|
Army Must Disown Criminals in
Uniform
 It
is indeed good news the armed forces of Pakistan are distancing
from general Musharraf. That is the only right thing to do and
we should appreciate present military leadership for taking this
right step.
The professional people in uniform who put
their lives on line to defend Pakistan must be revered and
honored. But, the people in uniform who commit gross crimes
against the constitution, the state and the people of Pakistan
must not be spared. Sparing any kind of criminal only worsens
the situation and it is not in anyone’s interest to weaken the
country.
Military leadership should disown all those
retired generals who were part of general Musharraf’s criminal
activities.
We know what general Musharraf and his
co-accomplices did was not done by the entire military
leadership. Many did not like their activities, but they could
not oppose them because of disciplinary reasons. This scenario
also calls for some kind of action on the part of military
leadership so that future military leaders do not just become
silent spectators of criminal activities.
Also, after listening general Musharraf’s
arguments for last 9 years one comes to conclusion that many
military leaders do not understand the difference between
constitutional and unconstitutional, legal and illegal and right
and wrong. Military leadership must take steps to teach its
officers the difference between constitutional and
unconstitutional, legal and illegal and right and wrong. Thy
must learn their limitations in the time of peace and war. They
must learn what they can do and what they cannot do in the time
of peace and war.
So far, Pakistani military leadership has
been very lucky that no international injunctions have been
invoked to deal with their accesses. This scenario may not last
forever. Military leaders who do not remain within their limits
may become liable to international injunctions against their
accesses.
Therefore, it is important military
leadership start arranging refresher courses in which they
discuss their limitations in times of war and peace.
For last 9 years, the crimes general
Musharraf committed against the constitution, the state and
people of Pakistan were not committed by him alone. Many men
from civil and military bureaucracy aided and abetted general
Musharraf in those criminal endeavors.
Military leadership must abandon all those
criminals and help law enforcement forces to take these
criminals to the court of law and punish them for their crimes.
Such actions by military leadership will have
far reaching impact on the military services, on the governance
in Pakistan, and Pakistan Army’s image both at home and abroad.
Those foreign forces that do not waste any opportunity to malign
Pakistan Armed forces as rogue force will be compelled to change
their point of view. Visible abandonment of criminals in uniform
will be the best signal to everyone that Pakistan Armed forces
are not only the disciplined forces they also know how to work
within internal and external legal limitations.
Abandonment of general Musharraf by armed
forces is first such signal and people are already appreciating
it.
| 
