In the 70 years of Pakistan’s existence, the self-proclaimed
democratic nation, not a single prime minister has served a full term. The
first prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, who was close to finishing
his full term was assassinated. Nawaz Sharif held the Prime Ministerial post
thrice. But never completed a full term. His Prime Ministerial stints in 1990
and 1997 ended abruptly. In 1993, Army chief Waheed forced him to step down and
in 1999 General Pervez Musharraf’s palace coup and his subsequent exile to
Saudi Arabia, prevented him from serving full term. In his third stint, Sharif,
who 11 months short of completing full term was forced to resign after Supreme
Court ordered his to step down over corruption charges. In a unanimous verdict
delivered by the Supreme Court comprising members from FIA (Federal
Investigation Agency), Military Intelligence, ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence,
NAB (National Accountability Bureau), SECP (Security and Exchange Commission of
Pakistan) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from
holding his office. Invoking the precincts of Article 62 and 63 of
Constitution, Sharif was deemed unfit for holding the official position of
Prime Minister for furnishing false declarations about his assets and for not
being honest.
The verdict generated mixed responses with opposition leaders
remarking it as historic judgement and hailing the robustness of Pakistan’s
judicial system. While Sharif’s party PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz)
reacted that “There has been injustice
against us. Nawaz Sharif will step down as premier of Pakistan despite
reservations regarding the verdict”.
Corruption charges were instituted against Nawaz Sharif when
Panama Papers Leak revealed links between Sharif’s three children to offshore
companies. Though Sharif’s name didn’t figure in the papers, since the assets
of his children weren’t declared in the family wealth statement, opposition
trained guns against the Prime Minister. Soon a panel was set up to investigate
the alleged offshore accounts. Pakistan’s principal opposition leader of PTI
(Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf) party, Imran Khan intensified protests by September
2016. Khan along with Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Siraj-ul-Haq filed a case
against Sharif for money laundering and corruption. In April 2017, court
ordered the formation of JIT to investigate the case. Supreme Court in its
verdict stated that Sharif has been dishonest for not disclosing his salary
from UAE-based company in his election filing papers in 2013. Court ordered
election commission to disqualify him from being member of Majlis-e-Shura
(Parliament).
For all the loud claims of victory for justice, Sharif was
convicted by court without trial. It is beyond conventional wisdom as how head
of the government can be unseated from power just on the premise of allegations
of corruption. Further, charges against his children (Maryam, Hassan, Hussain)
and son-in-law Safdar were not conclusively proved. A mere glance at the composition of the
six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) vested with charges of probing the
revelations of Panama Papers leak against Sharif’s three children indicates it
pre-meditated by Pakistani Army. Moreover, Imran Khan being plaintiff of the
case is even more a suspect, with similar cases pending against him in the
Supreme Court. Intriguingly, how can JIT investigate the charges of corruption
against Sharif with an illustrious political career of over 30 years in just 3
months and deliver an unbiased judgement. Needless to say, Pakistan Army has
been covertly preparing ground for ousting Sharif.
In 2013 Sharif’s PML-N emerged as a big winner with thumping
majority. Subsequently opposition parties PTI and PPP (Pakistan’s Peoples
Party) accused Sharif of rigging. Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri took to streets
demanding fresh elections and resignation of Sharif. Days before Independence
Day, Khan’s Freedom March, brought Islamabad to a standstill. The stand-off between the protestors and
Sharif government ended when Sharif agreed to strike a deal with General Raheel
Sharif. Accordingly, Army will have the final say in foreign policy and that
Civilian government in charge Nawaz Sharif will look after civil
administration, economic and financial aspects. Thus, Khan in collusion with
Army reduced Sharif to a mere figurative head. Subsequently Army launched the
operation Zarb-e-Azab and began to flex its muscles ruthlessly ever since.
General Raheel Sharif become invincible eventually and GHQ Rawalpindi reigned
supreme. Army’s anti-India agenda began to gain much ground. Though Sharif
wasn’t obnoxiously anti-Indian, he was clearly moved by Narendra Modi’s visit
to Lahore on his birthday eve. Annihilating traces of budding bonhomie, Deep
State, within a week of Modi’s Pakistan visit, scuttled peace talks with
Pathankot attack. Subsequently, Army escalated tensions between both countries
by intensifying cease-fire violations and massive infiltrations. Mobilizing its
strategic assets Army fomented terror, orchestrated insurgency in Kashmir after
the killing of Burhan Wani and glorified him as martyr. With these inimical
onslaughts, Indo-Pak relations have damaged beyond repair. Even Jihadi groups
had a free run with Hafiz Saeed leading marches and rallies in Islamabad.
India in the meanwhile, intensified efforts to diplomatically
isolate Pakistan at international forums. The intensive campaign eventually
forced SAARC nations to boycott summit at Islamabad. With voices of
international isolation becoming more strident, fissures between civilian and military
leadership deepened. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif burdened by prospect of
international isolation has issued a terse message to Army asking them to
rein-in on jihadi elements. In the meanwhile, even China which lent unstinted
support to Pakistan Army by way of vetoing ban on Masood Azhar, has asked
Pakistan Army to go slow. Pakistan’s relations with US entered a tumultuous
phase. Sharif began to question the actions of Army and issued directives to
conclude Pathankot investigation. From the inception, Pakistan Army was adopted
to have a rubber stamp civilian head. A
stern message and intervention from civilian authority irked the Army. Though
pulling rug under Sharif’s feet may not be a difficult task for Pakistan Army,
it has waited for an occasion. Unsurprisingly, it roped in disgruntled
opposition and used the Panama Leaks revelations to topple Sharif’s government.
In the process, top army officials have colluded with Judiciary to bring down
the civilian government.
Ironically, Pakistan is a country whose civilian and military
officials are corrupt to the core. National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
reported that Pakistan loses around $133 million daily to systemic corruption.
Only 0.3% of Pakistan population pays taxes. Politicians, traders and Army
officials top the list of tax evaders. Hence, selective targeting of politician
for corruption charges raises more suspicions and reiterates deliberate
derailment of judicial system.
As of now speculations are rife that Nawaz Sharif’s youngest
brother, Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif might become the next Prime
Minister. Apparently, change of guard may have little to change the nefarious game
play of Pakistan Army. Moreover, seasoned Pakistani politicians are reluctant
to change Pakistan’s obsession of bleed India by thousand cuts. Also, with
China flexing its muscles and backing Pakistan Army to escalate tensions on the
western front, newly elected prime minister may have little appetite to
restrain Army’s inimical policies either towards India or Afghanistan.
@ Copyrights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment