civil-military imbalance in Pakistan it causes and solution

 

AI created picture of CMI 

Pakistan was created on the basis of  false nationalism , after independence the ruling class of Pakistan was too much concern about the sustainability or the possible  disintegration of Pakistan which can be noted from the speech the founding father of Pakistan Muhammad  Ali Jinnah at a rally at the University Stadium Lahore(30 October 1947) In which he said that "there is no power on the earth that can undo Pakistan" so the main focus of the newly born Pakistan tilted toward the formation of powerful  military  institution rather than strengthening  of  civil institutions 

The first step toward strengthening of military institution  can be seen from the very  first budget of Pakistan presented on February 18, 1948 in which a large proportion was allocated for the defense expenditure of Pakistan ,  the adoption of objective resolution by constituent assembly on march 12, 1949, further prioritize the military institution ,four years after independence the military became powerful enough to carry out  Rawalpindi conspiracy, a failed coup attempt. but  nine years after independence the  military establishment become powerful enough to declared  first martial law on 7 October, 1958. 

After martial law  the military institution spread it influence over all the civil institutions  which can be observed from the judgment of the than supreme court chief justice Munir who legislated martial law as "doctrine of necessity". from that time onward the judiciary of Pakistan  with the support of military  has intervened in the political matters, which has not only made the judiciary dependent on military but  also weakened all other civil institutions like political parties and law enforcement agencies. 

In  Ayub Era all the power were centralized at the hand of military, while civil institutions were marginalized  , which lead the foundation for prolonged period of military rule in the country. the Zia ul haq islamization martial law from 1977 to 1988 and Musharraf nine years era of so called liberal enlightenment from 1999 to 2008.

The subsequent events which contributed to civil military imbalance were the  Bangladesh civil war of 1971 which leads to the disintegration of  Pakistan.  after this event the military establishment of  Pakistan projected it self as the sole sympathetic and patriotic institution. through different  propagandas and techniques they  implant this into the  mind of  Pakistan citizen and create a sense of mistrust for the  civil institutions among the people. due to this reason the intelligence agencies of Pakistan always been involved in the making and breaking of political parties, which can be observed from the late eighties and nineties politics of Pakistan   and also from post Musharraf    era till the very last election of 8 February 2024 in  which the result were changed overnight to favor to the establishment backed political party. 

The soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the war on terror of 2001 further  centralized the power in the hand of military , the heavy involvement of Pakistan military in both these events with the backing of foreign powers established its influence over the  foreign policy of the state. Nawaz shareef in 2017 and Imran khan in 2022  were removed from the power due to deviation in their foreign policies from that of military establishment.

All of the above  reasons and events  have increase the influence of  military establishment over the political, economic and security affairs of the country  beyond their constitutional limit, which is the root cause of lots of problem in Pakistan .

 Civil military imbalance can be addressed by making proper constitutional reform which should clearly mention the authority of civil institution over the military of the country  and death penalty should be given to any one who abrogate the very article  the constitution. the civil military imbalance can be resolved by strengthen the civilian institution, political parties, democratic processes and rule of law.   as military has propagated it self the only patriotic institution a public awareness should be raised about the importance of civilian control of military institution and  a constructive dialogue should be held between civilian and military leaders to build mutual trust and understanding