Pakistan’s military, its most powerful institution that has directly ruled the country for much of its seven decades of history, has been under heavy attack from a coalition of opposition parties expanding their speech against Prime Minister Imran Khan. The anti-government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement, or PDM, was coined by 11 parties in September that pledged to take to the streets to mobilize people against Prime Minister Khan. But the parties, whom they accuse of being installed by the military in the 2018 elections, soon expanded their attack to target the military as well. But he had been hesitant to name the military chiefs, opting for the more ambivalent term, “establishment” to refer to the military and other institutions that have lent their support to Imran Khan.
However, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who took a strident tone early on when he referred to the military as the “state over state”, took a further step in last month’s rally in the eastern city of Gujranwala, in Pakistan, where he directly targeted the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
“General Qamar Javed Bajwa, he packed up our government, which was working well, and put the nation and the country on the altar of his wishes,” Sharif told the meeting via a video link from London, according to a report. from Reuters. It was listed as the largest rally in the country since the 2018 elections, attended by tens of thousands of people. Sharif, the three-time Prime Minister of Pakistan whose Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the main opposition party, also appointed Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence chosen by General Bajwa.
Pakistani observers in New Delhi believe that the army tried to exact revenge on Sharif through the husband of their daughter Maryam Sharif, Mohammad Safdar, when the military pressured the police to arrest him at his Karachi hotel. But the move failed after the Karachi police threatened to go on leave to protest the kidnapping of their military commander to force him to order Safdar’s arrest. Gen Bajwa had to order an investigation.
On Tuesday, the army announced that the investigation had blamed several intelligence officers and troops for acting “overzealous.” The military said officials from the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and ISI sector headquarters, Karachi, were under increasing public pressure to act in favor of the desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid, a reference to the visit by the PML-N leader to the Mohammad Ali Jinnah mausoleum where he led a crowd shouting: “Respect the vote!” The slogan is considered a criticism of the military.
Maryam Sharif and her father rejected the military report. “The investigative report on the Karachi incident is a cover-up that turns young people into scapegoats and protects the real culprits. Report ‘Rejected’, “Nawaz Sharif tweeted.
The fact that Gen Bajwa had to order an investigation into the Karachi incident and then release what the army claims were his findings, Pakistani observers in New Delhi said, indicated the pressure the army had been under.
“Open discussion and criticism of the army’s role in governance has implications for the establishment, as it jeopardizes the legitimacy of its authority,” said one of them, noting how public criticism of Nawaz Sharif and his daughter had led the debate on civilization. military relations in the streets.
Indian counter-terrorism officials tracking Pakistan’s security establishment indicate that the military’s backlash appeared to have begun. One of the immediate consequences of the army showing its muscles was the declaration by Bilawal Bhutto, chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, to distance himself and the PDM from Sharif’s sharp criticism of the army.
In an interview with the BBC, Bilawal Bhutto said he was “shocked” when he heard Nawaz Sharif name the head of the army and the head of the ISI in his October speech.
“It was a shock to me because we usually don’t talk like that at rallies. But Nawaz heads his own party and I cannot control what he says, just as he cannot control what I say, ”Bilawal said, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. “During the all-party conference, there was a debate on whether the blame should be placed on one institution or the whole establishment,” Bilawal said, adding that “it was decided that not a single institution would be named, but the establishment. “
Analysts, however, point out that the military, even if it was behind at the moment, still had a few things going for it. For one thing, it enjoys a much better reputation than all political parties put together, and targeting it could backfire.
An Indian counterterrorism official said he expected the PDM’s criticism to become more nuanced and softer, especially since it has made great strides in Pakistan’s political parties over the decades. The leader of the PML-N chapter in Baluchistan, Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Baloch, and former Prime Minister Sanaullah Zehri, have already left the party and criticized the PDM for targeting the “establishment.”
Even hard-line political-religious parties, like Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), are seriously compromised and have close ties to the establishment. “More importantly, its multitude of terrorist representatives is the ultimate weapon against anyone who crosses the line and fails to take corrective action,” the counterterrorism official said.
Nawaz Sharif has stood his ground so far, but analysts indicate he faces a serious limitation due to his peculiar circumstances. He was removed from power in 2017 by order of the Supreme Court and has remained in London after he was allowed to receive medical treatment abroad.
The mantle of bringing the battle to the army has fallen on his daughter Maryam Nawaz, who is quickly emerging as the main face of the opposition, an official said. She can relate well to her constituents, has shown courage in calling things by name, and is careful in her public speeches to project that she is shouldering the burden of the PML-N on her father’s behalf, an acknowledgment of feudal and patriarchal society from the country. .
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