Pakistan Army is considered the most sacred institution in the country.  “After Allah is the Army” is a phrase which gives a clear insight  into the Pakistani mindset. At the same time, the Army has come under a lot of pointed criticism and condemnation lately. After Imran Khan was removed from power, his followers who are known for their colourful language, have put the blame of this squarely on the then army chief, General Qamar Bajwa.  Never before has the country seen such an open display of allegations on the Army, including colossal corruption, womanising, blackmailing and coercion tactics to influence the judiciary. There is a lot of truth in some of these allegations specially to do with financial and judicial corruption. Combine that with the gigantic economic crisis faced by the country, and the constant demands by the IMF to share details of assets of the topmost Army and judiciary leaders, and we have a fantastic situation at our hands. So much so, that there is said to be a strong possibility, that the former Army chief may turn state witness to save his neck.

As a matter of fact, the process was started late last week, when senior journalist Kamran Khan shared a statement by Bajwa.

In other words, Bajwa has become a kind of sworn witness and is sharing information about who had what role in the destruction of the country, who conspired during the Nawaz era, who was responsible for the hybrid government, and how much corruption took place during all of these instances. News reporter Asad Ali Toor reveals that an agreement has been reached among the ruling circles to maje former head of ISI a scapegoat. However, Faiz Hameed is now protesting and giving statements that what I did as a DGC, was done on the orders of General Bajwa and in accordance with the Bajwa Doctrine. According to Asad, there is weight in this statement, because the Director General of ISI reports to the Prime Minister, but the DGC is usually appointed by the Army Chief and he reports to the Army Chief. The former senior Justice gave a  statement which also proves that General Faiz is saying the truth. Apparently, he had told Faiz, that if you do not obey the orders given to you, our two years of hard work will be wasted. It is therefore obvious that Faiz Hameed was not alone in this.

There is concern as well as agreement regarding the action against Faiz Hameed in the military circles. The top leadership says that if action is taken against Faiz Hameed under Article 6 for political engineering and violation of constitutional powers, then General Bajwa and many other generals including all corps commanders will also come under the attack. All of these people were involved in abuse of power and political engineering. Even if action is taken on the charges of corruption, it will pave the way for action to be taken against the generals, as a large number of them are involved in corruption. The most important issue is to protect the ex-army chief from action because it will not be acceptable to the army. Therefore, the military and government circles are now busy thinking about what action should be taken against Faiz Hameed so that other generals do not have to face any blame.

These revelations give a solid background to expose the corruption of military generals and selfishness of politicians as well as all the flaws in the system. Those with vested interests in powerful circles are thinking of saving the real criminal from punishment by making him a witness and offering small goats as sacrificial animals in his place, while the root cause will remain untethered.  Without making  the army and the judiciary accountable, this whole exercise will be sans any purpose.

Interesting situation for a country on the brink of collapse, where instead of worrying about the economic issues, the lack of food, and the rising cost of living which threatens to convert into hyper inflation, the high command of Pakistan is focused on politics.

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