S.M. Hali: Serving as a Contingent and Sector Commander!

General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's statement regarding the constitutional role of the Pakistani Army has put to rest rumors and speculation of an army takeover. It has also refuted Yusuf Raza Gillani's charge of the Army plotting to throw the political government out when Kayani declared "Army has no desire to derail democracy." Pakistan Army's past role in the six and a half decades of Pakistan's existence does spell doom and gloom for democratic institutions at the hands of the Army, since there have been four military takeovers, and Pakistan has been ruled by the army for over 33 years. With such a track record, the current dispensation in the government was wary of Pakistan Army's intentions, but it should not have denigrated the Army, forcing a clash between institutions. One would expect that those who claim to be champions of democracy would endeavor to keep the banner of democracy aloft, but it appears that the same democrats are sacrificing the notions at the alter of their own self-preservation. With the memo-gate scandal being examined by the Supreme Court, one would expect that the current political dispensation ruling in Islamabad would let justice prevail, and the judicial proceedings take their legitimate course, instead of busy hurling impediments in the way of the judicial system. Why are these people against against the judicial process? Do they fear the exposure of their own veiled complicity in the macabre plot to upstage the military? The "Mossad" plays an important role in the operation of "ISRAEL", and similarly Indian security agency RAW has a significant task in the Indian system of government. One never hears the Israeli government or Indian administration castigate Mossad or RAW, but in Pakistan!