The extension fever is causing turmoil in the higher echelons of Pakistan
state.
The army chief, General Asim Munir, nearing half of its original tenure, is
already making known his desire for at least one more extension.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court, Justice Faez Isa, has made
it known that he too would not be averse to another extension.
The Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal, Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, has
already got a year’s extension and is aiming to stretch it to a full-term
tenure.
The ISI chief, Lt. General Nadeem Anjum, likewise, has already managed
to get a year’s extension despite colossal failures on several fronts. He is
now likely to get his extension extended and posted as the Ambassador
to the United States.
The Generals seeking extension is not new to Pakistan. Asim Munir’s
predecessor, Qamar Javed Bajwa, had extracted a full three-year
extension from his then protege, Prime Minister Imran Khan, before falling
out and dragging the country and its people down the drain. Before Bajwa,
it was Raheel Sharif who tried but failed to get the extension. Before Sharif,
Ashfaq Kayani managed one in the name of counter-terrorism and his
predecessor, Pervez Musharraf not only gave himself extensions but also
became the President.
All of them, including Asim Munir, argued that Pakistan could not exist
without their being in the seat of power in Rawalpindi. The reality has been
the opposite–the Generals on extensions have only brought about more
destruction to Pakistan and its people. Musharraf twisted and turned the
democratic process into a joke. His successor, Ashfaq Kayani, played hell
with Pashtuns and Baloch citizens in the name of counter-terrorism. He
also orchestrated the Mumbai 2008 attack bringing the two neighbours into
a nuclear conflict. Sharif pressed on the army’s conspiracy to cut down the
mainstream parties like PMLN and PPP. Bajwa introduced Project Imran
Khan, the worst-ever political engineering in the history of Pakistan, leaving
the country on the brink of economic collapse and political disaster. The
fallout of Bajwa doctrine was a disaster and Munir continued with his
hatred for Imran Khan. Munir’s policy has been to create a hybrid regime
2.0, another disaster in the making. Now he wants an extension so that he
can manipulate the civilian leadership for his aggrandisement.
Munir, in the meantime, has managed extensions of his two acolytes–the
Air Force chief and the ISI chief. The air force chief, Babur, was a Bajwa
man and had come to head the PAF with his help. He was quick to reach
out to Munir during the latter’s critical phase of consolidating his position
within the army. As a result, Munir pushed Shehbaz Sharif to give Babur at
least a year’s extension despite a serious rift in his force. Many of his
senior officers have been upset at his leadership and cases of corruption.
Some of them even wrote an anonymous white paper on his corruption
and nepotism. They now face house arrest and court martial proceedings
for their whistleblow act. The white paper exposed the leadership crisis in
the air force, an undeniable factor which the Prime Minister chose to ignore
on the advice of the army chief.
The ISI chief also got a year’s extension due to Munir’s intervention. Lt.
General Nadeem Anjum was a Bajwa man and had succeeded Munir as
the ISI chief. Anjum was quick to become Munir’s confidante. The result
was despite a series of grave failures as the intelligence chief, Anjum
managed to get a year’s extension. He is in line for another bout of
extension and appointment as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US.
In this musical chair, the most surprising is Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa
who came to the apex court with a reputation that he would be able to
confront the powerful military and its intelligence agencies and bring relief
to hundreds of Baloch who have gone missing and put an end to the
meddling into judicial matters by the army’s intelligence agency, ISI. He
made some right noises but was quick to fall in line, allowing the army to
continue with its brazen policies of suppression towards the hapless
citizens. The judge’s failure to stop the army from prosecuting the May 9
rioters under the draconian army laws was the first indication of his
capitulation. Then he continued his dilly-dally tactics in diluting the
Faizabad sit-in case, missing persons cases and now the case of six high
court judges of Islamabad writing to him about the intimidation and
interference by ISI and other state agencies. Isa now wants an extension
and is known to keep Munir in good books to put pressure on Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He is set to retire on October 25, 2024.
With top honchos in Pakistan rallying to get an extension, the people once
again will have to bear the consequences of the country being let down by
the chosen ones.