouring countries.

Threats to the integrity of the global era state originate more in the inefficiency of civilian regimes to ensure equitable provision of public goods to the people rather than foreign invasions.

Why elected local governments, instrumental in the provision of basic amenities of life, were disbanded and how they have been rendered toothless in the provinces? Why this obsession with tar and steel when 390,000 infants are dying every year due to poor sanitation? What to talk about leaving education and health to the lust of private sectors? When will the ruling classes realise climate change’s potential to turn our state upside down?

Accountability and the rule of law remain the most neglected subjects while Pakistan is under a democratic dispensation. Lack of commitment of towards democracy puts a question mark on the prospects of peace and stability as well. How much the civilian regimes have heeded to the sane advice of the outgoing general to sever links between corruption and militancy? Why FATA, a hotbed of militancy till Zarb-e-Azb, remains subject to colonial-era crimes regulations? What is the wisdom in not reforming Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) 1860 restore human dignity?

Civil-military relations will certainly remain a sensitive subject till democracy becomes pure and genuine. Until ‘citizenship’ and ‘representation’ remain to be ‘qualified’ as per international norms and benefits of democracy are constricted to provincial capitals, civilian regimes will lack the moral strength to cast a due influence on the Army.

Political parties becoming hostage to vested interests, lobbies and mafias, cannot do the desired task of welding the state with the society, a must for defending the integrity of states in the global age.

So, publicly debating civil-military relations remain a fine line not to be crossed by media but at the cost of putting its own integrity at risk. One wonders why PEMRA does not make media feel obliged to give health, education and environment due coverage in news bulletins.

Media can play a constructive role by discouraging politicians from washing their linen in the public square. Politics is too noble a profession to be left to the adherents of ‘balance of power’.

Those who think restoring the Constitution of 1973 addresses the democratic aspirations of the people are late. It’s the 21st century, and ground realities demand a new social contract. Do we remember what guidelines the Quaid laid down through his 11th August address to the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan?

The writer is an Islamabad-based veteran journalist and an independent researcher. He can be reached on Twitter @riazmissen