Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif should not seek an extension from government on the completion of his service in November next year, said ex-servicemen here on Friday. Rather, Lieutenant General (Retd) Ali Kuli Khan, President Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association (PESA), said the "single-minded" army chief may follow in the footsteps of General Abdul Waheed Kakar (Retd), one of his predecessors living an "honourable life" post retirement.
Speaking at "Passion for Pakistan", the retired army officer said the people of Pakistan were fortunate to have General Sharif who had a "single-minded approach" toward the challenges facing Pakistan. "General Raheel has set a trend in the army that we can't have a pussycat in army now," Khan told the cheering audience at the well-attended event jointly organised by Pathfinder Group, Nutshell Forum and Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) here at a hotel.
"He neither has a brake, nor a reverse gear. He moves on and on in his direction," he said of the moustached general and added that Pakistanis now had "nothing to worry about". Not suggestive though, the PESA president also spoke out his mind about whether or not General Sharif, who is to retire on November 29, 2016, should get his service extended.
Illustrating, he said General Kakar had not taken extension despite offers from then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, President Farooq Leghari and several foreign diplomats, including Americans. "'There are many more like me where I come from' was his simple answer," the ex-serviceman said. "He said No and now lives an honourable life. If General Sharif goes, Khan said, there were "many others like General Raheel who are in the pipeline".
How Pakistan Army is doing? "What matters the most in the army is the battle experience. The battle hardened army of today is a different army (which is) working in a different domain," the retired Lieutenant General viewed. Commenting on the ongoing drive against corruption and terrorism, Khan said lack of governance in the country had allowed "lots of thieves" to prosper.
Chasing those thieves who have "robbed" and "wronged" Pakistan out was time consuming, said the retired army officer. "Our diseases like lack of governance are age old and would take as much time [to be healed]," he told reporters later. Talking to Business Recorder, Khan said talks of ongoing operation against corruption being politically motivated were "rubbish". "It's across the board (which is) going on in FATA and Sindh where they've nabbed criminals and killers of one and another (political) party". Why then it isn't going to Punjab? "It would," he replied, adding "It would take 15-20 years from now".
Talking of major changes on foreign policy front, he said, it was unprecedented for Islamabad to have told Saudi Arabia "fight your own war in Yemen" and that too without having a sectarian tension in the country. "[It means] we in Pakistan have grown up together. I am very hopeful of our future," said he. Shuja Nawaz, a fellow at Atlantic Council of South Asia Center USA, also saw Pakistan Army having dramatically changed for good.
"Regardless of changes on the top we have a military which has the sense of cohesion and understanding what needs to be done (for the country)," said the author of a book: "Crossed Roads". Army, the former World Bank affiliate opined, had undergone a somewhat "natural" but "dramatic" transformation that overtime made its composition more inclusive.
Citing a study conducted, Nawaz said, the perceived Punjab-dominated Pak Army had recruited more officers during 1993-2003 from Karachi than Jehlum. "These blue dots started off and became darker and bigger". About Karachi Operation, he said, safety of the multiethnic city, which represents a "micro Pakistan" having more Pakhtun residents than living in FATA and Peshawar, was closely linked with that of Pakistan. "(These are) very necessary steps which we are seeing (here) today," he said.
Terming radicalisation within Army's ranks as a challenge for GHQ, the researcher said collaboration between the military and civil institutions was a "missing element" which needed to be addressed in the current scenario. Nawaz, who deems terrorism as biggest existential threat for Pakistan, said the present army leadership was single-minded having a very clear vision of its role to play. The country, he said, had a "truly represented army" belonging to the whole of Pakistan." "They are true Pakistanis".
Chairman Pathfinder Group Ikram Sehgal also was all praise for the country's armed forces which, the former serviceman said, stood the most successful among 35 international militaries fighting militancy world over. This distinction Sehgal attributes to "combat training" Pakistan Army had got over the years during what he said a gradual transformation.
Earlier, Dr Jabbar Khattak, President CPNE, dwelled upon army's intermittent "interventions" in the country's politico-economic affairs besides guarding its borders. "It underwent different evolutionary phases since 1947," he said. The editor also alluded to President General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf's appointment as an army chief and the sidelining of Khan, a designated lieutenant general in line for the top military slot.
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