A general stands vindicated today

It was two years ago this month that General Jehangir Karamat resigned as Pakistan's Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), three months prior to his retirement date. This marked the first instance in the country's history of an army chief - considered by many as the most powerful man in the country - resigning from office.
The retired general is visiting Dubai, and on Wednesday delivered a talk on 'Peace in South Asia' organised by the Pakistan Professionals Forum. His wide-ranging discourse touched on a number of issues, including civil-military relations in Pakistan, which have taken centre stage since the military takeover.
The period 1988-1999 is the longest that the military stayed out of active governance, but events of last year clearly show that this did nothing to diminish the military's role, and its ability to retake the reins of government. The 1988-1999 period saw seven change of governments (interim set-ups inclusive) and throughout these tumultuous years, the military remained a powerful behind-the-scenes player. In many respects, it acted as the final authority in state matters, especially foreign policy and national security.
Civilian presidents and prime ministers recognised this reality, and many resented it. They also feared the military, knowing well the history of coups which mark Pakistan's political history. Hence they all followed the most important unwritten rule of politics in Pakistan: don't mess with the military. Those who didn't follow, paid the price.
General Karamat's resignation was thus nothing less than a bombshell. And the manner in which it was announced by the government illustrated its nervousness at that time. The managing director of Pakistan's state owned television personally took the written announcement of the resignation from the prime minister's house to the TV station and handed it over to the studio which was in the middle of telecasting the main 9 pm news bulletin. It was announced near the end of the bulletin by an expressionless newscaster in the briefest of terms; that General Karamat had resigned, the prime minister had accepted his resignation with immediate effect and appointed Lieutenant General Pervez Musharraf as the new army chief after promoting him to the rank of General.
What led to General Karamat's resignation was his strongly worded statement two days before in which he had proposed the formation of a national security council which would have given the military a greater institutional role in political decision-making. In the statement, which was originally a speech delivered to a military audience and then issued as a press release by the army public relations department, General Karamat warned that Pakistan could not afford "the destabilising effects of polarisation, vendettas and insecurity-driven expedient policies". He then proposed a national security council which would be supported by a structurally-tiered system at joint staff, ministry and services level.
The statement, and especially the proposal for the national security council created a storm in the country and for two full days the country debated nothing else but this. For and against arguments filled newspaper pages and rumours of a coup began to circulate. The idea of a national security council exited with its proponent, and the new army chief did not pick it up.
A year later, the concept was back. One of the first steps that General Musharraf took after overthrowing the government of Nawaz Sharif was to form a National Security Council as the highest decision-making body in the country. Today, the concept does not sound evoke sentiments as intensely as it did two years ago. Some of this is due to General Karamat himself. Unlike many of his predecessors, General Karamat enjoyed the reputation of being a thoroughbred professional soldier. He was also known not to harbour political ambitions, unlike many generals before him. General Karamat had very clearly made a great effort to keep the army out of politics, and as much as possible, out of any public role. He had no political leanings, no favourites and no apparent desire to assert military power in the political arena. Above all, General Karamat was, and is, known as a decent man.
In retrospect it is obvious that his proposal for a national security council was not based on any malicious intent, and neither was it a ploy to grab power from civilians. Today General Karamat's proposal enjoys wider support. In perfect conditions, the military should not have any institutional role in political governance. But Pakistan's political track record has shown that military is a political force. One may not like it, but that is what the reality is. And this reality is not going to change any time in the near future, even if a civilian governmental structure is put in place in the coming years. Every prime minister, elected or appointed, will know that he or she can be booted out by the military and no constitutional security can save him or her. The only way to reduce this uncertainty is to institutionalise the military's role so that a unified decision-making structure can be put in place. This is a bitter pill to swallow but swallow it Pakistan must if it wants stability, continuity and institutional harmony. The ends may justify the means.
And if they do, General Karamat will stand vindicated.