Army looms large in Pakistan polls

In an unusual and courageous interview in BBC’s “Hard Talk” programme, Hameed Haroon, CEO of Pakistan’s highly respected Dawn newspaper, recently lashed out at Pakistan’s military. Haroon accused the Pakistan army (ISI) of intimidating the press across Pakistan, while seeking to undermine the freedom of the media in his country. Haroon, who hails from a highly respected family, spoke of how the Army was seeking to undermine the freedom of the media, through threats, intimidation and even going to the extent of threatening distributors across the country, to stop distribution of newspapers, like the Dawn .

He suggested that the larger aim of the military was to discredit and divide the PML (N), led by Nawaz Sharif. He indicated that the military favoured the Imran Khan-led Tehriq-e-Insaf, to lead a weak coalition, which would play second fiddle and bow to the wishes of the army. Haroon made it clear, as head of the All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS), the apex body of Pakistan’s media organisations, that he was voicing the deep concerns in Pakistan, about the military undermining democratic freedoms in the country.

Interestingly, Haroon observed that the elections supervised by the Election Commission, would enable people to vote for candidates of their choice. But, the prevailing intimidation and fear in Pakistan, had destabilised the political process, by splitting political parties, while discrediting and/or arresting those the military sought to eliminate, through a flawed process of “accountability”. He also drew attention to the ham-handed efforts by the army to intimidate media organisations, to not cover or report, the activities of the “Pashtun Tahafuz Movement”, (PTM).

The PTM has been demonstrating across the country, drawing attention to the atrocities and human rights violations of the army, in its much-touted Zarb-e-Azb operations. Artillery and air power were ruthlessly used by the military, severely damaging Pashtun dominated towns and villages, in tribal areas, bordering Afghanistan, in these operations. Activists of the PTM have been hounded and arrested by the paramilitary Rangers.

Army’s ‘twin’ role

Nothing has changed in the army’s involvement in internal affairs over the past three decades, where it has claimed to be the “guardian” of both the “territorial” and “ideological” frontiers of Pakistan. Ever since he became Prime Minister for the third time in 2013, Sharif was at the receiving end of internal and external conspiracies by the ISI. This was, amongst other reasons, because of his propensity to act independently, on relations with India. The army even sought to veto his visit to India, for the swearing in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi’s visit to Lahore for a family wedding, at the invitation of Nawaz Sharif, was followed by a terrorist attack on the Pathankot air base. It is no secret that in the recent past, there has been a meeting of minds between the judiciary and the army, in getting rid of Nawaz Sharif, by having him arrested and tried for his ownership of properties in London, for two decades now. Interestingly, no similar actions have been taken against Generals Musharraf and Kayani, who possess properties in London, Dubai and Sydney.

Army actions to undermine democratic processes in Pakistan have also been exposed by two of Pakistan’s most highly respected journalists, Ahmed Rashid and Najam Sethi. Rashid avers: “The crackdown by Pakistan’s army and judiciary has extended to civil society activists, but the primary target has been media outlets”.

He draws attention to the “disappearances” of those critical of the military’s actions. He states: “Censorship and self-censorship on issues that cast the military in a negative light, have become pervasive. Many TV stations, for example, are refusing to cover a new protest movement by young Pashtuns that accuses the military and others of human rights abuses against members of their ethnic group, who live mainly on the border with Afghanistan”. At the same time, candidates of moderate/secular parties like the Awami National Party in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and in Baluchistan have been mercilessly targeted and even killed.

Sharif’s PML (N) virtually swept the polls in the Punjab Province, becoming the largest single Party in the Parliament, winning 116 seats out of 342 in the National Assembly, in 2013. Its main rival, the PPP won 42 seats, with the army-backed Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehriq-e-Insaf (PTI) winning merely 35 seats. While the PML (N) swept the populous and influential Punjab Province, Imran Khan’s PTI formed the Provincial Government in the neighbouring Pashtun dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The PPP, based largely in rural Sindh, formed the Government in Sindh, with a weak PML (N) led coalition assuming office in Baluchistan.

Engineering defections

After Nawaz Sharif’s arrest and disqualification from participating in elections, the army moved swiftly to further weaken the PML (N) in Punjab by engineering defections and dissent, by influential leaders, like Sharif’s Interior (Home) Minister Chaudhry Nissar Ali Khan. The army also got PTI leaders like former Foreign Minister Shah Mohammed Qureishi, to engineer defections in the Seraiki speaking Southern Punjab.

Moreover, Imran Khan has also been helped to form alliances with banned radical Islamic groups, like the Al Qaeda affiliated Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, headed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil. Sharif’s vote base in Punjab will also be eroded by the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s political front, the Milli Muslim League, which will contest in around 200 seats. These developments will further weaken the base of Sharif’s PML (N), even as Imran Khan’s PTI is being helped to emerge as the largest single party, which will be in a position to form a coalition Government, with support from Islamist Parties. The People’s Party has been weakened in its base in rural Sindh, while facing challenges from the army-backed Pir of Pagaro and the Karachi-based MQM is deeply split.

Moreover, gatherings of moderate/secular parties like the Awami National Party have been attacked, most notably when its leader Haroon Bilour perished in a bomb blast. Imran Khan is known for his anti-Indian and pro-Taliban views on foreign policy. His main foreign policy advisers, Shah Mehmood Qureishi and Shireen Mazari, are strongly anti-Indian.

Pakistan’s army will emerge further strengthened in shaping national politics, to prop up a weak Government, which will not go against its wishes, as Nawaz Sharif was inclined to do, periodically. New Delhi will have to think afresh on how to deal with the emerging situation across its western borders.

The writer is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan