Mursi’s power play
This is in reference to the column “Mursi’s gamble with generals pays off” by Aijaz Zaka Syed. The author has very nicely sketched the major step taken by President Muhammad Mursi in sacking the Army Chief Gen. Hussain Tantawi and chiefs of other wings of the military and intelligence. For democracy and democratic institutions to work efficiently and smoothly anywhere, the men in uniform be kept away from the corridors of power and should not be allowed to interfere in the civilian affairs of the country.
In fact, as adopted by India, the military power should not be left unchecked and concentrated in the hands of one general or one wing; it should rather be divided between army, navy, air force and intelligence with each of the chiefs reporting separately to the elected executive ruling the country.
The present situation in Egypt, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia requires leaders who have the capacity to calm down the agitated masses and adopt broad based policies that ensure fulfillment of basic necessities for one and all. In all these areas, the military has absolutely no role to play and be banished to their quarters to just defend the borders.
As we had seen earlier in several countries, especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa and the Asian Subcontinent, it is the military that did not allow democracy to take stronger roots and the frequent coups obliterated the democratic institutions and curbed civil liberties. It is the military rule under different regimes in Pakistan that kept creating a sense of insecurity for India and that unfortunately resulted in unnecessary race for arms and ammunition in the region including the reckless eagerness to develop and amass nuclear weapons by both the countries.
Needless to say, the huge budget allocation for defense in the name of national security has impacted the development and progress in other social sectors such as education and health.
As elaborated by the writer earlier too, the whole Indian media pick and drop topics to keep its audience one eyed and do not hesitate in even adding fuel to the fire as it did in the past two days to help make the rumor mills about the inevitable attacks on the northeastern Indians in several western and southern states churning. — Safi H. Jannaty, Hyderabad, India
Makkah summit coverage
Kudos to Arab News for providing a comprehensive coverage of the Islamic Solidarity Summit held in the holy city of Makkah. The entire event was covered meticulously with minute detail. Once again I thank Arab News for all what was dished out to the regular readers without any extra charges. Wish the Arab News staff a very happy Eid Al-Fitr. — S.H. Moulana, Riyadh
North Waziristan operation
According to media reports, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has claimed that Pakistan has decided to launch a military operation against militants in North Waziristan. For last several years, Pakistan has been facing increasing pressures from the US to launch an operation in North Waziristan. But the reality on the ground is that after the military operation in South Waziristan, security situation has gotten worse in the country. There have been many terrorist and suicide attacks following the operation. These attacks have become daily routine and even army installations and high profile areas are not safe from militant attacks. I believe that the Pakistan’s military and civil government don’t want to open another front in North Waziristan. Government feels that in case of any military operation and use of air power some pro-government militant groups can turn their guns toward the government. After continuous US drone attacks and killings of ordinary people sentiments are already high in North Waziristan against the government. Military operation and use of power will only cause more deaths, more destruction, more suicide and revenge attacks and more deaths of innocent people. The US doesn’t realize that the military operation is not a permanent solution to all the problems in the area. After military operation in South Waziristan, militants fled to neighboring Afghanistan’s areas bordering with Pakistan. Despite Pakistan’s repeated requests, highly equipped NATO and Afghan forces are not able to monitor frequent movements of militants from Pakistani border areas to Afghanistan. These militant groups are getting weapons and support from inside Afghanistan to carry out their attacks inside Pakistan. Unfortunately after several aid packages announced by the US, Pakistan’s tribal belt is still the poorest area of the country with no proper education and medical facilities. After long years of war and fierce fighting between different groups several thousands of people have been forced to leave their home and now they are living in miserable conditions in camps. — Khawaja Umer Farooq, Jeddah
