Unity, please

[Taimoor Gondal]

•No time for squabbles
Amidst the cacophony of voices giving theories on what caused the US operation in Abbottabad comes the PML(N)’s take on the incident. The NRO. The ordinance in question might not, by any stretch of the imagination, have anything to do with the incident. But that’s the League’s explanation because, well, why not?
Is the Osama job to become a blank slate for everyone to project on? Are scores to be settled here? Should we now expect the Hazara province coterie to say it was changing the name of the province that was responsible? Or perhaps, not building the Kalabagh dam?
Meanwhile, the unmistakable sound of DMS on the ground carries on. Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has asked for the resignation of both president and the prime minister. Ditto for Imran Khan. Leader of opposition Chaudhry Nisar also chimes in (see cartoon). The stark absence of the military brass from the demands for resignation stands out like a million-dollar fortified compound does in a quiet neighbourhood.
Even insisting on at least one resignation from within the military won’t make the problem go away. The errors are systemic. If incompetence is indeed the line that we’re going with, why aren’t there enough calls for the military to be as accountable to performance reviews as, say, the irrigation department? If the military juggernaut of that other security state, Israel, faces strict skill audits from civilian reviewers, why should the Pakistani armed forces be exempt?
The prime minister, who is expected to address the nation today, should not just explain what happened but also give the impression that his government has a plan. Merely pledging that a future attack would be met with force – as the military is wont to in its press releases – would not only be irresponsibly populist but also incorrect. For there will be an attack in the future, and it most certainly is not going to be met with force. The space for indignation has also been completely squandered, with very few countries springing to our legal defence in case we face a unilateral assault. This, more than any other, is a time for tough decisions. And not one for the political class to be settling scores


Editorials | Pakistan Today | Latest news, Breaking news, Pakistan News, World news, business, sport and multimedia