Islamabad, Nov 14 (IANS) Pakistan’s ‘weak-kneed’ government has surrendered to Army Chief Asim Munir’s demand to turn the country into a ‘hard state’ – a policy that has been identified as the primary reason behind the prevailing turmoil in the country, marked by political instability, widespread public dissent and a horrific cycle of bloodshed, a report has stated.
It noted that the precarious situation calls for rational handling, which is possible only by abandoning rigid and uncompromising thinking.
“The Pakistan army maintains that it’s going after terrorists of ‘all hue and colour’. The reality however, is that instead of evolving a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy aimed at weeding out terrorism, Rawalpindi is following the expedient policy of ‘pruning’ terrorism and is content with keeping the threat at a manageable level rather than eradicating it,” retired Indian Army Officer, Nilesh Kunwar, wrote in ‘Eurasia Review’.
“This assessment is proven by the fact that since its much touted post 9/11 War on Terror, Pakistan has signed at least seven major peace accords and numerous informal truce agreements with various terrorist groups. Though not even one of these has endured, the Pakistan army continued pandering to terrorist groups by making unreasonable concessions,” Kunwar stated.
Eradicating militant and secessionist activities, he said, requires more than military force, an established reality that the Pakistani army chief also acknowledged.
Kunwar cited Munir’s remarks to Pakistan’s Parliamentary Committee on National Security, where he asked: “How long will we continue to fill the governance gaps with the blood of the armed forces of Pakistan and the martyrs?”
According to the report, given his position at the helm of Pakistan’s “hybrid” government, Munir was expected to recognise the broader dimensions of the menace and address the issues responsible for fuelling it.
However, it said, rather than pursuing such an approach, the army chief has adopted a punitive mindset, allowing security forces to intensify their brutality without sparing civilians.
The report noted that consequently, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are currently experiencing an unprecedented escalation in violence and severe repression, with enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by security forces and intelligence agencies becoming “new normal”.
The deployment of heavy weaponry, drones and even fighter jets, it said, has resulted in substantial civilian casualties, further fuelling anti-army sentiment among local populations.
Views may differ on Field Marshal Munir’s military-centric approach towards KP and Balochistan. However, there is little room for disagreement that his mishandling of protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) has triggered unprecedented unrest in the occupied territory, the report mentioned.
“The peaceful protest led by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in PoJK has no political or ideological agenda and has been triggered by abject apathy towards governance and economic issues. Yet, instead of using the negotiation route for settlement, the field marshal opted for military action, and the indiscriminate use of force has led to several deaths and serious injuries,” it added.
–IANS
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