Policy not to change with change of guard

Politicians, analysts and panelists were of the view that with the change of guard in the army i.e. retirement of General Raheel Sharif and appointment of General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the overall policy will change and the relations between the military and the elected government would improve. Of course, the relations between military and the government were uneasy at times, but they were on the same page so far as fight against terrorism and different mafias was concerned. Military is the most organized institution; and decisions are made in the corps commanders meeting regularly. Therefore, General Qamar Bajwa will definitely carry General Sharif’s legacy forward and the decisions Raheel Sharif had taken to fight terrorism in the country. He is indeed a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism.
On Friday, he did not mince words when he said that peace between India and Pakistan would remain elusive till Kashmir issue is resolved. For the first time in his address to soldiers, he asked them to respond with full force to any ceasefire violations by India along the LoC. “Each violation of any kind must be responded to with full force in the most effective manner,” he said during a visit to the 10 Corps Rawalpindi and troops at forward locations along the Line of Control (LoC). To any rational and unbiased observer, appointment of Lt. General (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua as National Security Advisor (NSA) in October 2015 was emblematic of an understanding between political and military leadership in Pakistan. But some writers and analysts said that political space was shrinking around Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, adding that even the semblance of PM Sharif’s control over and say in security and foreign policy had all but vanished.
What kind of freedom of expression is it, which has possessed the chattering classes that they are giving such a blatant display of it so recklessly? Surely, freedom of expression is an open polity’s inviolable part; but in no event can this freedom be a license to undermine security of Pakistan. According to Article 19 of the Constitution freedom of expression is not absolute. There are certain sacrosanct limits that have to be exercised in the civil polities; and universally accepted norms and standards have to be adhered to in all conditions. The fact of the matter is that since 2008, military leadership has stayed away from politics. It did not support even former army chief and then president Pervez Musharraf, who has had unceremonious exit. Military had withdrawn its personnel on deputation in the civilian departments and had officially instructed them not to take sides.
Of course, there are issues like names of PM Nawaz Sharif’s family in Panama Leaks. But the case is with the apex court; therefore there is no need for any comments on the issue. The issue of fabricated news published in daily Dawn is different, and military would like to know the main culprit. Prime Minister should keep vigil over members of his party, who might rock the boat by creating October 1999-like situation wittingly or unwittingly. During Nawaz Sharif’s second stint as prime minister, some hawks including the then information minister, used to say, “Mian Sahib fix up some military generals to put in their place?” The time to criticize and condemn a military adventurist is when he imposes Martial Law or wraps up the democratic set up. But when the civil and military leaderships have good working relationship, there is no need to throw the spanner in the works.