My friend Brig Shafiq from ISPR, as usual was kind and dutiful to have shared the following press release.
ISPR
Posting / Appointments
Lieutenant General Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat posted as Commander Peshawar Corps.
Lieutenant General Faiz hamid posted as Commander Bahawalpur Corps. Lieutenant General Khalid Zia posted as Military Secretary Pakistan Army
(Lt. Gen. Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat Khan appointed Commander of XI Corps Peshawar. He has previously served in Peshawar as GOC 7 Div.The General is a PIFFer, an officer of the Frontier Force Guides – 2nd Battalion Guides Infantry or 2 FF) as posted by Dr. Ali Jan on his Facebook , a Peshawar based historian and a personal friend, with whom I shared professional interactions from my Dawn days.
I know Honourable Gen Sabhat Hussain another brilliant officer from 2 FF, as we served together at Karachi though in different outfits, at a very difficult time of our lives faced by worst internal strife right in the heart of the country , where he was Commanding 2FF, before his one step well deserved promotion to the rank of Brigadier and subsequent appointment as Military Secretary to the Prime Minister. His drawing room will always adorn my shield presented to him on his posting, inscribed with these wordings ” From the corridors of power back to barracks”. Indeed, a sensible man as few could resist the temption of the grandeur of Prime Minister House . He was a quiet man with a cool head and he served honourably and retired honourably being a contented man with unblemished reputation. The last time I saw him was at the National Defence University where I had accompanied Honourable Hameed Haroon, CEO Dawn Media Group, for his lecture on media, when we crossed our paths at the corridor, when he emerged from the war wing that he then headed, in his military uniform .
To be honest I don’t know the new Honourable General but I am sure he is the best pick for post in the most challenging environment when the war drums could be already heard. The only advice that I as a Pakistani could give the General is to ensure the people of KP including the tribals are protected and dealt with dignity and respect , who always served as the country’s first line defence in all wars and the ongoing internal war can be no exception.
We must not forget that military intervention is never a long term solution that Americans being the last to have experimented and humiliated unless accompanied by sustainable and popular political intervention to win the ordinary citizens heart and trust that sadly does not exist, giving little space to the security apparatus to operate unless the policy reversed, and political and civil institutions strengthened and strongly backed by the Military establishment exactly the way the British operated to control the constant unrest they had to cope with being the foreigners and occupiers, the disadvantage that we no more face being operating on our own soil amongst our own children, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers.
The Pukhtuns including tribals never gave anyone a free access including the British to their areas but have welcomed the armed forces with open arms the trust we must uphold at all costs if peace is what we aim at, that would ultimately lead us to our national objective of solidarity and prosperity both for country, our children and future generations.