Another Commendable Move by General Raheel

Sarah Khan

Amidst the hue and cry over Panama leaks which categorically named Sharif family in colossal corruption cases including evasion of taxes, General Raheel Sharif has dismissed 12 Army officers including a Lieutenant General and some commissioned and junior commissioned officers. The move is being hailed as first step towards accountability and bringing to justice the corrupts and looters. The development comes two days after the COAS said "across the board accountability is necessary for the solidarity, integrity and prosperity of Pakistan", adding that the war against terror cannot be won unless "the menace of corruption is uprooted".

Pakistan has always scored higher ranks in international indexes on corruption due to deep rooted corruption in our society. One may wonder why politicians of other political parties have not raised their voices against corruption charges of Sharif family. It is because almost all politicians of Pakistan are somehow or the other part of same corruption in which family of our Prime Minister has been named. General Raheel Sharif has only been able to take action against his fellow officers because his character remains impeccable and immaculate. Only a person with immaculate record can punish a guilty man.

General Raheel Sharif is 15th Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Pakistan Army appointed as a COAS on 29 November 2013. Since appointment as Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif has taken many bold and unprecedented steps which are becoming promising factors of Pakistan’s prosperity and development in the coming times. But his recent and unprecedented move of dismissing 12 army officers including a three star general will not only writ his name in history but he will be remembered as a national hero of the country.

On the account of counter terror efforts, the launch of Operation Zarb e Azb in June 2014 has achieved tremendous success in elimination of terrorists and their hideouts in North Waziristan. The year 2015 saw a tremendous decline in terrorist incidents in Pakistan which were exceptionally high and were growing since 2007. After tragic incident of APS massacre in December 2014 Army Chief played a vital role to arrest the terrorists responsible for  APS attack. Soon after the attack, he visited Afghanistan immediately and met with Afghan President and US military officials to ask for cooperation in arresting the responsible persons of this brutality. After lifting of ban on death penalty, he ensured hanging of all terrorists and their facilitators who had played a role in APS massacre. After terror incident at Lahore park, he launched military action against militant hideouts inside Punjab and categorically made it clear that action will be taken against all terrorists without any discrimination.

On foreign policy front, which remains a big failure due to ineligible bureaucrats, General Raheel Sharif has taken several initiatives to enhance ties with Russia and UK. The great project of The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has unconditional support of Pakistan Army. On instructions of General Raheel in Baluchistan, FWO (Frontier Works Organization) has completed 502KM road in one and half year and its Engineers are helping provincial government for fast development. On Afghanistan front, General Raheel is playing a key role in reconciliation and peace talks among Taliban and Afghanistan government though this faces immense opposition from Indian lobby in Afghanistan.

His other remarkable steps include actions against militant wings of key political parties in Karachi, maintaining a balanced approach towards Iran-KSA in their rivalry over Yemen and Syrian crisis, announcing timely retirement on the pretext of building strong institutions and maintaining national interest a top priority. In addition to this, he played a very positive role during PTI-PML(N) clash over election rigging. Despite calls for military takeover from various quarters, General Raheel played the role of mediator among the two political parties, thus setting an example for upcoming military generals by avoiding military takeover. By doing so he not only regained lost confident of nation in military but also strengthened the democratic norms in the country.

In 2013, when General Raheel was appointed as COAS, Pakistan was going through extreme crises both internally and externally. Most of international reports had termed Pakistan as ‘most dangerous country’ in the World. But after assuming the command of prestigious Armed Forces of Pakistan, General Raheel took so many commendable steps which have ensured a bright and prosperous future of Pakistan. Since 2013, the overall image of Pakistan Armed Forces has been improved nationally and internationally and our Armed Forces have regained the lost image and fame after successfully clearing FATA from militants. Foregoing in view, the politicians and civil bureaucracy of Pakistan must also think in the same direction. After all it’s the civilian politicians of the Pakistan who owes a responsibility to ensure a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan with a modern and effectively capable Army to counter external threats to Pakistan from eastern or western fronts.