Writer and commentator on Pakistan Tilak Devashar says Army Chief Gen Asim Munir’s elevation to the rank of field marshal means only one thing, “they are trying to fool their own people … by promoting are you trying to convey that it is a great military victory?”
Such is the nature of the beast in Pakistan, he says, that Munir will not give up the army chief’s post, because that’s where the power is and technically as field marshal, he can continue on forever.
Devashar was a guest on The Gist and pointed out that Munir’s elevation is bound to cause some heart burn among senior officers who would lose out on promotion to higher ranks.
Bbut the army as an institution remains united. He recalled an incident post the 1971 war, when angry personnel resolved to march on Gen Yahya Khan’s office, but were later dissuaded from doing so.
In his view, there is growing disquiet among the veterans that the Pakistan army has not been able to do much about Balochistan and more attention is required to settle internal issues.
“But they externalize the problem to India and nothing unifies the country more than India … the people also recognise that it was the (Pahalgam) massacre that led to the defeat (during Op. Sindoor).”
Devashar believes the elevation of Munir may serve the purpose of diverting public attention away from Pakistan’s economic malaise. Issues of price rise and food security figure large in the public discourse and India’s move to suspend the Indus Waters treaty has added to the insecurities.
“And now that the IMF has come up with an even stiffer set of conditions, people are bracing for a further hike in electricity bills,” he noted.
He underscored another point: Pakistan is probably hoping some country will step in, as in the past, to get India to resume normal operation of the Indus Waters Treaty. This is what they have been accustomed to, he said.
Tune in for more in this conversation with Pakistan specialist and well know writer and commentator Tilak Devashar.
