General Kiyani's [fictional] letter

I wish this wasn't fictional...

Meray Aziz Hum Watno,

In the last 60 years of Pakistan and especially during the past decade, the image of Pakistan Army and that of the high rank officers of Pakistan's Army in particular has severely deteriorated. Pakistan Army has lost its respect in the eyes of the most of Pakistanis, as a result of which I have decided to take this drastic action and writing you this letter today.

Today, as the commander in chief of Pakistan Army, I will make my best efforts to assure you that things will change for the better future of Pakistan and this letter will mark as a turning point in the History of Pakistan Army and Pakistan.

God has blessed us with an opportunity to admit/confess our blunders, incompetency, incapability and other unlawful and unprofessional actions. As Chief of Pakistan's Army, I ask all Pakistanis for forgiveness and Pakistan Army as Institution promises of behaving in a way that fulfils the nation's expectations in future.

I herby announce the following actions:

Supremacy of Constitution & Accountability:

1- Change in PMA Curriculum to ensure that each Officer understands that they are subordinates to the Nation, its Constitution and the Law of the Land, and not to the Chief of Army Staff or any other Officer. Senior Lawyers will be hired to give lectures in the PMA so that the obedience to constitution is properly understood and ensured for officers in future.

2- Oath of the Army officers will be revised as per proposals of civilian government to make it more clear on supremacy of civilian rule. All the serving Army officers will also take this new oath and the oath ceremonies of all officers above rank of Major Generals will be held in Prime Minster House and will be broadcasted to Public.

3- Military training of Army officers going abroad (US, UK or EU) will be carried out with intensive pre-departure psychological scrutiny and post-training debriefing to insure that they have not been infiltrated by foreign powers.

4- There has been increasing number of incidents of bullying, torture, abuse of power by Army Officers against Civilians. Effective immediately, I announce that cases for all such incidents will be taken to a Civilian Court, and till the decision of the case, such officers will remain suspended and in civilian custody. Army will not use any coercive methods to harass the media from reporting such events and the names/ranks of culprits.

5- All Missing Persons in custody of Pakistan Army or related entities will be released immediately OR handed over to civilian authorities for prosecution through due process of law. Any involvement in kidnapping of any Pakistani Civilian, including that of a Prime Minister by the Army in future will be considered as terrorism, and will be punishable by death as per the laws of country.

6- In order to ensure that any Army Generals do not overthrow elected governments in future, all army collaborators in all previous military take-overs, will submit to the nation and to the court of law. The culprits of 1971 as identified in Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission report will be punished, even after death to finally correct our wrong doings of past.

7- Role of ISI will be redefined to focus on external threats only and monitoring of Pakistani civilians, including politicians, judges and journalists will be considered treason. I also announce closing of ISI media cells and the permanent suspension of funding for propaganda campaigns through all sorts of Ahmed Quraishis and Zaid Hamids effective immediately.

Military Budget and Economy Revival:

8- The 2400-acre GHQ land in sectors E10 and D11 of Islamabad will be immediately sold to overseas Pakistanis, which will boost the economy of our motherland. This most expensive and luxurious piece of land at foot of Margala Hills in Islamabad would fetch at least 80 Billion Rupees equivalent of foreign reserves. This amount should be good to clear large portion of our foreign debt.

9- I announce the transfer of all military bases and properties from the urban areas into nearby cheaper rural areas to end the symbols of British Colonial rule. The thousands of acres prime properties in centre of urban areas like Rawalpindi, Lahore, Jehlam and Karachi should fetch 10 Trillion Rupees, which would be enough to provide clean water, basic education and healthcare to every single Pakistani Citizen. I assure you that this action will be started immediately and completed within 2 years time.

10- Pakistan Army will cut down its conventional army from 550,000 to a lean, high tech and smart force of 200,000. When it comes to war, a smaller and more efficient force is better than a large number of unprofessional soldiers. This change will save 2 Trillion Rupees of taxpayer's money over a period of 5 years.

11- I announce that allotment of plots and properties to army officers without accountability will be stopped immediately. All previous allotments of lands and plots will be brought under public scrutiny to determine the number of plots sold illegally by army officers, violating the rules and regulations and the main objective of allotment.

