Army denies launching anti-beard drive
ISLAMABAD: As a retired Major of the Pakistan Army has accused the incumbent khaki leadership of following in the footsteps of General (R) Pervez Musharraf, who had literally launched a campaign against beards in the armed forces, military circles say the forced retirement of Major Zaheeruddin was an isolated action which was taken on disciplinary grounds and was not at all part of any drive against those sporting beards.
While seeking justice from the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, led by Justice Ch Muhammad Younis, Major Zaheeruddin has challenged his forcible retirement, saying the action taken by his seniors was all because of his refusal to trim his beard which was strictly in accordance with the laid down Army rules and regulations. Justice Chaudhry has already admitted his petition and issued notice to the Ministry of Defence seeking reply.
According to Col (R) Inamur Rahim, the counsel for Major Zaheeruddin, his client was forcibly retired despite the fact that he was keeping beard in accordance with the Army Rules Instructions
(AR(I) 684) that require the beard to remain within the limits of four fingers below the under chin. However, he said, since the khaki top brass seem to have launched an anti-beard drive in the Army, his client was told by his Brigade Commander and the General Officer Commanding in Lahore to trim down his beard, which he refused, and was subsequently sent home despite the fact that it was an unlawful command.
However, a senior army officer in Rawalpindi, who requested anonymity, refuted that the Army leadership has ordered any drive against those sporting beards in the armed forces. To a question, the army officer dispelled the impression that Major Zaheer was punished for growing beard. “The action against him was purely taken on disciplinary basis for refusing to obey his seniors which was tantamount to disobeying the institutional regulations and it should not be exploited to defame the military leadership”, he added while reminding that Zaheer’s petition has been filed by Col (R) Inamur Rahim who has already challenged in the Islamabad High Court the extension granted to COAS General Kayani.
The Colonel was subjected to severe torture on November 14, 2012 in Rawalpindi by unidentified assailants, a few days after he had filed the petition. But Major Zaheeruddin is not the first officer of the Pakistani armed forces who has been forcibly retired from the military service for his refusal to trim his long beard. Way back in March 2005, then Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf had dismissed five officers of the Pakistan Air Force following their refusal to shave off their beards despite repeated warnings by their seniors. The move was a part of the General’s efforts to rein in the fundamentalist elements who had tried to kill him in Rawalpindi twice in a short span of one month while using suicide bombers. The PAF officers who had been forcibly retired in August 2005 were all pilots of the fighter planes including Squadron Leader Mohsin Hayat Ranjha, Squadron Leader Naveed Riaz, Flight Lieutenant Mohammad Saqib, Flight Lieutenant Mohammad Ajmal and Flight Lieutenant Fazl-e-Rabbi. They had refused to trim their beards, saying they were doing so in line with the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The National Assembly was subsequently told during the question hour on April 10, 2006 that the PAF chief has dismissed five officers for refusing to trim their ‘Taliban-style beards’. Syed Tanveer Hussain, who used to head the parliamentary committee on defence at that time, told the House that the PAF officers were dismissed because they had disobeyed institutional regulations which permit them keeping beards of a certain length. The trend of growing beards gained popularity among the country’s armed forces in the late 1970s when General Ziaul Haq, whose father was a prayer leader, had introduced a process of “Islamisation”, in an apparent bid to prolong his military rule.
Approached for comments, a PAF official clarified that there was no ban at all on any Air Force personnel of any rank keeping a beard. He added: “However, there is a limit to the length of a beard, as the oxygen masks worn by the airmen flying at high altitude can malfunction as a result of the beards being too long. The PAF officers who were forcibly retired in 2005 had been asked to trim their facial hair as a long beard makes it difficult to fix the mask tightly on the face, which could be dangerous for both the pilot and the airplane. But the officers not only refused to do it, in violation of the dress code of a PAF officer, they also incited others to grow similar beards.”
However, Colonel (R) Inamur Rahim maintains that the action taken against Major Zaheeruddin was simply illogical and unlawful because his client was not a PAF officer but an Army officer from the Artillery Corps who was keeping beard in accordance with the Army Rules Instructions (AR (I) 684). Colonel Inam said the forcible retirement of Major Zaheer was not only unconstitutional but also un-Islamic since the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees its citizens’ right to practise their religion according to their beliefs. Even otherwise, he said, according to Islamic teachings as well as the traditions of Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), the beard is deemed necessary for every Muslim male.
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