With or without Gen Raheel?

(Hamza Ali, )

Mehr Ispahani

There has of late been media speculation that the Army Chief, General Raheel Sharif’s tenure of service will be extended but recently he rubbished all the reports by stating that he was not interested in getting extension. He however reiterated his resolve that he would go to any extent in his relentless effort to eliminate terrorism from the country.

Gen Raheel Sharif is one amongst the Army Chiefs who stands tall and is being lauded by all, across-the-board, for his principle stand, as well as his leadership role towards stemming out terrorism. The launching of all-encompassing operation “Zarb-e-Azb” and gains achieved thereof have brought highly positive and productive results. The achievements have not only helped garner support of the international community, but it also resulted in forging unity and bringing consensus at home, though there is a lot more to be do done yet.

The Zarb-e-Azb operation was launched in June 2014, which has succeeded in eliminating around 3,500 terrorists. Over 1,000 terrorist hideouts have been destroyed while huge piles of arms and ammunition have been busted. According to latest figures released to the press 2,763 terrorists have been killed and 1,000 arrested during the last one year. Overall a 90 percent of the North Waziristan area has been cleared while the remaining 10 percent is supposedly going to come into mainstream administration very soon. Amongst the 30,000 personnel taking part in this large-scale operation, 347 have embraced martyrdom while 947 got wounded.

Under the leadership of Gen Raheel Sharif the Armed Forces of Pakistan have set an unprecedented record of professionalism, sacrifices and bravery. His action without discriminating good or bad Taliban or other affiliated terrorist groups, including that of the Haqqani network, has won appreciation from all over the world. Terrorists are terrorists be it Tehrik-e-Taliban, Shereyar Group, Mansoor Group, Sajna group, BLA, BRA, LeJ, LeT, Haqqani Network, Gul Bahadur group, Punjabi Taliban, Uzbek Taliban, Chechen Taliban, Uhigar Taliban or whatever. That’s why with the 9,000 intelligence operations conducted so far, 218 wanted terrorists have been killed while thousands arrested are undergoing interrogation and trials in the ATCs as well as military courts.

Gen Raheel Sharif’s announcement of taking no extension in his service tenure represents the strength of not only his mother institution he belongs to but also the democratic institution of the country. One cannot undermine the significance of accomplishments as well as the successes and achievements of the General made during his tenure. Being the Army Chief, he has earned laurels for turning the tide of terrorism back when it was threatening to engulf the whole country from Karachi to Khyber. Pakistan shows that war on terror is just not an abstract ideal it is in fact a living and vibrant reality. Calls for extension for the COAS are a common theme in the public. He has been able to play an important public role reminding the terrorists of not compromising on their conditions and going on with the operation with full courage and vigour. Gen Raheel’s tenure has actually made the public change their view, when he came on the scene he faced the challenge of militant politics and terrorism and won support from public masses from Karachi and the northern areas. No doubt the General has been able to win hearts and has become a popular figure among the public.

There is always a difference of opinion and some political leaders must be looking for their own interests, trying to defame the efforts and achievements the armed forces made towards fighting terrorism and defending the country. There will always be some political leaders with their own interests portraying everything is hunky-dory with having their own agenda set. The main thing that we should recognize General Raheel Sharif remains or not the fight against terrorism will go on in this regard we should not forget about the achievements made by the Pak Army.We need to follow the rules and regulations according to Army law and the command structure intact.

I think our civil government needs to understand that it cannot make any changes in the power structure of armed forces and if the post of CJSCS is given to the current Chief with same powers as suggested it can disturb the structure and balance of power, it can also give a wrong precedence for future. In my opinion the offer that has been given to the Army Chief by the government is quite lame because there cannot be two commands within the Army. What are the other options that can make the General stay on that is to make him the field marshal as it was done in Ayub Khan’s era and the other option is to make him the commander of a unified combatant command like Centcom.

We should learn from the past regarding civil-military relations and try to be careful for whatever action we take rather I feel it is too early to talk about it right now we should be concerned how to deal with terrorism as a whole and give courage and support to the Armed Forces and its not only the duty of our armed forces to fight for this cause even we all of us being a nation should come forward and play our part for whatever little we can do to bring the whole society in peace and fight for our cause we should set an example for others to see that we support our armed forces for their fight in terrorism and it shows that the institution remains committed to their cause with or without the present Army Chief by giving his decision he has made it clear that national interest is of paramount importance and that will be defended at all costs and we should as a nation be united and stand by his word with confidence.

The reported offer given by the PM for an extension focuses on his chance of seeking tenure as PM. We should not forget that the institution stands bigger than any personality no one is indispensible, not even RS, NS, AAZ or IK. It is the institution that matters whether its civil or military. Gen Raheel is determined to totally wipe out the terrorists by the end of his term. The apprehensions in our nation’s mind that if he goes and the other one comes will the operation go on at full pace? We must unite as the saying goes united we stand, divided we fall. (Ends)
(The author is freelance columnist based in Peshawar)
 

Hamza Ali
About the Author: Hamza Ali Read More Articles by Hamza Ali: 30 Articles with 19485 viewsCurrently, no details found about the author. If you are the author of this Article, Please update or create your Profile here.