This vlog features Honourable Nawabzada Tariq Khan and Honourable Haider Mehdi, two like-minded soldiers and contemporaries, recorded on May 23, 2023, coinciding with Haider Mehdi’s birthday. I would like to wish Honourable Haider Mehdi a happy birthday and all the best in his endeavors as a die-hard patriot and defender of Pakistan and her ideology .
Haider’s birthday precedes the officially notified Day of Martyrs by two days , which is a national holiday announced by the Prime Minister for 25th May, as an effort to restore the image of the armed forces. The government later contradicted the holiday notification terming it fake. Unfortunately, the armed forces have suffered a severe blow and public backlash due to the institution being dragged into the political mess and the resulting mudslinging and severe social media trolling by the political leadership and their workers .
Earlier, as I was preparing to ride my bicycle around 7:00 PM, my breathless daughter rushed to inform me about a police raid in progress at the house of our next-door neighbor, who is affiliated with PTI, a political party that not only lost favor with the deep state as alleged by them but also incurred its fury and vengeance due to its defiance .
In this thought-provoking interview, the two seasoned soldiers explore the reasons behind the ongoing crisis and suggest solutions to prevent the erosion of institutions. Tariq Khan believes that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, being a four-star general, is equally qualified to command troops, as opposed to the centralisation of powers only in COAS, which has unfortunately resulted in an imbalance of power and adversely affected the decision making mechanism in the army, investing all powers into one appointment of the COAS that makes the COAS vulnerable to the political intrusion and influence by the politicians.
I believe that Gen Tariq Khan has a valid point. Just as the creator blessed us with two ears, eyes, hands, feet, and kidneys to create balance, a state and its organizations similarly require a balance and rationalization of power to ensure equilibrium. Additionally, I believe that the President of the Country should have constitutional powers of empowerment instead of leaving everything to the Prime Minister and the Parliamentarians, who have significantly contributed to the erosion of state institutions by politicizing all institutions, the Army being no exception.
The politicized appointment of the COAS has sadly compromised the army’s image among the general public. One can only hope that these two sane voices are heeded before it is too late because the ongoing political crisis is pushing the country towards a grinding stalemate that may ultimately lead to its breakup. Long Live Pakistan Going Through Erosion Of Its Institutional Image 🇵🇰