11 May 2014, 07:27 PM IST
Pakistan army chief Gen Raheel Sharif's statement calling Kashmir his country's 'jugular vein' stirred up a hornet's nest in India earlier this month. The phrase has been used repeatedly for over six decades since Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah first coined it in the 1940s. 'K' in Pakistan stood for Kashmir for the country's founding fathers and remains the crucial source of the country's lifeline water resources. In this context, there was nothing unusual in Raheel Sharif's reference to Kashmir as his country's 'jugular vein' in his martyr's day speech.
But the phrase had virtually disappeared from Pakistan's official lexicon after ex-president Pervez Musharraf championed peace process with India in the middle of the last decade. He had dropped the traditional insistence on implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir and proposed a four-point formula to resolve the dispute in reversal of Pakistan's policy on it for five decades as a win-win solution for both the countries.
In contrast, Raheel Sharif called for the implementation of the resolutions in his speech as well. It has effectively reversed the continuity Musharraf's handpicked successor, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, had ensured during his two terms. Kayani had gone a step further and called Taliban insurgency as the biggest threat to Pakistan's national security. Raheel Sharif has reverted to calling threats from the eastern front (India) as potent as that from the Taliban. His assertions were not merely aimed at India, where the Pakistan army sees a growing challenge in form of BJP prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, who has promised to take a tough stand on Islamabad.
Clearly there is more to the return of 'jugular vein' statement than meets the eye and is as much about Pakistan army's position domestically and what it sees as likely emerging challenges in the neighbourhood in India as well as Afghanistan, where pro-New Delhi leader Abdullah Abdullah is likely to become the president. It anticipates rise of forces inimical in both the countries. These external 'threats' boost chances of its re-emergence as the preeminent institution upholding national security domestically as the Pakistan army emerges from the worst ignominy it faced since the 1971 dismemberment after the US raid to take out Osama bin Laden without its knowledge in 2011. The raid was another major blow to the institution's prestige after the lawyers movement had led to the removal of Musharraf from office three years earlier.
The Pakistani army chief's hardened stance is also seen as a result of his running feud with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had appointed him overlooking the seniority principle. Nawaz Sharif has never got along well with any army chief during his three terms. His second term ended after the 1999 coup. His confrontation with Raheel Sharif, whose brother was killed in the 1971 war with India, started after he reportedly went back on his promise to let Musharraf leave the country after his indictment in a treason case. Scathing statements of defence minister Khawaja Asif and his cabinet colleague, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, against the army's overbearing nature added fuel to the fire over Musharraf's trial. The army had earlier been upset over the government's talks with the Taliban and release of their prisoners without consulting the powerful institution shortly after the killing of high ranking officers. Surgical strikes on the Taliban targets before they announced unilateral ceasefire earlier this year were seen as a reaction to Nawaz Sharif's conciliatory policy towards the insurgents, who have created havoc with their indiscriminate bombings on military and civilian targets.
The Pakistani army has had reservations about Nawaz Sharif's India policy and the issue of granting New Delhi the 'Most Favoured Nation' status. The PM was seen to be going out of his way to placate India much to the displeasure of the army and right-wing opposition parties. He had called his victory in last year's parliamentary election as an endorsement to his promises to make peace with India. PM Sharif had fought the election on the promise of improving ties with India, maintaining civilian supremacy and ending the army's overbearing influence. He had earlier called for unilateral withdrawal from Siachen and visa free travel between the two countries besides saying he would visit India even if he was not invited. These statements have angered Pakistan's security establishment, which has now hit back by calling Kashmir 'jugular vein' to sabotage PM Sharif's 'soft' approach to India.
The attack on Geo TV journalist Hamid Mir, which was blamed on the ISI further added to the troubled civil-military relationship. The TV channel, which is being accused of having helped PM Sharif's rig last year's election, had flashed ISI chief Gen Zaheer-ul-Islam's picture for eight hours as Mir's family accused him of being behind the murderous attack on him in Karachi. The military establishment has sought cancellation of Geo's licence, something that the Nawaz Sharif government has opposed. PM Sharif met Mir at a Karachi hospital and had made statements in favour of the channel in defiance of the army which could further sour the civil-military relations in the coming days.
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