Pakistan

Memogate- The War Within Pakistan

The same Mansoor Ijaz later made a statement that the chief of ISI, Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, had gone to some Gulf countries to seek support for a military coup in Pakistan but this statement was ignored. If Ijaz’s first statement was as credible as to demand resignation of Hussain Haqqani how can his second statement be less credible?

With every passing day the Memogate in Pakistan is taking a turn for the worse. It has pitched the military against the civilian government. The judiciary too has become a stakeholder with its sympathies seen tilting toward the army.

When the Pakistan born US businessman Mansoor Ijaz made the disclosure that he had passed on a memo to the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen at the behest of President Asif Ali Zardari seeking US intervention to prevent a military coup, Pakistan government was quick to deny the report. But the Army Chief General Kayani took the claim seriously, and after some verification by his ISI chief, declared that the memo was authentic and pressed for the resignation of Ambassador Hussain Haqqani, who according to Ijaz was the authorised. The journalist turned envoy returned to Islamabad from Washington and submitted his resignation.

The same Mansoor Ijaz later made a statement that the chief of ISI, Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, had gone to some Gulf countries seeking support for a military coup in Pakistan but this statement was ignored. If Ijaz’s first statement was as credible as to demand resignation of Hussain Haqqani how can his second statement be less credible? Mansoor Ijaz also claims that Zardari and Haqqani were in full knowledge of American plans for Abbottabad raid. ‘Both gave the green light for the raid’, he said in an interview with Sana Bucha in Lekin on Geo News.


When the government announced its plans to have the Memogate  probed by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, army chief Gen Kayani insisted on Supreme Court to hold an independent investigation saying it involved the issue of national security. Kayani insisted on it through an affidavit filed in the court, indicating he had no faith in the country’s parliament. The Supreme Court too rejected the Prime Ministers plea that the issue would be probed by the Parliamentary committee. It appointed a three member commission headed by the Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court Qazi Faez Issa, to hold the investigation.

One Shahid Orakzai filed a petition in the apex court challenging the setting up of judicial commission.  He argued that the formation of the commission was unconstitutional and said the chief justices of Balochistan and Sindh High Courts, who have been nominated as members of the commission, could not undertake the probe without seeking permission from the president. The Supreme Court rejected the Orakzai plea unanimously and asked the probe panel to give its report in four weeks.

On its part the probe body wasted no time in calling the first meeting and issued notices to Hussain Haqqani, Shuja Pasha and the former US National Security Advisor James Jones, besides others.   That the court admitted the case and constituted a commission is being seen as favouring the Army over the civil government and a victory for the security establishment.

This impression led to Hussain Haqqani’s counsel Asma Jehangir, a leading lawyer and a Human Rights campaigner, to withdraw from the case. She alleged the judges of the Supreme Court were acting under the influence of the security establishment. And added if nine judges of the Supreme Court can be under the influence of the ‘establishment’, she cannot have any expectations from high court judges, who are under the apex court.

Questions are being raised why Hussain Haqqani took shelter in the Prime Minister’s house on his arrival from Washington and later in the Presidential House. He appears to have made these high security homes as his sanctuary as he did not want to be another missing person of Pakistan. There is also the feat that the intelligence agencies could force him to give a statement on the Memogate affair. It is also said Haqqani feared a threat to his life from fanatic elements in the way they had claimed the life of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

If Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gilani’s fiery speech in Parliament is any indication, it is clear that the civil administration and the military in Pakistan are on a war path. Gilani did not name the army but said in no unambiguous terms that conspiracies were being made to topple the civilian government. He declared that he would keep on fighting whether he remained in the government or not. “A state within a state would not be acceptable,” thundered Gilani. The post-Memogate trauma forced President Zardari to escape to Dubai for a medical check up, though just for a few days.

There is speculation in the PPP circles that the Army Chief and ISI Chief may resign on their own, but that seems to be highly unlikely. There are also reports that President is contemplating to dissolve Parliament and order an early general election. Today, former cricketer Imran Khan Niazi led party appears as the Rawalpindi favourite to take on both PPP and PML-N.  He has been able to stage impressive rallies across the country and attract heavy weights from across the political spectrum.


Imran Khan has moved closer to the religious parties and groups, who have floated the DPC as their vehicle of expression against the US and India. For him, another likely ally is APML of former President General Musharraf, who is keen on staging a home coming.

 
Fluidity is the name of the scene in Pakistan today. The direction of the wind will be known once the Memogate probe report comes out.  Till then, it will be a waiting game with occasional one-upmanship shows.

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