Nasrullah Khadim
The Armed Forces are raised and equipped to defend the country from external aggression. They are supposed to have no political role and are required to take orders from the civilian authorities that work under the constitution. They are not generally allowed any special role in a democratic Constitution. Countries with democratic traditions have tangled hard to set up the subordination of the armed forces to civilian authorities. However, for Pakistan, the topsy-turvy and chequered period of seventy years of its emergence on the world map has presented something hard to digest. The military has rendered and inflicted colossal and immense wounds and undermined the socio-political and economic order of the country. The dictatorial mind-set to preserve more power in the state, left no stone unturned to rapture and diminish the fledgling democracy of the country. Nevertheless, in developed countries, the armed forces are not trained to take political decisions and military solutions are certainly not conducive to the settlement of internal or even international disputes. The final remedy to internal issues is political, and to foreign aggression, diplomacy. Unfortunately, third world countries generally have failed to establish the supremacy of civilian authority over the armed forces, with the result that military coups have become commonplace all over the third world. Pakistan has also been left in the lurch because of constant interference of the military leadership that hampered the progress and prosperity of democratic tradition. It all began in 1954 with the Governor – General Ghulam Muhammad’s proposal to Ayub, Commander in chief of the army, to impose martial law and take over the administration of the country. Apparently, this was the turning point in the history of Pakistan when armed forces started intervening in the affairs of the state through a coup d ‘etat and Ayub made no secret of it in his political autobiography, Friends Not Masters. In the subsequent years, the military found itself fit to take over the country without any hesitation. The history of Pakistan shows four direct military take-overs that miserably disengaged the civilian authorities and beefed up the dictatorial milieu. However, there is no denial of the fact that the founder of Pakistan, Mr Jinnah, clearly articulated the role of the military: “Do not forget that the armed forces are the servants of the people. You don’t make national policy: it is we, the civilians, who decide these issues and it is your duty to carry out these tasks with which you are entrusted. Other than large-sized pictures of the founding father that adorn military institutions, Mr Jinnah’s unambiguous view on civil military relations was soon buried like the rest of his legacy. With Mr Jinnah’s Passing, the military swiftly suborned the political apparatus, becoming the driving force behind the country’s political, ideology and destiny. Consequently, the democracy of Pakistan has been dwindling since the inception of the country. It has been challenged by direct or indirect military influence. Ironically, military leadership has so developed in psychology that military dominance can not be ignored. Through training, a sense of superiority is infused into the officer class of the armed forces. They are taught and trained to believe that they are superior to the civilian classes and can stoutly propagate their influence in society. Such a mentality and sense of superiority is barricading gigantic stumbling blocks to the proper function of democracy. Briefly, the military leadership needs to understand that their role should be to defend the country from internal and external threats and remain a servant of the state rather than poking their nose into state affairs to maneuver personal interests.
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