Most people in the Army join for a stable financial income, but for some reason, everyone likes to pretend that it is some sacrifice for the nation. And that if it is, soon after their retirement, they should continue to work for the professional associations related to armed forces instead of joining Businesses, Education, Welfare, Health, Construction.,Production, Travel, Tourism, IT, Banking, Agriculture, Trading, Think Tank, Universities, Colleges and Schools, sports, transportation, hospitality, media; you name it, and it’s there where they would like to serve.
Army Brats herald a Status Symbol
To them, the rest of us are lesser citizens or rather less patriotic because we to them we would not take a bullet. Jab hum raat ko sukoon ki neend so rahay hotay hain yeh bahadur foji sarhado pe duty de rhay hotay hain. It’s their job. It is the same in every country in the world. Have you seen any Army anywhere in the rest of the world, having so many facilities as our Army? Just like hardly anyone goes to medical college for “dukhi insaniat ki khidmat”. Why the concept of professional hazard is so foreign to this particular institution? I’m sorry bro but that shit ain’t gonna fly anymore.. our Armed Forces are well compensated for their “sacrifices”. In a country like Pakistan, where most people live under $5 a day, they have free health care, free education, subsidized living through CSD, and guaranteed wealth generation after retirement through plots, pension, etc. I have absolutely no doubt about the sacrifices our armed forces have to endure. Still, I will not ignore the atrocities they have perpetrated on their people, whether it was Gen. Ayub Khan who assassinated Fatima Jinnah or Gen. Musharraf who purposely executed Kargil Operation when peace between Pakistan and India had been a real reality but we will never know.. peace with India means rozi roti nahe chalni thi na.. kis kis baat peh batoun?
Asghar Khan, a man renowned for his integrity argues against the official anti-India ideology of Pakistan. He explains how Pakistan is a garrison state:
(a) India does not constitute a national threat and has no interest in swallowing Pakistan;
(b) all wars between the two countries were started by Pakistan;
(c) the Maharaja of Kashmir may not have acceded to India had Pakistan negotiated with him seriously;
(d) the 1971 war was sheer lunacy in military terms on account of the long lines of communication;
(e) unlike India, Pakistan does not need nuclear weapons;
(f) the nuclear program represents a grave danger to the national security of Pakistan; and
(g) the country is paying a heavy economic price for its atomic program.
This interview was recorded in 2009 by Dawn.
Asghar Khan, is a Pakistani veteran aviation historian, peace activist, and retired military figure— a three-star rank air marshal— who served as the first native Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from 1957 until resigning in 1965 prior to the start of the air operations of the PAF during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
جو لوگ مارشل لا کی حمائیت کر رہے ہیں ان کی لیے میرا بس یہی جواب ہے کہ اگر آپ کی اپنے والد سے نہیں بنتی تو کیا آپ اپنے والد کو گھر سے نکال کر چوکیدار کو ابو ابو کہنا شروع کر دو گے
A ‘for sale’ judiciary that gives verdicts according to leadership’s will
A neutral establishment and a functioning judiciary pinch you where it hurts most. Indiscriminate application of laws – anchored in the Constitution – is absolutely essential if Pakistan has to extricate itself from the vicious cycle of misgovernance and selective application of laws. The current socio-political and economic crisis also stems from willful deviation from the law by civilian and military elites. All these years, we have only managed the country, and not really governed, and we all contributed to it.
But the rot must stop if we want to see Pakistan survive and prosper as a self-respecting nation… Subversion of the judiciary or its rulings so ran the message, will not be allowed. The country will descend into chaos if we let the Supreme Court be humiliated by those who don’t like its decisions. — said the general, who spared no one – including his own institution – when talking of the burden of responsibility for the country’s multiple crises.
