Reverberations
of the Dharna: Civil-Military Relations after the Report of the Inquiry
Commission 2015
Before, during and after the sit-ins by the PTI and PAT,
many have alleged the involvement of certain members of the Inter-Services Intelligence
agency in orchestrating the protests.1
The 126-day sit-in by the Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was perhaps the watershed moment in civil-military relations
in Pakistan for the current term of the PML-N Government. As PILDAT had previously
noted, the sit-ins and the way these paralyzed the business of the State humiliated
top State functionaries and institutions, leading to a visible humbling of the
democratically elected political leadership and an equally visible ascendancy
of Military. The clean-chit granted to the General Election 2013 by the General
Election 2013 Inquiry Commission 2015 was nothing short of a much-needed lifeline
for the PML-N Government.
However, the aftermath of the
Report has seen regrettable posturing by central members of the PML-N, implying
as if the Government might take up an inquest into the alleged involvement of
senior Military officials in the sit-ins. For example, the Federal Minister
for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, MNA, during an interview to Mr. Absar Alam
on July 12, 2015 named ‘Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Ahmad Shuja Pasha and Lt.
Gen. (Retd.) Zaheer-ul-Islam for pushing the London plan as a conspiracy against
the PML-N Government2’. Similarly, the Chairman of the Privatisation Commission, Mr. Muhammad Zubair,
also stated on July 14, 2015 that prior to the October 30, 2011 jalsa
of the PTI, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, then DG ISI and a serving military officer
had approached ‘7-8 corporate heads to support the PTI, including
himself’. Similarly, the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr. Muhammad Shahbaz
Sharif, MPA, who is usually known to take a measured line vis-à-vis the
military, also demanded that a Parliamentary Commission be formed, consisting
of the Parliamentary leaders of all political parties in order to ‘
ascertain who funded the sit-in and helped stage it… [and]
an investigation into the issue should not be left incomplete and should
be taken to a logical end’. The Chairman of the PTI, Mr. Imran Khan,
MNA, apparently demanded the same as well on July 30, 2015 stating that ‘if
the PTI has conspired with the Military against the elected Government, the
matter should be investigated. However, the Military should not be maligned
through media statements’.
PILDAT believes that there is
some weight in the position that Mr. Imran Khan has taken. Given the precarious
nature of civil-military relations in Pakistan, either the senior Ministers
of the PML-N Government should stop giving these statements on the national
media, or ask the Prime Minister to institute an Inquiry Commission into the
matter without any delay. The elected Government is the custodian of the Constitution,
and it belies irresponsibility on part of its senior members who are only resorting
to public statements, rather than taking concrete step towards investigating
the matter further.
Sindh
Government Grants Extension to Pakistan Rangers (Sindh)
The Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) have become a permanent
feature of the law enforcement landscape of Sindh, and are believed to be spearheading
the Karachi Operation 3
The apparent stress in civil-military tension in Sindh took yet
another turn when the Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, MPA, wrote
a letter to the Director General of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) on June 17, 2015,
stating that with the raid of the offices of the Sindh Building Control Authority
(SBCA) and the Lines Area Development Project (LADP), the paramilitary force
had ‘acted beyond their authorities and mandate4’.
In this backdrop, it appeared
that the PPP-led Sindh Government had employed another pressure tactic when
the Chief Minister stated that the Rangers’ stay, and the granting of
policing powers to them, could only be extended if ratified by the Provincial
Assembly of Sindh under Article 147 of the Constitution. The period for the
presence of the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) in Karachi was to expire on July 20,
2015, whereas the special policing powers granted to them on July 08, 2015.
As it turned out, however, the
Sindh Government issued the notification on July 09, 2015, extending the policing
powers assigned to Rangers for a month5. Similarly, the presence of the Rangers was extended for a year in the province
after a meeting of the Sindh Cabinet, in the leadership of the Chief Minister,
on July 18, 2015.6
The legal position taken by the
Chief Minister may hold true7. However, the Sindh Government has adopted an inconsistent policy over time.
The Provincial Assembly of Sindh did not ratify the special policing powers
granted to the Rangers on November 10, 2014. Taking the matter for ratifications
for extension of these powers after-effect appeared only as yet another pressure
tactic adopted by the PPP leadership against the paramilitary force, after the
diatribe made by the Co-Chairman of the party, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari on June
16, 2015.
Meeting
between Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar, and Maj. Gen. Bilal
Akbar
In a first of its kind huddle, a meeting was held between the
Chairman of the PPP, Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the Chief Minister of Sindh,
Syed Qaim Ali Shah, MPA, Corp V Commander, Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar, and the
Director General of the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), Maj. Gen. Bilal Akbar, on
July 12, 2015 at the Chief Minister House.
Given that no official Press
Release was issued either by the Provincial Government of Sindh, the PPP, or
the Military leadership, salient features of the meeting have remained a topic
speculation for various media outlets. Relevantly, some outstanding questions
include:
- Upon whose request had the meeting been called?
