As I begin writing this, I wonder if it has taken leave of just its senses, or its courage as well….the courage to see its handiwork, and its results, and thus to make corrections.
It should be quite clear to the Army High Command that at least ninety percent of Pakistanis are in no doubt that, taking its instructions from its masters, Gen Bajwa brought down Imran Khan’s government. And the substantial reason why this government was brought down was, that unlike most third world leaders, Imran Khan was not willing to wag his tail every time the master whistled.
It is as simple and as clear as that.
What is also equally clear is that a vast majority of Pakistanis, including a big majority in the armed forces, are backing Imran Khan, and hold the army high command in utter contempt. The extent to which the people have come to despise their once revered army can be gathered from their expression of it in the millions and millions of messages being exchanged on the social media, and the numbers of people who gather to protest Bajwa’s action, every time even half a call is given. The people of Pakistan are clearly misbehaving. They were not supposed to behave this way. For decades they were seen by the army as mere cattle whose assigned duty it was to be worshipfully obedient to its shepherds and cowherds.
For their deviant behavior the people of Pakistan must now be taught a lesson.
But the movement of the people must also be crushed for a more dire reason i.e that the army senior command’s arrogance and incompetence allowed it to bite off more than it could chew. And having bitten it off, they are now shivering in their pants. Unless they can crush the current surge of nationalism among the people, they see themselves dangling at the end of a rope for the treason they have committed against their country.
The roots of this treachery lie in a well-tested model i.e the hegemon turns the loyalty of a young officer and then lets him sleep as a mole within the ranks of the Khaki establishment till he can rise to a rank when he can be of service to his master. In the case of Pakistan this model gathered added urgency when our country went nuclear, which was just not acceptable to the powers that be. And so they unleashed the first phase of their operation against our country. They began undermining it economically through massive theft committed by the likes of the Zardaris and the Sharifs. To them they gave protection through the army. So, the army ensured that these two houses of inequity and wickedness would survive the demands of justice, from the tenures of Musharraf right down to Bajwa’s.
And now when we were ripe for the picking, Bajwa the mole was awakened from his sleep and unleashed on his country. And he has come good. He has catapulted the thieves to the helm with total support of the high command which he picked at leisure, during his six years as the army chief.
Most of the Lt Gens may not be traitors, but they certainly are cowards. In a “yes sir” army culture, they seemed to have been swept along by Bajwa’s decision making so that they are now too deeply mired in his decisions, to pull themselves out and turn back.
What Imran Khan must understand is that given the choice between saving their own necks, and cutting the throats of the people of Pakistan, they will choose their own necks any day. This will lead to terrible bloodshed and eventually the destruction of Pakistan. The only way out for Pakistan is that these Generals be promised a pardon by Imran Khan. And this pardon must come with foolproof guarantees. The price to pay otherwise is not one which Pakistan can afford.