According to a report in The Intercept [April 23, 2024], last month Sen Chuck Schumer of N.Y called Mr Masood Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, and advised him to warn the government in Islamabad, not to kill Imran Khan.
For anyone with just half a brain, it would be clear that this warning was not meant for the government, as much as it was for Gen Asim Munir who has been taking every important decision in Pakistan since Nov 2022.
If the US ambassador in Islamabad has been doing his job, he must have kept his government informed about the long list of crimes the Pakistan High Command has been involved in, from the day it overthrew the government of Imran Khan at the behest of the US, till now. This list includes murder, attempted murder, abduction, torture, institution of false cases, endless corruption, multiple instances of the shredding of the constitution, blackmail of judges and civil servants, and blatant rigging of elections so shamelessly done, that there may be no parallel of this in history.
The commission of these crimes was considered essential by the High Command, to nip in the bud, any threat to the exercise of its absolute power in the country.
This threat had to be diffused because of crimes committed and the accountability that beckons around the corner. And no one feels this threat as keenly as Gen Asim Munir, the main instigator and the inspiration behind the commission of these crimes.
If the US ambassador can sense the pulse of the people of Pakistan even remotely, he would know that no one in Pakistan is more despised and loathed than the General; and no country detested as much as the US for bringing about the present situation.
When a group of Generals contrives to put a groaning people under the foot of a group of certified thugs and criminals as their masters, the perpetrators should scarcely expect to be applauded.
Pakistan is a victim of treachery the like of which no other nation state in history has suffered. The closest example of such treachery was that experienced by the Sikh Kingdom in 1845, when Generals Tej Singh and Lal Singh, commanding generals of the Khalsa army in successive battles, sold out to the British and ensured the defeat of the Sikhs.
A repeat of this treachery took place in 2022 when successive commanding generals of the Pakistan army, Generals Qamar Baja and Asim Munir, sold out their country to the US!
Asim Munir may be known for other things, but he is best known for his arrogance and hubris. This arrogance has only grown because of US support for him without which his experience at the top would have allowed some humility to crawl into him.
It is because of this perceived support for him that the US has never sunk so low in the esteem of the people of Pakistan.
As an ordinary Pakistani, I do not know what is the end goal of the US in Pakistan. But if this goal is not anarchy which could inflame the whole country, the US should put Asim Munir back from where they pulled him out, and allow the people of Pakistan to breathe for free, even if it cannot give them bread to eat.
Meanwhile, Asim Munir should do all in his power to ensure the safety of Imran Khan. He and his High Command should dread the day when his troops have to kill their first Pakistani in open confrontation on the streets of the country. This first kill will lead to two, to ten, to a hundred, and then to many more. He should be quite certain that this first kill is inevitable, but it will come about much sooner if he decides to murder Imran Khan.
Very soon after that Asim Munir will be seen packing to flee in a hurry for a destination of choice which he must have already selected. No doubt he will have stashed away enough money to live in clover for the rest of his days. But things are changing wherever there is a Pakistani diaspora. He will find no peace anywhere he goes. Laws are also changing. He could therefore also find himself in a slammer in his refuge of choice. Or maybe, a lone wolf, who loves his country enough to die for it, will step up and take him down.
But before any of this comes about, things may change. Perhaps Schumer’s words of warning will ring louder in the ears of his High Command, than in his. If they do, they need to ask Asim Munir to hang up his hat and leave, when they meet for their next Corps Commanders’ Conference. In this act will lie atonement and forgiveness for them, no matter who forms the next government. In this act will also lie a chance for Pakistan, which they were always oath-bound to defend.
