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Ever since one can remember, National Security (NS) was never a military-only conception. Our instructor at the National Defence College in the 1980s told us that the National Security Policy (NSP) was built upon three pillars; domestic, foreign and military; and that the latter two were more or less a projection of a country’s internal strength. Those were also the days when this institution used to present an NSP paper at the end of every academic year. Always present was the Country’s top leadership – civil and military. Zia as the President and the Army Chief regularly attended.
Except when the presenters pleaded that he restore undiluted democracy in the Country, he would write a letter of commendation to the College. Once when the group went overboard with the mantra that a democratic system must be allowed to mature without military interference (yes, it was permissible within the four walls of the College), he cautioned that many a madcap was reformed after a brief sojourn in Siberia.
All like us who were tasked to advise how the people of Pakistan could develop a stake in the country may have reached an office where staff cars, drivers, and on occasions even the military police kept them at a safe distance from the hoi polloi, deep down we were aware that ours was an oligarchy, and the masses were getting a raw deal. Of course, we would talk about the importance of education but also knew that all the known ills in the country – corruption, inefficiency, nepotism, et al – were the exclusive domain of the product of elite colleges and universities.
We were also told by a galaxy of guest speakers that the state of Pakistan may be living on borrowed money, the country was kept afloat by the black, underground, or whatever else the non-state economy was called. Besides much else, it generated employment and fed the teeming millions by keeping itself out of the state’s stranglehold. God forbid if it was brought in the tax net and thus became part of the (inefficient) official sector, it would be milked dry by the revenue collectors – with the state getting none the richer, but the poor starving to death. We still had to recommend that the unregistered enterprises should be mainstreamed and documented.
What raised eyebrows and even some shock waves, were the measures suggested to cut down perks, privileges, and protocol. Depending upon who was presenting the budget proposals, a military man would defend the defense expenditure with his heart & soul, with an eye on the next rank; but a smart civilian would add a caveat: “take all the money you want, but spend it to sharpen your teeth, and not to fatten your tail”.
Helping the Kashmiris win the right to decide their fate was placed at a pedestal higher than the policy – in the National Aims and Objectives. Some other sublime desires were also there: creating a just order; infusing a spirit of inquiry; and working for an enlightened society. The measures to realise them were left to the operational organs of the state; known for their masterly penchant to befuddle.
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Ever since one can remember, National Security (NS) was never a military-only conception. Our instructor at the National Defence College in the 1980s told us that the National Security Policy (NSP) was built upon three pillars; domestic, foreign and military; and that the latter two were more or less a projection of a country’s internal strength. Those were also the days when this institution used to present an NSP paper at the end of every academic year. Always present was the Country’s top leadership – civil and military. Zia as the President and the Army Chief regularly attended.
Except when the presenters pleaded that he restore undiluted democracy in the Country, he would write a letter of commendation to the College. Once when the group went overboard with the mantra that a democratic system must be allowed to mature without military interference (yes, it was permissible within the four walls of the College), he cautioned that many a madcap was reformed after a brief sojourn in Siberia.
Indeed, no one had any illusions about the fate that awaited such an exercise
Some recipients, primarily ministries and service headquarters, buried the document in their archives; others with a healthy disrespect for any written work, burned it with other trash. Of course, one understood why our recommendations had no chance to see the light of the day. These were too uncomfortable for the establishment.All like us who were tasked to advise how the people of Pakistan could develop a stake in the country may have reached an office where staff cars, drivers, and on occasions even the military police kept them at a safe distance from the hoi polloi, deep down we were aware that ours was an oligarchy, and the masses were getting a raw deal. Of course, we would talk about the importance of education but also knew that all the known ills in the country – corruption, inefficiency, nepotism, et al – were the exclusive domain of the product of elite colleges and universities.
We were also told by a galaxy of guest speakers that the state of Pakistan may be living on borrowed money, the country was kept afloat by the black, underground, or whatever else the non-state economy was called. Besides much else, it generated employment and fed the teeming millions by keeping itself out of the state’s stranglehold. God forbid if it was brought in the tax net and thus became part of the (inefficient) official sector, it would be milked dry by the revenue collectors – with the state getting none the richer, but the poor starving to death. We still had to recommend that the unregistered enterprises should be mainstreamed and documented.
What raised eyebrows and even some shock waves, were the measures suggested to cut down perks, privileges, and protocol. Depending upon who was presenting the budget proposals, a military man would defend the defense expenditure with his heart & soul, with an eye on the next rank; but a smart civilian would add a caveat: “take all the money you want, but spend it to sharpen your teeth, and not to fatten your tail”.
Helping the Kashmiris win the right to decide their fate was placed at a pedestal higher than the policy – in the National Aims and Objectives. Some other sublime desires were also there: creating a just order; infusing a spirit of inquiry; and working for an enlightened society. The measures to realise them were left to the operational organs of the state; known for their masterly penchant to befuddle.
Read full story...
