For sixteen months diligence competed with incompetence to rule Imran Khan out of politics. On Aug 5, 2023, diligence finally won out after injustice prevailed with the help of gross illegalities and Imran Khan, the only honest senior politician in our benighted land was sentenced for corruption and put behind bars.
This was a job well done. It showed dedication and diligence, supported and sustained by dishonour and disgrace, to get done what needed to be done. And what needed to be done was to extend immunity against theft for a few hundred souls who had dedicated their lives to hollowing Pakistan out. The police, FIA, the Income Tax Authorities, and the judiciary were already pretty well harnessed towards this end. The “Charter for Democracy” had brought on the same page the two main gangs of looters, passing themselves off as political parties, and the Constitution had been sufficiently mangled to ensure that no matter how elections were held, one of these two would always be returned to power. There was nothing more left to do.
All was secure. But out of the blue came a dark horse, broke through every barrier, and stunned the black forces of our politics, to become Prime Minister. Thirty years of engineering which broke every institution to ensure immunity to the thieves stood shattered. Hope arose that finally that day would dawn when looters shall be forced to return stolen national wealth, and be made to pay for it. In the last resort this hope was centered around the high command. No one had any doubt that they would stand by the people. But when they crossed the line and took a stand with the looters instead, our last hope stood devastated.
Rounds of congratulations are therefore in order. Forces destructive of the country have triumphed once more at the cost of the people. I can almost visualize the high command snuggling close to each other and whispering felicitations. Shahbaz, Nawaz, Mariam, Zardari, Billo, and Mulla Fazal are also richly deserving of the same. As are Qazi Faez Isa, his clutch of Justices, Justice Amir Farooq, Sultan Sikander Raja, and the Inspectors General of the Islamabad and Punjab Police. But surely none can advance a stronger claim for applause, than Judge Humayun Dilawar, who has demonstrated all the qualities and shown every microbe and germ needed for being elevated to the chair of Chief Justice when his time comes.
Immortality is attained in different ways, but few donate their names to metaphors. Humayun Dilawar’s is one such name. It will stand for infamy in the annals of justice.
Among specific accomplishments deserving of cogratulations, the one to draw most applause will be the military projection that no one will come out to protest Imran’s imprisonment and sentencing. This will be likened to a stroke of genius. Well, this needs to be put right. There was no genius involved here. When you decapitate an organization, and imprison ten thousand of its most dedicated workers, the infrastructure around which a protest movement may be built, stands demolished. So, no points on this one. But there is a danger that must inevitably have found birth in the very self-confession of genius among the high command. Unless arrogance is curbed by a due dose of humility, it will show itself in a series of disastrous decisions that will be taken by them in due course. These will be manifested in how they counter the insurgency that seems to be growing in KPK.
In 1971 the high command took the country to war based only on one certainty i.e that deployment of military power will scare the majority population of the country into surrender, or running into hiding. The high command in 1971 thought of themselves as geniuses, no less than the Guderians of today. Dec 16, 1971, disabused them of this notion, and did so in a cloud of disgrace. Half of our country was lost.
Let’s see how the current lot of geniuses address themselves to the tasks ahead. For the first time they will be trying to put down an insurgency by an army which has lost the support of the people. And let it NEVER be forgotten that it was by CHOICE that the high command first alienated the people, and then began its tentative operations against the insurgency. Therefore, this insurgency is more likely to morph into a people’s movement. This will begin with the KPK and then spread south. Each reverse will bring into play ever harsher measures and the people’s movement will grow apace. The distance between the fighting man and his officer will increase. Celebration of false victories is likely to become the order of the day. Think Vietnam. No army has ever won a war without the support of the people.
A grave has begun to be dug, but its headstone has already been installed. And because in their lexicon genius is blind, they have firmly shut their eyes against reality.
No more than twenty people in uniform are taking us there, and are doing so because they do not want their accounts to be scrutinized! I know of no greater homage to wealth so that a country may be destroyed to save the ill-gotten gains of a handful of men! They will never lead their men in battle, but see with what determination they have moved to secure wealth which came their way through misappropriation. You are witnessing a modern day Thermopylae but the 300, instead of facing the enemy, are arrayed against their own people.
If Honour Shops are still running at the Pakistan Military Academy, these need to be shifted to GHQ.