The long time civil-establishment conflicts seem to have been put to
rest with the change of guard in the army from Bajwa to Munir. The
new army chief has several challenges up his sleeve. In neighboring
Afghanistan, we have one such government that keeps extending
every kind of help to the Taliban there. That is one of the key reasons if
TTP is seen much active these days. So much so, it is now giving
threats of attacks at different places of Pakistan. Islamic State of
Khorasan, one of branches of ISIS, is also likewise giving threats (to
Pakistan). On other hand, Kashmir issue also remains unresolved till
day and our enmity with India has taken new form as hatred. Hence,
how to take the country ahead in the midst of internal and external
challenges is a bigger issue for the establishment than for our civil
government of the day because it is the establishment that gets more
affected in case of ups and downs around. Though the country might
have heaved a sigh of relief with a change of guard in the army, the
state of conflicts is never ever over completely. Imran Khan continues
to be in big news and has still not calmed down. He keeps making
rants for early polls. He continues to be under the impression that early
polls will see him back in corridors of power. Though he is not as loud
and threatening in his speeches as in the past, he has still not lost his
sting. He seems to be forgetting the basic fact that power and
decision-making in Pakistan come from establishment. He also seems
to have forgotten that the establishment has still not forgotten all
wrongs and mistakes done by him. He should remember that now in
fact it is time that he is made to pay for all wrongs and mistakes done
by him. Whatever be Imran Khan’s plans on Punjab assembly and its
dissolution, but everyone knows about Punjab CM’s loyalty and where
it lies. Not just Punjab CM but PTI members might also not stand by
Imran Khan’s plans of dissolving Punjab assembly because it would
mean saying no to power and no politician would want to do it. Some
of these PTI members have spent crores on getting elected to
assembly, how would they say yes to Imran Khan’s plans with regards
to dissolution of Punjab assembly? It is futile to presume that the
establishment’s interference in the country’s political affairs will come
to an end with claims/statements by retired army chief, Bajwa, saying
the establishment will no longer poke nose in the country’s political
issues. Country’s good lies in all political leaders coming and sitting
together for the country’s future but our politicians refuse to take
lessons from the past. They are still not serious about sitting at one
place to think about their country’s future. Hence, till parliament’s
supremacy is restored, the national scenario will continue as it is now.
Until then, we might not be able to frame any long-term policies and
strategies on the political and diplomatic front or even with regards to
the betterment of our economy. As we see emerging scenarios, we
see the economy heading for a darker phase and with regards to law-
and-order scenario, God only save us.
English translations of Urdu newspapers, Sindh Express and Assar Imam
Editor