THE Bannu Brigade 116 deserves tributes for observing maximum restraint and patience, restricting itself to its territorial jurisdiction as observed by the Pakistan Army on the eve of May 9. However, in the case of Bannu, the mob was leaderless, directionless and politically maneuvered, mainly consisting of innocent, less educated teenagers. Local political leaders incited people through their speeches on social media and later left the young and teenagers, who moved towards the Cantonment and started looting and plundering items from the Supply Depot. The security personnel deputed to protect public property and families in the Cantonment started firing to disperse the mob, as empowered by Article 8 (3)(A) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan to maintain public order.
Had the security personnel remained silent spectators, anti-Pakistan elements would have started baseless propaganda that this episode was a replica of May 9 and engineered by security forces. It raises a question: who would be responsible if that young mob raided houses, offices and security installations in the Cantonment, started damaging public and private property and harmed both civilian and official residents (women, children, senior citizens) therein?
The Preamble of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan clearly ordains Divine Sovereignty, exercising authority through the chosen representatives of the people as a sacred trust, promoting and observing the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam. It is the political, moral, legal, constitutional, national and religious obligation of each representative of the people of Pakistan to hold office as a public trust and promote a national outlook rather than divide their people on ethnic, linguistic, geographical, religious, sectarian and cultural bases. Ironically, the political leaders have not learned any lessons from their past political blunders and are still engaged in violating the sanctity of the Constitution of Pakistan, Parliament and the vote of the poor taxpayers, indulging in uncompromising and non-reconciliatory politics.
The PTM leaders are grossly engaged in violating the Constitution of Pakistan and the law of the land with seditious activities, entailing perilous political, legal, security, social and constitutional corollaries. Article 5 of the 1973 Constitution binds every citizen to be loyal to Pakistan, while PTM, Awami National Party and other Pakhtoon pseudo-nationalist parties spew poison against Pakistan and its defence forces and intelligence agencies, showing loyalty to Afghanistan through the slogan “Laar Pakhtoon and Baar Pakhtoon.” This narrow approach towards nationalism alienates the major chunk of the population (people of Chitral, Hazara, and other non-Pakhtoon communities) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and creates a hateful environment in society in the name of peace. ANP leader Senator Aimal Wali (who lost the confidence of the people of KP and rushed to contest Senate elections from Baluchistan with the support of PPP) declared the unpleasant incident of Bannu on July 19, 2024, as carnage, which is an absolutely baseless and exaggerated statement. The PTM’s demand for lodging an FIR against security forces contradicts Article 245 of the 1973 Constitution which gives constitutional immunity to defence forces concerning the country’s security.
It is also ironic that Aimal Wali Khan equated PTI with TTP in his recent interview with one media channel. It is ironic that PTI leaders, instead of raising the issue with their own Party-led government and Chief Minister, started agitating against their own government. Additionally, Provincial Minister Pakhtoon Yar Khan, in his speech to people, aptly addressed and confessed that the local people facilitated armed non-state actors with residences for petty financial benefits, bringing security risks to the area. He also threw responsibility on local leaders for leaving people directionless. The failure of local, provincial and national leadership to address the genuine grievances of the people of Bannu through existing legal and political platforms led them to shift responsibility onto security forces under public pressure to gain maximum political scores.
In the current political turmoil in Bannu, political parties and their leaders have failed to handle the situation, violating Article 19 of the 1973 Constitution which states, “Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offense.”
Ironically, writers, politicians and intelligentsia as hire-guns of foreign forces, especially India, Israel and the US, are relentlessly engaged in demoralizing, defaming, de-popularizing, politicizing and tarnishing the image of the Pak Army and its intelligence agencies through their controlled print and electronic media, including social media. In this age of cyber and hybrid warfare, they have also succeeded in hiring the services of academia, intelligentsia and political leaders in Pakistan to target their own army and security forces despite their services to restore peace in terrorism and militancy-hit areas of Pakistan.
It is the need of the hour that the people of Pakistan must stand with their armed forces to rebut any false propaganda against them and avoid social media channels controlled by various political parties. Otherwise, God forbid, they will face the fate of Iraqis, Lebanese and other nations that targeted their militaries. It will be sagacious for political and military leadership to revisit the national security strategy in the best national interest.
—The writer is Chairman & Security Expert, Department of Political Science, Islamia College Peshawar.
