Politics is a dirty game. The dirt does not spare even those who are remotely attached to politics. One wonders if an intelligence organisation of the country gets involved in politics will it get spared from a volley of allegations whether or not meant to malign it. In that case, the Constitution of Pakistan may be the final abode for the organisation to claim sanctity, though the same Constitution does not consecrate the organisation’s covert political role.
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency is the premier intelligence organisation of the country. When the name of its Director General (DG), be it General Ahmad Shuja Pasha or his successor General Zaheerul Islam, was mentioned for playing an active role in the uprising against the sitting elected government in 2014, it was too trifle a matter to be discounted. In the past, it was said that the ISI used to do pre-poll political maneuvering (by doling out public money) to make one kind of united political front win the elections over another. This time, the country has witnessed post-poll political choreography to offer the losers of the elections of 2013 a role bigger than their size and capacity.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of the army was quick to issue a statement (or a tweet) to refute the assertion uttered by Senator Mushahidullah Khan that audio was recorded in which General Zaheerul Islam could be heard giving directions to certain people about how to proceed with the dharna (sit-in) to take over the Prime Minister (PM) House or parliament eventually. If memory serves correctly, during the dharna days, the same scheme was revealed publicly by some legislators from the treasury benches but without mentioning the audiotape. The ISPR may be correct that the narration to make the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) listen to the audio and enquire General Zaheerul Islam about the authenticity of the same was false but the ISPR has not refuted the allegations of the involvement of the two DGs of the ISI in instigating and carrying out the dharna episode. Nor has the ISPR issued a statement that the third umpire — the interference by whom was expected sooner or later by Sheikh Rasheed and Imran Khan, the crusaders of the dharna — did not mean the COAS. The point is not whether or not the COAS was involved or knew about the conspiracy; the point is whether or not a conspiracy was hatched.
When Javed Hashmi says that he meant only General Shuja Pasha, who was in touch with the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), including himself, and not the ISI, he needs to be corrected. Can the head be bifurcated from the organisation? Can a DG ISI work on a political scheme on his own without the help and backing of his organisation? The answer is in the negative. The personal capacity of a DG ISI means nothing without the ways and means at the disposal of the ISI itself. Even if it is accepted that General Shuja Pasha did whatever on his own and of his own volition, the question is this: why did his successor toe the same line? Was it just a coincidence that two DGs of the ISI got embroiled in the same scheme? The answer is in the negative. The ISPR has still failed to accept the reality that the negative roles of the two DGs of the ISI have severely dented civil-military relations and have harmed the reputation of the ISI as an organisation that is otherwise meant to work within the domain of the Constitution.
The ISI has no mandate whatsoever to make arrangements to topple a sitting government and install an alternative. Reportedly, General Shuja Pasha was involved even in arranging funds for the PTI to afford the dharna besides bringing the PTI and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) closer to each other and marching in unison on Islamabad. The voice of concern raised by Khawaja Asif and Mushahidullah Khan should be heeded to as the voice reeks of the lack of confidence of the sitting government (or a part of it) in the ISI. These politicians must be wary of the launch of another round of agitation under some other ruse to undermine the government. The apprehensions of these politicians need to be addressed.
By any means, the dharna was no small conspiracy against the sitting elected government. No conscientious, democratic Pakistani can tolerate it. Precisely, the allegation is that the two heads of the ISI consecutively were proactively involved in creating chaos (including the bloodshed) on the streets to pave the way for military intervention even if indirectly through a judicial martial law. The objective might be to save former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf from the clutches of Article Six. Both the PTI and PAT were assured of the success of their respective though incongruent agenda. This is a very serious allegation and omens bad for the country’s democratic future. Instead of issuing statements, the ISPR should ask both DGs of the ISI to explain their reasons for trespassing on the limits of their jurisdiction and produce both of them before public committees to make them answerable for their deeds. The retired military generals and air marshals appearing on television talk shows are quick to mention what sanctity the Constitution of Pakistan offers to the armed forces but they fail to mention the limits the same Constitution imposes on the activities of the armed forces and allied organisations.
Whether an audiotape exists or not is a separate issue. The perceived message in the word audiotape is that from now onwards the DG ISI cannot be spared from his voice being taped by another intelligence agency of the country. The ISI should not mind it because the deeds of its DGs have brought the (civilian) government to a point where it puts the (anti-democratic) activities of a DG ISI under surveillance.
The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at [email protected]