Pakistan’s Real Problem: Pak Army or the Magical Powers of Army Chief?

Enkidu Reborn is a mysterious character. Hidden. Cryptic. Mostly Angry. At times wise and sanguine! No one knows who he is. He lives and thrives on X (formerly twitter) like the cynic ghost played by Vincent Schiavelli, who meets Patrick Swayze on New York Underground Subway, and teaches him to direct all his emotions, his rage to produce results in his quest to save the beautiful, magical, stunning Demi Moore, from thugs, in 1990 film “Ghosts” (I am still in love with that enchantress, Demi Moore, of 1990! Uff!)

But whenever a professional history of Pakistan’s current predicament and struggle of its new rebellious intelligentsia against military authoritarianism will be written, Enkidu Reborn will get a foot note as an indefatigable intellectual warrior fighting 24/7, 365 days a year, to jump start Pakistan’s dead consciousness -as drivers used to do on dark December mornings before the arrival of modern Japanese cars or as cardiac emergency teams do to resuscitate hearts of almost dead patients..jury is still out for Pakistan..

An Army Major Cries Out of his helplessness?

As I mention, Enkidu Reborn is mostly angry against Pakistan’s Military Establishment and its unending power grab. But in a rare moment of remarkable forgiveness he posted a message from an unknown Army Major on X. Purportedly this serving Army Major, asserts that he and many colleagues are deeply disturbed by what is happening in Pakistan but they feel helpless. Major speaks of friends who once supported Imran Khan, of officers uncomfortable with actions against civilians, but ultimately of men trapped inside an institution where refusing orders is not a realistic option – even when it means marching to death in wars they understand little.

The authenticity of this anonymous message cannot be credibly established, nor can one Major speak for an army that may have thousands of Majors and Colonels in uniform. But his argument raises a question Pakistanis rarely formulate correctly: Is Pakistan’s problem really its Army—or is it the extraordinary concentration of political, institutional and economic power around the office of the Army Chief? Who now is also Field Marshal, Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) and may soon become President of Pakistan?

Moeed Pirzada: From “Boot Polish” to Army’s Enemy No: 1- but Why?

But distinction is fundamental. I have been arguing the same intellectual position in my vlogs for the past three plus year – since May 2023.

A cerebral crime, of a sincere patriot, that unfortunately transforms me from a “Boot Polish” to Pakistan Army’s Enemy No: 1, and a voice that needs to be suppressed even if it demands serious pressure upon global platforms like Wikipedia, YouTube, Meta and X to reduce my reach and visibility all across the world. Imagine how important this distinction is. Because those who wield the powers know it’s not about the Army; it’s about its Chief. In one angry briefing, in June 2022, in a safe house in Islamabad, I was told repeatedly by a senior officer: “Chief is Army; Army is Chief”

A cerebral crime, of a sincere patriot, that unfortunately transforms me from a “Boot Polish” to Pakistan Army’s Enemy No: 1, and a voice that needs to be suppressed even if it demands serious pressure upon global platforms like Wikipedia, YouTube, Meta and X to reduce my reach and visibility all across the world. Imagine how important this distinction is. Because those who wield the powers know it’s not about the Army; it’s about its Chief. In one angry briefing, in June 2022, in a safe house in Islamabad, I was told repeatedly by a senior officer: “Chief is Army; Army is Chief”

I am not a starry eyed idealist. I am not 25. I am 61, with years in Central Superior Services of Pakistan, in world’s best universities (that take your years and money and give you useless degrees) and as one of the important insider voices of Pakistani media and system. I understand: Armies cannot operate as debating societies. Military effectiveness depends upon hierarchy, discipline and obedience. A major obeys his lieutenant colonel and colonel; a brigadier obeys his divisional commander; generals operate within the chain of command. On a battlefield, an officer cannot hold a referendum among his troops before executing orders.

But Sir, that obedience is not Pakistan’s problem…

But Sir, that obedience is not Pakistan’s problem…

The problem begins when an institution designed to fight wars starts running a nation-state while retaining the same wartime principle of unquestioning obedience to one military hierarchy.

Pakistan has progressively blurred these two entirely different functions: commanding an army and governing a complex nation state of 250 million plus with various ethnicities, sub-nationalities and their fault lines. And this toxic “Chai masala mixed with religious alcohol of Makkah and Medina” this dangerous combo, has been sold to hundreds of unquestioning columnists, media persons and millions of citizens.

How Martial Laws Changed the Army

This did not happen accidentally. Pakistan Army under Gen. Sir Frank Messervey and Gen. Sir Douglas Gracey (1947-1951) did not fancy itself in this dual role. War against the hideous tribals of NWFP, intoxicating Indian Women and consuming imported Wines at the expense of Raj may have been their motto – but they did not fancy running and recreating a nation state. Let’s stop blaming the perfidious........

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