"Trying to link the current COAS to the military" ?? I am really sorry to say that What kind of philosophical, mythical mental m@$turb@tion is it! Isn't the COAS stands for the Chief Of Army Staff? Doesn't he control all the subsets of Pakistan Army? Isn't he the face and the highest level representative of the PAK Army? Doesn't he wear PAK Army uniform? Doesn't the whole Army acts upon his orders? Does the Army Chief live in WAPDA colony separate from all other Army? IS COAS office in blue area far away from any military installations? Or does he wear the cap of Rescue 1122 firefighters?
Any PM, CM etc is the head of his Govt. Nobody says don't try to link our PM/CM with our Govt. Only blame him for all the wrong reasons but don't blame the Govt or don't blame the whole party which has membership of millions all across the country and hundreds of assembly seats all across the country. The organization and organizational head are one integral part of an organization. How can you differentiate between one and the other?
Just ask DG ISPR this question. And I hope he would answer that COAS is the Army, he is our Chief and we are all united under his command as one monolithic organization. And if he acknowledges that yes COAS and PAK Army are 2 different entities then I would have reason to believe in your statement.
Have you ever served in a military environment? Or have a lived in one? Or are aware of the culture of a military regardless of which country it belongs to?
Let me give you an example: the current Sec Def of the US when in command wasn’t liked by MANY in the US ranks. He wasn’t liked even by many US right wingers and isn’t to this day. Privately, those US serving and veterans don’t have nice things to say about him but still serve under him today as a higher chain of command as Sec Def.
Their training from the start of their Oath till the end means that while they have the flexibility of disagreement they will OBEY the order and the chain of command regardless. Because if even ONE of them dissents the command then the entire CHAIN OF COMMAND could break down by example. The division commander could disobey his corps commander, brigade commander could disobey his division command or the NCO staff sergant and troops can disobey their officer commanding.
With that, the whole idea of a coordinated unit breaks down and your Army isn’t an Army, its a bunch of warlord militias or worse.
The only historical example where disobedience has been seen as meritorious in ANY military is when direct unlawful orders that went contradictory to the code of conduct or compromised the core creed of protecting the nation were given. Yet, the Mai Lai massacres happened and coming back to Pakistan the revenge attacks on Bengali civilians happened as well.
However, two examples of when setting a trend of defying chain of command led to disasters: Battle of Uhud and infighting among the Pakistani forces heading for Srinagar in 48’.
The military is not a democracy, the Pakistani military isn’t one man or even twenty that keep tabs on everything the other does. The COAS may or may not be complicit in what has transpired recently but he did not order troops to open fire on protestors - he did not order martial law yet or otherwise.
Even if he did, it doesn’t mean that troops sitting on the LoC will suddenly abandon their posts because they don’t like this COAS nor will it mean 111 Corps jawan will disobey orders to occupy a TV station because if he is capable of disobeying those orders then he will disobey orders to attack a machine gun nest as well.
Understand what a military is first before going on raving rant as to why the COAS is the military and represents the thoughts and ideals of all of them and is considered immortal by them(or not).
Finally, what if the COAS represents all the military? In that case everyone of the military - which means 450k zombie trained fighting machines equipped with better weapons than ANYONE else in Pakistan including the nuclear weapons feel that it was ok for Imran Khan to go and Sharif & Zardari to come in and that America is the boss then you have problems much bigger than the COAS.
Essentially you can the declare that you want to engage in open warfare against them and create a peoples struggle but bear in mind; you will then also need to organize a similar force with similar or better training while destroying in the process the very country you are claiming to protect.