The PPP or the Military leadership?
- Was the meeting arranged in haste, or had
any prior preparations gone into it? According to a report appearing in daily
Dawn on July 13, 2015, ‘though, the party leaders insisted
that it was not a scheduled meeting, some well-placed sources said it was
a duly arranged gathering8’. In a Press Conference addressed on the same day by the-then Provincial
Minister for Information, and now the Provincial Minister for Archives, Works
and Services, Mr. Sharjeel Inam Memon, MPA had termed it a ‘usual
courtesy meeting’, which had been ‘previously scheduled9’.
- Does this meeting raise an entirely new possibility
of the Military leadership interacting with heads of the political parties?
Although the various media reports
diverged on certain details of its outcome, two common themes of discussion
that emerged were:
- That better coordination would take place
between the Provincial Government of Sindh, and the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh)
when it came to conducting any raids in the future.
- That the Provincial Government would take
action against the various ‘terrorists’ found present in Government
departments.10
Regardless of the finer details,
it is apparent that the meeting was successful in re-establishing the apparent
disconnect observed between the PPP and the Military leadership. The granting
of an extension to the presence of the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and a re-shuffle
in Sindh’s Cabinet on the very same day was perhaps symptomatic of this.
PILDAT hopes that instead of
such ad-hoc ‘meetings’ or ‘gatherings’, the official
channels of communication such as the Provincial Apex Committee of Sindh would
be used effectively vis-à-vis the Karachi Operation and better civil-military
coordination.
Mr.
Altaf Hussain’s Endless Barrage of Incendiary Remarks
Following the initiation of the Karachi Operation, which
has seen action against specific elements of the MQM, Mr. Altaf Hussain has
repeatedly issued inflammatory statements against the Military leadership
Just when Pakistanis feel that
they have heard enough of the most bizarre and inappropriate remarks from Mr.
Altaf Hussain, he starts again with a barrage of yet more incendiary thoughts,
each more inappropriate and diametrically opposed to his earlier position. Mr.
Altaf Hussain, who had only till February 2014, called for the Pakistan Army
to take over the State,11 is now decrying the attitude of the ‘rotten eggs’ in the institution.
His speech on July 12, 2015 marked
the ‘latest episode’ in this developing saga of bitter criticism
unleashed by the MQM leadership specifically against the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh).
According to media reports, Mr. Hussain’s barrage was perhaps a response
to the speculation that the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) might be releasing a ‘fact
sheet’ on the March 11 raid on the MQM headquarters, Nine-Zero. Taking
exception, Mr. Hussain stated that ‘Are Rangers a security force or
a political party? Does the code of conduct of the armed forces allow the Army,
its paramilitary forces like Rangers, to issue a charge sheet against a political
party? We are not against the Army; we are against the rotten eggs in the institution’.12
Apart from the statement issued
by the Federal Minister of Interior, Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, MNA, criticizing
Mr. Altaf Hussain for using ‘such language against the country’s
security and defence institutions’,13 a series of FIR’s have been registered against Mr. Altaf Hussain
not only in various parts of Sindh, but also in Islamabad, Hangu and Kohat under
Section 153 of the Pakistan Penal Code. It is not entirely clear who was orchestrating
the registration of these FIRs but was it really needed to register so many
FIRs? Cant the state proceed on the basis of just one FIR?
Development
in Balochistan
Commander Southern Command, Lt. Gen. Nasser Janjua, COAS
Gen. Raheel Sharif and the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch
can be seen during a briefing given by the FWO on July 25, 201514
During Gen. Raheel Sharif’s visit to Panjgur and Turbat
on July 25, 2015, he was apprised that ‘as many as 11 units of the
FWO have been employed in Balochistan for construction of 870 KM long stretch
of roads at five different locations simultaneously, out of which 502 kilometers
of roads have already been completed in less than one and half year’.15
Given that Balochistan has a
long road to development ahead of it to come at par with even other provinces
of our developing country, news of any infrastructure development is positive.
While the FWO has been contracted to build roads and its accomplishments in
a difficult terrain should be commended, it is the elected Governments both
at the centre and in the province whose efforts to demonstrate commitment and
allocate State resources for this development must be acknowledged and appreciated.
Of
Dormant Forums and Lack of Institutionalization: Wither the NSC?
Given Pakistan’s security challenges, July 2015 too has
had its share of incidents including , among others, Indian spy drone being
shot down along the Line of Control, violations by the Indian Border Security
Forces (BSF) in the Charwah Sector, and the death of 3 Pakistani civilians due
to firing by the BSF near Sialkot. Yet again, however, the month passed without
the National Security Committee failing to meet.
The continued dormancy of the
NSC raises the question whether it is due to lack of initiative by the civilian
leadership or is it due to the discomfort both civil and military leadership
may have in sharing their powers. Regardless, the responsibility to have an
active forum is that of the civilian Government. The NSC is an important institution
created to fil