Within a span of just 24 hours two very important persons demanded that the Abbottabad Commission report on the covert US Marines Operation on May 2, 2011 inside Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden be made public. One of these VIPs was Justice (R) Javed Iqbal who headed the said commission and authored its report while the other was Ch Nisar Ali Khan who is in charge of internal security of the country.
This development has created an interest and a certain kind of curiosity among the concerned quarters and general public. It has also given birth to doubt and questions. Is it a coincidence that two most important relevant persons simultaneously demanded something serious on a matter that was ‘forgotten on some shelf’ for years? If it is not a coincidence then what can be the need to raise such a sensitive issue? Has Ch Nisar done it in a fit of anger as a countervailing factor to Quetta commission report? Or can there be a much greater context to it?
Such a demand by Justice (R) Javed Iqbal can be termed as the demand of the commission itself, though technically it stood disbanded with the submission of its report to the relevant authority. Hence, it can’t be just ignored. However, it is making of the same demand by the Interior Minister that has made the issue more serious.
Some observers are of the view that Ch Nisar made it for two reasons; to deflect the attention of the people from him and his ministry after the Justice Faez Isa-led commission report, and to threaten PPP leadership. There is some weightage in the argument as the Interior Minister has made this demand when he is faced with severe criticism and the PPP is on the offensive against the government, particularly against his person. Zardari is scheduled to come back to the country on 23rd and this can be an effort to soften him up. After all he was the president of the country and his party was in power when ‘the gravest violation of Pakistan sovereignty’ took place.
However, there are other analysts who say the matter may not be as simple as it appears to be. One fact which they point out to is that Ch Nisar cannot venture so far without the consent of his leader. Venturing too far it definitely is as according to Ashraf Jehangir Qazi who was one of the members of the Abbottabad Commission, the ‘Commission inquired into (i) the sequence of events, including decisions and indecisions on the night of May 1-2, and (ii) the sequence of events, including decisions and indecisions in the run-up to the US assault’.
Writing in DAWN on June 16, 2015 he says that the ‘Commission was unable to reach a consensus, particularly with regard to determining who was primarily responsible for creating the conditions in which (a) the US was able to deeply penetrate Pakistani airspace, successfully assassinate OBL, safely exit Pakistani airspace without encountering any resistance during their three-hour mission inside Pakistan and (b) OBL and his family and attendants were able to stay and travel in Pakistan apparently undetected for almost a decade.’
So in all likelihood the PPP government’s role will be near to nothingness when the report will come to fixing responsibilities and identifying the organs and individuals within the state which/who failed in fulfilling their duties to protect its territorial sovereignty.
And that’s the point that things start appearing fishy and people start suspecting that Nawaz Sharif may be playing his cards very intelligently while appearing to be a detached bystander. His detractors believe he is happy over Ch Nisar’s mugging following the Quetta commission report. But bringing PPP and the military establishment down- with one stone – will be more rewarding in the end. Observers doubt this may be part of the concerted effort started by Nawaz Sharif to assert himself and reclaim the space in policy-making that military has occupied. They believe it started with the DAWN story leak, brought a step forward by the appointment of new army chief, and is being very consistently furthered when the new chief is going through the most crucial of phases for any army chief, i.e. establishing himself as a leader and taking control.
However, the problem with Nawaz Sharif is that he mostly handles delicate things in a crude manner. For example, the way and people he selects to achieve some ‘clandestine objectives’ are easily identifiable.
But keeping aside this aspect, will the move achieve its objective whether if that is making the Abbottabad Commission report public or putting the army in its right political place?
Some things are easier said than done. It is clear that Abbottabad Commission report can’t be unilaterally published without inviting the ire of the powers that be. So, Nawaz Sharif may not actually do it. Rather he will to use it as ploy in the tug of war with the military establishment for civilians’ supremacy in political and policy-making spheres.
But is that possible? Yes, it is. But not overnight. It is a delicate game which demands patience and expert handling. Unfortunately, Nawaz Sharif seems to be in a hurry with pronounced dictatorial tendencies. Yes, it’s true that the army can’t do anything against him at the moment. But in countries like ours, civilian rulers don’t become ‘supreme’ by playing political games with the military. That requires popular support and legitimacy which come through continuity, good governance, economic prosperity and politicians’ personal integrity.
There are many potential challenges for PML-N and the Sharif family. These are legal, political, economic, social and security in nature. One wrong step and all efforts in search of a healthy equilibrium – between the civilians and military – are lost. It’s better to rein in personal desires and show patience. Slow and steady wins the race, as you may have heard.
