Waseem Shehzad
Donald Trump is not the only megalomaniac in the world. There are plenty of others including Pakistan army chief, Asim Munir. He claims that Pakistan “army is an army of Allah and our soldiers fight in His name.” Since he heads the army, it makes him God’s “chosen general”. Sorry, field marshal.
Many consider him to be an illegal army chief. He should have retired on November 27, 2022 but was elevated to the top army post two days later. He not only claims to be “perfect” but also above the law, forever. When you are God’s chosen general, perfection and being above the law come with the turf.
How did this mass murderer amass so much power? It was all done quite “legally”, through the civilian puppets Munir installed in power. The parliament was stacked with people who had lost the February 8, 2024 election for just such a day. Their task was/is to rubber stamp whatever Munir demands.
This is what they did on November 12 when the 27th amendment to the constitution was passed. It was signed into law by ‘president’ Asif Zardari the following day, another army-appointed puppet.
The mandate of the real winners of February 8, 2024 elections was stolen. Army goons snatched ballot boxes, quite brazenly from polling stations when it became clear that Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) had won.
Why was it necessary to steal the election? Imran Khan refuses to surrender to army demands that are dictated by the US. His removal from office became a necessity for the army that acts as American stooges.
Imran Khan is the most popular politician in Pakistan’s history. He languishes in a stinking jail cell reserved for convicted murderers. More than 200 charges have been levelled against him, all of them bogus.
Even his wife, Bushra Bibi, has been arrested and thrown in prison. Scandalous allegations have been made against her, casting aspersions on her character.
Thousands of PTI party members also languish in prison and are subjected to torture. All these are done to break Imran Khan and force him to accept army supremacy.
In his three years as army chief, Munir has indulged in horrific crimes against the people. His special targets are Imran Khan and his family.
The latest outrage was perpetrated on November 18 when the Punjab police attacked and dragged Imran Khan’s elderly sister, Noreen Khan by grabbing her hair. The three sisters were camped outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi to protest the authorities’ refusal to allow them the court-ordered weekly meeting with their brother.
Munir continues to amass ever greater powers in his grubby hands. He elevated himself to the rank of ‘field marshal’ and conferred upon himself several military medals. True, it was done through the civilian puppets to provide a figleaf of legality but people know the truth.
Many people have questioned the basis for conferring such honours upon Munir. Did he liberate Kashmir from the clutches of India or hoist Pakistan’s flag on the Red Fort in Delhi?
The army has always exercised enormous influence on Pakistani politics but under Munir, this has become unprecedented. He has mangled the constitution to make himself the permanent army chief with life-time immunity from prosecution!
This was done through the 27th amendment. Article 243 of the constitution was changed to create a new post: the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF). All three forces’ chiefs—army, air force and navy—will now come under its command. Only the army chief will occupy the CDF post. And this is a life-long appointment.
Not bad for a man who did not qualify to join the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) at Kakul. He entered the army through another route: the Officers’ Training School (OTS). This was created by General Zia who lowered the requirements for officers’ entry into the army.
What are the implications of Munir’s blatant life-long power grab? He now has legal cover for every conceivable crime that he wants to commit. For instance, he can order the army to massacre civilians. He has not hesitated to do so in the past.
On November 26, 2024, for instance, he ordered the slaughter of hundreds, perhaps a thousand, peaceful PTI supporters in Islamabad. On his orders, the army has killed scores of civilians in the Tirah Valley, Bajaur and Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as well as in Balochistan. The killing of civilians in Balochistan has gone on for decades.
One must ask, what verse of the Qur’an or a hadith of the Prophet provides exemption from punishment for wrongdoing? His misdemeanors are particularly egregious: ordering his goons to break into people’s homes, drag women in the streets and subject them to the worst kind of harassment. This is what the Israeli army does to Palestinians.
With his vast new unchecked powers, Munir can order the execution of Imran Khan (God for bid) and there will be no repercussions for him. The constitution provides him absolute immunity.
Was this the purpose of Pakistan’s creation? For the record, the army played no role in the independence struggle. Muslim officers in the British Indian army remained completely aloof when a million Muslims were slaughtered by Hindu and Sikh gangs during partition.
Yet, after Pakistan’s creation they came to dominate every aspect of life. The armed forces demand ever larger sums of money from the rapidly shrinking national budget but their performance, especially the army’s, leaves much to be desired.
The army has lost every war against arch-enemy India. Its mission is to kill its own people. Now that the army chief has carte blanche and immunity from prosecution, one shudders to think what other horrors he will inflict upon the hapless people of Pakistan.
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