Media in Pakistan, for over a year, have been buzzing with a rather rare and strange spectacle to decide who is the most liked, loved, lauded and top-rated Sharif in Pakistan. The contest has been created between our elected prime minister, Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, and General Raheel Sharif, Chief of Army Staff, fielded by the former as his top choice for the top command. The stage for the contest was strangely set with the uncanny identity of their surnames, which could have been merely incidental, or spurred by some thought process that influenced the premier’s mind while making his selection. Raheel, yet in another similarity, is also known to have lived in Lahore, the main power locale of the [Nawaz and Shehbaz] Sharifs.
This proximity, however, despite the blatant Nawaz penchant for Lahori and Kashmiri clans as seen during his earlier stint as well as by his present core acolytes seems to have made least significance for Raheel’s rise, as even his veteran brethren commanders like General Pervez Musharraf and Quli Khan, have praised his professional excellence. Musharraf even claimed credit for having elevated him to a higher rank, and appointing him as his military secretary.
The vibes of this contest flashing their relative clout, limelight and popularity were stirred by some talk shows, and the stories such as the one carried by an Urdu newspaper asserting how General Raheel’s trips to Europe and the USA had been more significant and had drawn more attention than the visits by Nawaz Sharif to the UK and the USA, which incidentally had occurred almost during the same time span.
Nawaz, perhaps, did not mind his trips being overshadowed by his COAS; otherwise, he could have certainly arranged some different dates for his visit. The award of the Legion of Merit to him by a Turkish general on October 12 was also far more prominently portrayed. Even Nawaz’s much acclaimed American trip would not help his score as two days had already been dropped from his original 19-24 October itinerary, and the euphoria for a nuclear deal like India’s was dampened by Obama’s statement preceding this visit. Moreover, concerns about Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Gurdaspur terror attack were also raised at the meeting. The buzz about Raheel’s impending trip in November, in contrast, was actually being more vigorously floated right when the plans for the premier’s trip were being fine-tuned before his departure. An American newspaper called Raheel a real hero for initiating action against terrorists during the premier’s glitz as a guest in the American capital.
The newspaper had actually hit a chord as to how Raheel had earned respect responding to the national mood to eliminate terrorists. He reversed his predecessors’ policy of tolerating terrorists who had long wreaked havoc on life and resources, ruined over $100 billion of the economic assets and implanted fear and uncertainty about our future. The Nawaz government, in contrast, remained indecisive keeping true to its alleged ambivalence towards certain militant groups, labelling them wayward brethren and planning to woo them through dialogue and discussions. The interior minister “mourned” the death of a Taliban chief who was killed in a drone strike. The Nawaz government avoided any effective action against terrorists, and pursued instead an evidently futile and frustrating facade of negotiations, until their monstrous onslaught on the Army Public School swung the national mood to mount an instant national operation for their eradication.
Raheel praised in the US Senate by an American general while no such admiration emerged for Nawaz further upped Raheel’s image. This certainly seemed an exhilarating scorecard for the more fervid Raheel fans, but a realistic reflection also evoked the contrast that the American general while praising Raheel was actually presenting the latter’s performance, assessment and plans before his nation’s elected forum.
All high and significant appointments in the US have to be approved by the Senate, and the incumbents nominated for such slots, including the top-most ones such as judges and generals, are quite critically and publicly grilled, while their service records, contribution, credentials and attitudes to ascertain their overall suitability are vetted. Media and the concerned citizens, meanwhile, also air their own evaluation, and the rejection of a nominee as a result of this open public scrutiny certainly is not that uncommon. But in Pakistan, all top army postings and promotions have become the exclusive prerogative of the GHQ, and the participation or input even by the defence minister, curiously, is never elicited. Even this “popularity contest” between the prime minister and the army chief is actually an entirely unique, indigenous passion and phenomenon, unparalleled in any established democracy.
State norms and practices generally place the commander-in-chief below the defence minister as well as the secretary or advisors in the order of protocol and precedence. Even in Pakistan, the commander-in-chief is almost similarly ranked. Still our love, reverence and genuflection for generals are beyond such stipulations, and we love to see our COAS walking shoulder-to-shoulder with the prime minister, and the entire elected cabinet obsequiously filing behind them with awe and respect. A simple gesture of General Sharif proffering a jeep ride to Prime Minister Sharif on February 3 made the former’s fans more ecstatic, hailing it as a patent demonstration that the general was now publicly in the driving seat. The sudden emergence of the Panama Papers, and the premier’s cardiac complications necessitating a surgery in London, brought yet another handicap for him, exacerbated by the drone raid in Balochistan, which killed the Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
How would Nawaz fare on his return is still to be seen. But the speculative media circus sowing uncertainty about his absence has taken some ominous spins. Media has moved beyond promoting the perilous perception of diarchy, and portraying the army as being some separate, superior and sovereign entity independent of the civilian structure. The frequent and unsavoury diatribe by some doom-mongers is being further garnished by unsubstantiated rumours about Nawaz being removed after July. Even if that doesn’t happen, the rumour-mongering would certainly go on thanks to the inveterate lobbies consumed by delusions that some strong, honest and efficient dictator would instantly conjure a paradise with a magical wand. This delusion, unfortunately, has not decreased despite disasters like Decca, Kargil, strategic depth and creation of the Taliban.
The writer is an academic and a freelance columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]