“Nobody can say they are not under the government”
Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, in an unprecedented tongue-lashing against the powerful military, said on Thursday that it was “unacceptable” if the Army “considers itself a state within state” and warned that “conspiracies” were being hatched to “pack up” his government.
Mr. Gilani strongly criticised the Army for failing to detect al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's presence in the country and said the government firmly stood with the institutions and fully protected them after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Addressing an official function organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Mr. Gilani said, “I want to make it clear today that there are intrigues and conspiracies going on and the conspiracy is to pack up the elected government.”
“I want to tell them that whether we are in government or Opposition or among the people, we will fight for the rights of the people of Pakistan,” he said.
“People will have to decide whether they want elected people or a dictatorship,” he added as talk of a rift between his government and the military gathers pace.
“Nobody can say they are not under the government. Every institution of this country, including the Ministry of Defence, is under the Prime Minister.
“They are under the government and will remain under the government because we are the elected, chosen representatives of the people of Pakistan.”
Speaking later in the National Assembly or lower House of Parliament, Mr. Gilani further criticised the security establishment.
Tensions over Memogate
The Prime Minister's unusual remarks came in the backdrop of tensions between the civilian government and the military over the Memogate scandal.
Responding to a point of order of Leader of the Opposition Choudhary Nisar Ali Khan regarding the reply of the Defence Ministry to the Supreme Court that the Army and the ISI were not subordinate to the Ministry, the Prime Minister said, “If the Army considers itself a state within state, then it is unacceptable,” Pakistan's state-run APP news agency reported.
“If they [Army] say that they are not under the Ministry of Defence, then we should get out of this slavery, then this Parliament has no importance, this system has no importance, then you are not sovereign,” he said.
Once again, seeing the response, specially from Mr Tipu, I would like
to reiterate that this huge problem of a Govt-Army trust deficit and a
constant worry of a fundamentalist rogue state has its solution in
all-round education, healthcare services adequacy, empowerment of the
disempowered and social justice. I heard recently that the BBC has
started a popular kids' show (think its called Sesame Street) in
Pakistan based on the Pakistani social model. However that news seems
to have fizzled out. There is a huge difference between the higher and
lower social classes in Pakistan. Being an Islamic State (and seeing
that Islam provides for a far more stringent social order than other
religions) its not difficult to see why that class-based disparity
leads to high levels of fundamentalism.
I agree with Mr Tipu, because of the reasons I've just given. A gun
may pierce the body of 1 man, it cannot pierce the dreams of thousands
if not millions of civilians.
At face value, it seems that theory of the NATO attack on the
Pakistani outposts being a deliberate one orchestrated by the
Pakistani Military to weaken the civilian govt's position is
vindicated by this latest development.
However, as we know, these events are mostly greatly exaggerated. We
need to wait for the Pakistani PMO to respond to these reports to find
out what exactly happened.
However one thing is certain. Having based "Body of Lies" in Jordan, Tony Scott might well base "Body of Lies 2" in Pakistan. The country
is approaching failed rogue state status with alarming speed and
detail.
Finally someone is saying it the way it ought to be in Pakistan. Their Army and ISI have been in fact acting independently of the civilian administration for some time now and one has to admire Yusuf Gilani for speaking his mind. The Army has, one feels, engineered the recent attack on NATO forces which got the reaction from the US air attack resulting in the death of 24 Pak forces which in turn gave the Army the chance to get the sympathy of the Pak public. Devious? Well what else have they demonstrated in their actions against India? I wish Gilani luck in trying to rein in the Army and ISI.
One of Gilani's party slogans is "People are the fountainhead of power",
that is precisely why he is powerless before the Army. The sum total of
votes for all his party's members in the parliament is less than 9
million votes in a country of 180 million people. Our army has a lot
more support than that.
Goodbye, Gilani; it has been nice knowing you.
So happy to read these firm words, wish they were genuine words from the man..and
wish it succeeds for the welfare of the people of India and Pakistan.
Gilani seems to be a little mixed up in his understanding the Armed Forces' position.It is not,as he thinks, that the Army states that it is not under the Ministry of Defence.It is the Defence Ministry that has reported to the Supreme Court that the Army and the ISI are not subordinate to the Ministry.Matters appear to have reached a stage where the PM openly criticizes the security establishment.He goes one step further and charges that conspiracies and intrigues are going on.Does this situation portend a coup against the elected Government and a return to dictatorship in Pakistan?It would be interesting to see the reaction of the US as to whether it will support the Army rule.By all reckoning,US's support to a dictator will be a given.
Great exposure by hindu;Dawn version is watered down--bland news. But why such a strong reaction by a rather cool Gilani? I think zardari & co are exremely defensive; Why he did not say all this when osama was killed.He represents a very corrupt system disconnected to common man. They call it islamic republic, but but in reality is another version of Hindu upper caste elitist system. They are abt to pack; Imran's pressure seems to be driving Gilani's aggressive outburst. Imran is catching steam and is talking of human developement education for all etc; Kashmir rheotric is absent. I see an indo-pak peace train taking shape; means Kashmir will be settled and pple perhaps will focuss on human rights/values and not outdated hindu /muslim supremacy nonsensence.
Beginning of the End. No military general of Pakistan will take this criticism lying down. Mr Gilani, instead of easing the Generals out of office, is pushing himself out of office. Lack of statemanship, political savvy and adminstrative leadership. Pakistan from its inception was more comfortable under dictators than under elected representatives. Hecne it augurs well for Genral Kayani to cite political instability and usurp the elected (sic) Government.
This clearly shows that military coup in pakistan is round the corner.
Political system across the border is in total turmoil. Only god know
when these military rulers come to their senses that its not their job
to administrate a country.
Why is the Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani complainting about the military? The elected democratic government is ultimately responsible for the poor state of affairs and for the threat of military. The coalition government is formed by the religious political parties and these political parties are itself the hinderance to a progressive secular effective government. The government is superseded by religion, the military, the ISI and terrorists and all act above law or they are the law or they are states within a state. These multiple forces pull the elected democratic government to the verge of disaster. Wake up Pakistan before the next military coup or before the terrorists over run the country! Under the present state of affairs it is preferable to have a military coup than an ineffective so called democratic government. If military government fails you blame military leaders only. If the democratic government fails the blame goes to all the people of Pakistan.
The Pakistan military will not allow democracy to flourish in that country. It is well that Mr. Gilani has openly lashed out at the military though at great personal risk as the military has, in the past, got rid of people who it did not like.
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