12- No army officer would be given more than one plot during his career, and that too will be based on his performance. The full cost of plots will be paid from Army Budget and will be bought from Civilian Government on market rates, instead of 2,000 Rupees per Kanal.

13- Allotment of Agricultural lands to Army officers will be ceased immediately and permanently. All disputes with farmers regarding Agricultural lands (like Okara Farms Scandal) and any other issues with civilians will be settled through civilian courts ASAP.

14- Effectively immediately, I announce that the benefits of all Army Officers will be made compatible with that of Civil Servants. This will ensure that a Grade-20 Army Officer will get the same benefits as any Grade-20 Civil Servant. This will boost the morale of Civilian Government and also lower the burden on taxpayers by several billion rupees every year.

15- All non-military properties owned by Army for entertainment purposes, including all golf courses, rest houses and resorts at prime locations like Bhorban and all over Pakistan will be immediately and unconditionally privatized. This would generate 35 Billion Rupees that will be handed over to Education Ministry, so they can build several universities with Research & Development facilities.

16- I also prohibit the use of army properties or equipment for personal use. From now, no army vehicles will be seen on streets for personal purpose, like for buying groceries or trips to beauty parlours. This move will alone save 2 Billion Rupees of taxpayer's money from fuel and maintenance costs annually.

Pakistan Zindabad,

COAS General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani

Pakistan Army

_______________________________________________
Fictional Letter by COAS Kiyani, written by Dr. Akram Khan

Army officers recalled from civil departments

By Syed Irfan Raza

Source: Dawn

ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: Pakistan Army on Monday called back all its serving officers from 23 civil departments, in what is being termed here as part of a plan to improve the image of the armed forces.

“More than 300 army officers are presently working in various civil departments and majority of them have been asked to report to the General Headquarters (GHQ) immediately,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told Dawn here on Monday.

He said the army authorities had written a letter to the federal government asking it to relieve all serving military officers from civil departments.

The move is in line with a decision taken by the 106th Corps Commanders’ Conference on Feb 7. The conference was presided over by Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who had in an earlier statement, directed army officers to “stay away from political activities.”

The army chief’s decisions about reversal of officers from civil departments and restrictions on meeting politicians have been lauded by the civil society and all major political parties.

The induction of army officers in civil organisations has always been a controversial issue and has been questioned on different forums, including parliament.

The ISPR director general said army officers would be withdrawn in phases over a period of two to six months. “We have asked the federal government to relieve those army officials immediately who can be replaced easily,” he said. “Those who cannot be replaced at once will be called back in two to six months.”

Maj-Gen Abbas said some of the officers who were serving on sensitive posts in civil departments would continue in their present positions as the government required their services for some more time. He said such officials would return to their parent department as and when the federal government relieved them.

He said the process of army officers’ induction into the civilian departments had started under a decision taken in 1981 by former president and army chief Gen Ziaul Haq. With the passage of time, he said, the number of military officers in civil departments kept rising.

Replying to a question, he said the army officers would not be inducted into the civil departments in future.

Sources told Dawn that army officers were being called back from 23 civil departments. The highest number of 61 army officers being called back is presently working in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which was set up by Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf soon after taking over the power on October 12, 1999. Later, the NAB became a controversial organisation, and many opposition parties openly criticised its performance and termed it a tool in the hands of the military rulers to gain political advantage.

Similarly, the sources said, 21 army officers working in the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) and 18 in the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) had also been asked to report back to the GHQ.

Other departments from where army officers are being called back include the National Highways Authority, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Accountability Bureau, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Crisis Management Cell, Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB), education departments, provincial governments, National Institute of Science, Technology and Engineering (NISTE), Customs Intelligence, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Pakistan Steel Mills, Establishment Division and AJK PM Secretariat.

It may be mentioned that at the Corps Commanders’ Conference, Gen Kayani had stated that holding free and fair election was the sole responsibility of the Election Commission and that the “army will meet only its constitutional obligations and help the civil administration maintain law and order, as and when required”.

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