The choice given to Pakistan’s people to choose a civilian government is nothing but an illusion of choices. No matter whoever leads the next civilian government in Pakistan, the strings of power will remain in the hands of the military establishment, writes Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza, an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who currently lives in exile in the UK.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has been demanding enquiry against the former Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, calling his conduct to be a serious violation of his oath and a violation of fundamental human rights.
Imran Khan wrote to Pakistan President Arif Alvi to bring his attention to a vlog by Javed Chaudhary, a journalist, in which the former army chief Bajwa is said to have confessed that he considers Khan to be dangerous for the country if he continues to stay in power.
In the letter, it has been revealed that Bajwa told journalists that he had audio tapes of Khan while he was serving as the country’s prime minister.
According to Amjad Ayub Mirza, the news of the former Pakistan military chief’s interference and meddling with politics of the country is not new and, therefore, should not surprise the country’s common citizens.
From its inception, Pakistan has been under the thumb of the men in uniform. On October 22, 1947, just 68 days after its creation, the Pakistan army attacked the free and independent princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mirza writes.
The Bengali population’s massacre in Pakistan led to an open rebellion against the state, eventually resulting in the creation of Bangladesh.
The Benazir government in Pakistan was twice toppled by the country’s military secret services. The Pakistan military has thus been pulling the strings of politics in the country.
It seemed to work in the beginning and the plan began to bear promising results as hundreds of thousand joined Imran Khan’s Pakistan Justice Party. However, Khan was accused to be even more corrupt than his predecessors, according to Mirza.
Mirza writes once the military junta was convinced that Imran could not deliver and the economy began to slide into an uncontrollable downward spiral, the Generals got him removed and replaced his government with a 13-party coalition government that is proving to be equally dysfunctional.
Now, as the country faces rising inflation, the military establishment is considering a fresh general election. (ANI)
