bb and ns have been have been senior party leaders for over twenty years and immi bhai for over ten years and yet i cant recall reading one sensible statement by them - ever. general kiyani otoh has only been around for less than a month and yet he seems to have a real grasp on issues confronting pak. i just hope he has the balls to keep politicians in line when they start acting even more retarded than usual. kudos also to musharraf for appointing the right guy. i get the feeling that under kiyani’s leadership, pak will be in the right hands:
Dec 6 (APP): Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said Thursday the country had talent but there was need for discipline and putting the educational system on the right track. “We neither lack talent nor hard work, but we are awfully deficient of discipline in our individual and collective lives,” he said while speaking at the 5th post-graduate convocation of the National University of Science and Technology here.
He said: “We have yet to channelize our energies in the right direction and in a correct manner. If we manage to put our educational system on the right track, many of our problems will be taken care of.”
…frontiers of education in all fields, specially in science and technology, were expanding beyond imagination and so were the opportunities for them to advance, provided they had the inspiration and will to do so, he told the young scholars. “As a nation we have not done well in educational fields and we are therefore struggling today to discover our nationhood and a rightful place in the comity of nations,” the COAS said and hoped that new graduates would be able to do “what our generations could not.”
The Chief of the Army Staff advised graduating scholars to act with courage and perseverance and exploit the opportunities to pursue knowledge, whatever the odds. “Be the inspiring ambassadors of values of objectivity, creativity and innovation that NUST has helped you imbibe. Always aim high and put in your best.Your attitude will determine your altitude”, Gen. Kayani observed.
sadly, just putting the right educational system and directing the talent and discipline is not the solution to the countries woes right now. or its NOT the only solution. it isnt as simplistic as the dude from military college jhelum puts it. so his statement alone to some graduating class at NUST doesnt mean he will be good governing the nation as president. Let him fix the army first and make it a trustworthy institutioin.
i happen to think scientific education is priority number one. i also agree with kiyani's focus on discipline which is four letter word in pak. as kayani says, pakistanis are talented but lack direction and focus. my experience in pak has proven to me exactly what kiyani is saying. i am glad to see that unlike politicians, kiyani can analyse problems correctly and is smart enough to come up with the right solution. outside private sector, not many people in pak posses this skills and certainly not politicians.
A true army chief should not be speaking about politics, his job should be only to make sure that the geographical boundaries of the state are well protected, his soldiers are well trained and the politics of corruption does nor slither into the institution with an immense responsibility. It is true that the wars are not won with huge army and best weaponry, wars are only won when the population of the country is supporting the troops, unfortunately a constant involvement of Pakistan Army has created an environment in Pakistan where love for those who are always ready to lay their lives for the country is fading away, we are seemingly , and God Forbid, at the edge of a civil war, a war where army would be fighting against its own people. Not to mention that it happened in past and can happen again, we are already seeing the tip of the iceberg in shape of war against ,so called local, Taliban in Sawat. Have we ever thought that why when ever army is on the front of political horizon an operation starts in Baluchistan. If collective wisdom of army speaks through the lips of army chief, why division among Pakistani population gets huge during army rule. The answer lies in the political philosophy of average Pakistani , although the literacy rate in Pakistan is not great , but the people are significantly aware of political situation, they are aware of the fact when their collective voice is being heard and when it is being ignored completely .The philosophy of an army general is considerably different from a politician , a general considers every voice of dissent as a voice of an enemy and trust his gun in all these situations, where as a politician’s armament is diplomacy, negotiation and settlement on a table rather than in a battle field.
I am not trying to plead the case for politicians, indeed they are corrupt, but is it a pretext for our army to take over the reins of Govt. every few years after. My simple question is that has army given a chance to the political institutions to get matured, they are maligned ,defamed. Immensely derogatory statements are always given about politicians when ever army takes over, a smoke screen of fake process of accountability starts and in the end , the general who had assumed power with heavenly noble intentions needs the shoulders to ride on, and unfortunately what he finds is the most corrupt among the asserted corrupt politicians. And adding an insult to injury it is assumed that army will be treated as sacred cow , no one will speak about it, medal of respect an honor will keep shining on the shoulders of army, as an institution.
Any finally, I see no wisdom in the comments of COAS, a kid of fifteen years old can say the same thing, I would have considered him wiser had he given statement that Pakistan Army would never assume the responsibility of political parties, he would have been more sane had he said that any General who would overthrow the constitution would be considered a “traitor” and Army as an institution would not support that individual.
However I beg that you change the topic. Kiyani should be remembered as a good commander and not a CEO!
Once he completes his term as COAS, if he so wishes, he could go to the polls and get elected to whatever office he would like.
But that is a long way off, so please let him be a good COAS for the moment.
On another note, yes I agree that discipline and self respect is severely lacking in Pakistan. Hopefully we would be living in disciplined society one day. Amin.