Daily Times

Having raised the hopes of the country by apprehending a large number of target killers and subsequently going after those in the bureaucracy whose corruption and connections to organised crime fuels terrorism, the Rangers in Sindh have become prey to politics, a victim of their own success. One had hoped otherwise but this was to be expected. The PPP’s machinations seem to have been partially successful, the end justifying the means. Operating from the safe haven of Dubai, discretion being the better part of valour, Mr Zardari seems to have stage-managed his puppet-on-a-string Chief Minister (CM), charging the Rangers with exceeding the authority vested in them for daring to target the blatantly corrupt. Taking brinkmanship to a midnight fail-safe line, CM Qaim Ali Shah granted the Rangers a measly “one-month” extension to their mandate, that also subject to approval by the Sindh Assembly. The Rangers should have gone back to the barracks instead of accepting this farce.
Meeting the commander Five Corps Karachi, Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar and Director General (DG) Rangers Sindh, Major General Bilal Akbar, cleverly timed just before the Sindh Apex Committee met last Sunday, the PPP’s Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, managed, at least in public perception, to regain somewhat the ground lost because of the intemperate rantings of his father. This well-publicised ‘intervention’ gave the PPP a face-saving photo-op that they were still lord and masters of their royally corrupt house in Sindh. Lacking information and credible feedback, one can only surmise that the military hierarchy did not roll over and play dead in seeking an extension without a timeline to their mandate. However, the PPP’s smiles seem to suggest that an extension without a timeline was conditional and the PPP’s corrupt in Karachi and Sindh were to be left alone. Whatever the truth, the seemingly inexorable process started by the army in curbing nepotism and corruption in Sindh has suffered a setback.
Notwithstanding the quid pro quo to their acquiescence, the PPP and MQM are continuing their propaganda drumbeat against the army. While claiming otherwise, the PML-N seems to be a party to this well thought out political game plan to cut the army down to size. Why did Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on cue directly attack two previous DGs of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for their “political interference”, and by inference the army indirectly? Moreover, the army’s continued inaction in Punjab points to the PML-N citadel of power being ‘off limits’ as per some ‘understanding’. Are we to believe that corruption and organised crime are not funding terrorists and their sympathisers in the province?
Crisis is not confined to the domestic front; had China not blocked India’s attempt in the UN to impose sanctions on us because the Islamabad High Court (IHC) freed Lakhvi, we would have been diplomatically isolated as a terrorist sponsoring nation. Indian Prime Minister (PM) Modi actually became emotional entreating the Chinese president at Ufa not to block the Indian move to sanction Pakistan but our good friend Xi Jinping politely stood his ground. With most of our friends advising us to do something “innovative” to put Mumbai behind us, it was incumbent on Pakistan not to be intransigent to India’s overtures, however insincere, at the BRICS/Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) Summit in Ufa, hosted by Russia.
Exploiting the wording of the joint communiqué for all its worth, the Indians seemed to have contrived to make the Ufa talks a PR disaster for Pakistan. With no Pakistani media present, the Indian media flashed Modi’s ‘victory’ in keeping Kashmir off the agenda while including Mumbai. Failure to have Kashmir included as the prime issue in the joint communiqué (a “goof up”, according to former Ambassador Ashraf Jahangir Qazi) did create adverse perceptions domestically in Pakistan vis-à-vis India of continued appeasement by the Mian Nawaz Sharif regime. Mr Sartaj Aziz strove to belatedly put the record straight about Kashmir remaining a core issue and that it has not been put on the back burner despite exultant Indian claims. Moreover, Samjhota Express is very much on the table. For our part, we cannot condone terrorism or be seen to be doing so. If there is concrete evidence about Lakhvi’s involvement in the Mumbai incident, he (and others) must face accountability but the entire country cannot be held hostage to the murderous behaviour and mindset of non-state actors of Pakistani origin.
Because of its recent activism in governance, the army is in a twilight zone. Every political party is taking potshots at the uniform, some openly but mostly surreptitiously. The political parties do not miss any opportunity to disseminate false propaganda using intemperate and unacceptable language. Their leadership not only fails to condemn their stalwarts but also blandly feigns innocence to being party to their utterances.
Visibly affected by the Peshawar Army Public School (APS) atrocity, General Raheel Sharif wanted to force multiply the success of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The present process of military activism was initiated with good and sincere intentions. Unfortunately, the single-minded purpose required for the army’s game plan has meandered along with the partially complete National Action Plan (NAP), lacking clarity in the maintenance of its selected aim, albeit there may be confusion about what constitutes the limits of military activism without running afoul of the Constitution, notwithstanding that corruption and bad governance have disfigured every tenet of that sacred document. Without unequivocal commitment, the entire exercise will end up in a quagmire for the army while those committed to maintaining the corrupt status quo will not only use the media but all available means to further undercut the uniform’s credibility.
General Raheel Sharif’s sincerity and determination are not in question and this perceived ambiguity in commitment must be corrected. Initially righteous and charged, over time those acquiring the trappings of power tend to become comfortable and content. Despite their rhetoric about commitment to accountability, to protect this warped ‘democracy’, they try not to rock the politicians’ boat of nepotism and corruption. Once the critical mass of comfort level is reached, enthusiasm for staying the course converts into business as usual.
One can only pray that our hopes have not again been misplaced, that our expectations thereof will not dissolve into disappointment.

The writer is a defence analyst and security expert