As nation, we committed mistakes that's why we are where we are today. All of us are responsible for it. Singling out army for mistakes that take root in civilian chief executive's decisions has become a fashion and a quick way to catch attention. Out of merit army chiefs & extensions are not initiated by the army though no one declined such offers either. Who would? Why only Army is blamed when things go haywire? Why don't we trace the cause of things going wrong? Nation suffered under dictatorships, more so army itself. Army has learnt to stay away from active politics and credit goes to General Raheel Sharif for setting the bar so high. Just two assemblies completed their full time & 'change' came to pass through democratic process (about which losing political opposition would always whine) .
Violating Army's merit might have worked for civilian chief executives but on the whole it brought more ills than goodwill for the nation & army in particular. All military dictators of our history were appointed out of merit by the civilian CEs of the time. Extensions are also born out of political compromises and how current extension is any different from General Kiyani's, needs to be seen. Before that a quick recap of where it all started rather how those dictators usurped the power and hung on to it through courts and politicians, none of whom could be absolved of their share of mistakes.
Major General Ayub Khan, commissioned in 1928, with just 23 years of service was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army despite the fact that his name was not included in the nomination list. General Ayub's appointment set the precedent for promoting C-in-Cs out of turn, ostensibly because he was the least ambitious of the generals in the line of promotion and the most loyal to civil government at that time. Army merit was violated by civilian CE for political gains and entire nation paid the price.
Lieutenant General Zia, ul Haq, as Corps Commander at Multan in 1975, invited Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the Colonel-in-Chief of the Armoured Corps at Multan, using his tailor to stitch the Blue Patrols of his size. The next day, Bhutto was requested to climb a tank and engage a target, where the target was quite obviously hit. Shortly after that on 1 March 1976, PM ZAB approved General Zia as COAS. This promotion again was ahead of a number of more senior officers. This promotion was highly controversial but had political motives for Bhutto, who saw Zia as firmly religious and an apolitical military figure who had distaste of politics. Again army merit was violated by civilian CE for political motives.
PM Nawaz Sharif had same motives in 1998 who promoted General Pervez Musharraf as COAS based on his apolitical nature, but met the same fate as Bhutto in 1999 (except that he was not executed). Pervez Musharraf was third-in line after Lieutenant General Ali Kuli Khan, a graduate of PMA and RMA, Sandhurst, who was an extremely capable officer but was seen as close to the former COAS Abdul Vaheed Kakar; and was not promoted. The other was Lieutenant General Khalid Nawaz Khan a hardcore soldier & hard taskmaster who was bypassed due to oozing wisdom of CE of the country. Yet, again army merit was violated by civilian CE and entire nation paid the price.
At the back of stinking NRO and unfortunate killing of Benazir Bhutto, came the reign of 'reconciliation' under Asif Ali Zardari. Security & operational environment of the time necessitated that short one year extension in COAS' term which was not better than his early three years. In the hindsight, should have not happened at all. Another mistake initiated by the civilian CE and perfected by the military chief. Somehow, CEs failed to respect army's merit despite being the only organized, disciplined & reliable institution in the country.
How current extension could be any different? Current Army Chief was not appointed by the current CE. Army's operational performance, regional presence, global outlook, inland disaster relief, February 2019 showdown with India & looming Kashmir resurgence warrant an extension? Not enough reason besides it disrupts Army’s system of promotions. Both Govt & Army have been on one page much longer than scribe's prediction. Continuation of the same setting is quintessential to stable Pakistan.
Although PM has had serious reservations over General Kiayani's extension & beefed up his arguments with examples of rotation of army chiefs during WWII yet he took another U turn because current security environment is no where near as bad as WWII. Nontheless, one can only hope it turns out good for the nation & the army, though history is not on our side on this one. But much has changed in recent times who knows this jinx may also be broken if not then you know who is to be blamed.
Only Allah knows the whole Truth.
