During his black tie dinner in Tampa in the US state of Florida, hosted by a Pakistani-origin businessman, Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir betrayed his inner audacious ambition of ruling Pakistan directly. Munir reversed the much popular quote that “war is too serious a business to be left to the generals”, by saying, “politics is also too serious a business to be left to politicians”.
This was not off the cuff remark, but a well-thought one, coming straight from his heart and betraying his ambition to take over the Pakistan government, which now seems to be just a matter of time. He is already preparing the ground. And he made these remarks on the US soil.
His nuclear threat to India has been noticed, but what is not being noticed much is his own growing ambition to become the direct ruler of Pakistan. He remains the de facto ruler of Pakistan, recognised and acknowledged by no less a person than US President Donald Trump. For whatever reasons, eventually he would like to be the actual ‘head of the state’ of Pakistan sharing dais with the others heads of the state.
He is not very subtle and betrays his intentions more frequently. Going out of the way to threaten a neighbouring country has a reason — to end up as not just a military dictator but as an Islamic ruler, may be like a Caliph. His mind-set has been framed in the Islamic seminaries he studied in before joining various military schools. He often quotes Islamic scriptures to substantiate his point off and on.
His comment that Kashmir remains the jugular vein of Pakistan is now too old in his country’s context, as nobody believes it any more even in Pakistan. Yes, he is trying to turn Kashmir into his own jugular vein to serve his own ambition. His “daring threats” that not only will Pakistan use nuclear weapons against India, but will take down half the world along, is just a hoax aimed at addressing the extremist audience in his own country.
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Pakistan’s political establishment is already discredited. It owes its survival to the army. With Trump going out of the way to entertain him with a special luncheon in the White House, not only has Munir’s ambition grown, it has also helped him raise his stature within the country.
It is after about two decades that America has allowed Pakistan to come closer once again. It had been practically isolated during this time. Trump has reversed everything. He has completely departed from the US’ foreign policy towards South Asia, which of course has come as a shock to many in the US and India, more so, given his close personal bonding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Whatever the reasons may have been for Trump turning so hostile towards India, Gen Munir has been trying to capitalise on it and he has succeeded to a great deal for personal benefit. How long Trump remains a friend to Pakistan or Munir is not very difficult to guess. Trump’s characteristic unpredictability about his personal relationships is too well known. If Trump can betray Elon Musk, who put everything at stake to help him win the Presidential elections or Prime Minister Modi the popular Prime Minister of a democratic country with 1.4 billion population, who once campaigned for him going out of the way, anyone can guess how reliable he can or may remain for Munir.
But the Pakistan army chief can exploit the current situation and make an early push for his takeover of the Pakistan government. Right now, Trump and some of his military commanders are outright supporters of Munir. They will, in all probability, look the other way whenever Munir opts to take over. Democracy is the last thing in Trump’s mind and that too for a third country in the third world. Munir undoubtedly is an asset for the US.
As far as Munir’s threat to India that he will use missiles if it constructs a dam on River Indus, he knows it very well how far Indian retribution can and will go. While in 1971, Pakistan was broken into two parts only, this time it may not survive at all and may be impossible for it to count the fragments it will divided into. A determined India was not deterred even then when it was not so strong and powerful as it is today, and it will not be deterred now either. Field Marshal Munir is entitled to his delusion like his newfound delusional friend across the Atlantic.
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Pakistan actually remains like a dump-truck as compared to a shining Mercedez like India. Gen Munir himself drew the analogy by comparing his country to a gravel truck and India to a shining Mercedez. He probably does not realise that a gravel truck may damage a Mercedez momentarily, but what will be the fate that the truck will meet eventually. He needs to be reminded of not only Bangladesh, but also about the ninety thousand soldiers and officers of the Pakistan Army who were made to surrender in 1971.
Given the “special” treatment he is currently getting in the US under the Trump regime, his delusions are understandable. But in “the US of Trump” everything comes with a very short expiry date, which does not outlast Trump's special purpose. Sooner Munir realises it, better it would be for him and sooner he can plan his ascendance to “formal” power to complete his designation, “Field Marshal Asim Munir, the Amir of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan” and may be also the “Caliph” of the Muslim Ummah.
That is the reason, if anyone should really be bothered about Munir’s “nuclear threats”, it should and must be Shahbaz Sharif, than anyone else.
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