CHITRAL: “Pakistan is at a difficult juncture”. This is the phrase we have been listening to, ever since the birth of this country. However, today Pakistan is indeed at a difficult juncture, because the supposed to be pride of the country, the fighting son of the nation, the armed forces, have been directly accused in the National Assembly of interfering in the politics of the country and even of taking bribes to support election of political candidates -the ultimate blame!.

Never has such an occasion risen before, in the history of Pakistan. Traditionally and as a routine, politicians swear at each other, accuse and abuse each other and even get physical against each other in the parliament, but never has any politician named ‘army’ when throwing allegations against it. At most veiled words like ‘establishment’ or ‘powers that be’ or ‘hidden hands’ etc have been used to insinuate the army but never directly the Army or Corps Commander etc have been named explicitly by way of allegations.

The paradigm shift seen in the National Assembly is both for the good and the bad. Bad because the most venerable positions of our defense forces have been put on the table of accusations and allegations, which is indeed depressing for all. Good because for once a politician (Mahmud Khan Achakzai, to be exact) has had the courage to call spade a spade in the Parliament .

Will this be an eye opener for those in the armed forces using their clout unethically to interfere in politics, against the constitution? It is certainly a breath of fresh air for those who joined the armed forces in good days owing to it’s veneration and respect in the society despite having opportunity to do better financially in other fields.

Shall the army redeem its honor by surrendering to the constitution and returning to it’s original and legal role of defense of the borders, or shall it continue trying to impose and push through the ‘Sisi model’ in Pakistan? .. CN report, 02 Mar 2024