The leading story of the leading English Daily Dawn today is:
“50 commercial entities being run by armed forces.”
This information was provided to the Senate in reply to a question asked by Senator Farhatullah Babar of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
The information as it is projected is totally misleading. I don’t think the armed forces run any commercial project in the country. The retired personnel of any wing of the Armed Forces cannot be treated a part of the armed forces. If they form foundations and trusts that run commercial enterprises which create jobs and contribute to the economy of the country, the politicians of this country need not get over-concerned. After all the armed forces are manned by the confirmed citizens of Pakistan, and their personnel have an entitlement to doing the same kind of businesses after retirement which the politicians of this country happen to be engaged in even while in power.
This question asked by Senator Farhatullah Babar is reflective of the mindset of a vast majority of the so-called civil society of this country as well as the governing classes that include politicians and bureaucracy.
And this mind-set has been promoted by those forces that regard the military as an obstacle to their designs.
I want to register it forcefully here that as a genuine follower of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), and as a passionate believer in the traditions his life and practices set, I happen to harbour this faith that a Muslim cannot be a true Muslim unless there is a soldier in his blood, his beliefs, his soul, his mindset and his heart.
After the Holy Prophet (PBUH) left Makkah to launch a journey (Hijra) that changed the world, he was to live the life of a soldier, a general and a state-builder till he left this mortal world.
My mind therefore fails to accept or condone a mindset in which the Military is an alien entity.
Infact if the truth has to be found the top leaderships of the two political parties that have manned Pakistan’s so-called Democracy too are products of the Military.
General Ayub Khan ‘manufactured’ ZAB in 1958. And General Zia ul Haque ‘invented’ Mian Nawaz Sharif in 1981.
This is real history.
