The army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, once again reassured the nation, at a meeting with top editors of the national media on Tuesday, that the armed forces will not follow the route of military takeover, as seen in neighbouring countries. This is indeed a significant point of reassurance because history has shown time and again that military interventions in politics and governance have hardly ever advanced a nation towards prosperity and democracy. We are, however, compelled to refer to a point of concern that has emerged from the army chief's statements. As reported in New Age on Wednesday, Moeen again claimed that the army has had no role in determining the policies that the extra-constitutiona
it pursues.
We want to also draw attention to the fact that this government, in the span of time that it has been in power, has enormous failures to its name. They have brought the national economy to its knees with stagnation in investment, in job growth, and in agriculture. The incumbents are also largely to blame for the soaring inflation rate and the consequent misery of the common people, especially in the food crisis that we are now witnessing. In its failure to adequately implement the annual development programme, the government has also shown its inability to take any initiative to resuscitate the rural economy, even after the waves of floods and a devastating cyclone destroyed infrastructure and livelihoods across large swathes of the country. In claiming that he and, by way of that, the army has no role in the present government's operations, Moeen is attempting to disown these failures. But the failures in governance that we have experienced and suffered at the hands of this government are generally perceived to be the failures of the army as much as the caretaker government – a perception which, if rooted in public mind, would endanger the very fabric of our nation state.
We, therefore, reiterate that the army chief and the chief of the caretaker government should make all-out efforts to let the people's representatives once again run the country by restoring the political process. Failures of the past elected governments cannot be used as excuses to keep the democratic process suspended, and perpetuate an undemocratic regime. What is, however, important in this regard is that the people at large keep the would-be elected government under constant watch and pressure so that it cannot abuse its powers as its predecessors did in the past.
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