Pakistan’s Army Chief General Raheel Sharif retires on November 29. It is remarkable that the night of the General is so smoothly over. Sharif’s predecessor, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani got an extension and General Pervez Musharraf became a military dictator. Sharif asking for an extension would have surprised no one. But he did not. He was a popular General and had been depicted on publicity material for local bodies’ elections and on posters put up by banned groups. He was also hot on social media. But if he continued, he may have faced the same kind of personal decline as did Kayani and Musharraf in the last years of their wielding the baton. Now that General Sharif is going, the focus in Pakistan is naturally on who is next. There are four names on the list. Prime Minister will make the final choice. Sharif is quite an expert in doing the job. It is the sixth time that he will select someone to head the Pakistan army. One hopes Nawaz Sharif will make the right choice. Pakistan’s future rests on it. Democracy is still in a nascent state in Pakistan, only three years old. The army calls the shots. An over assertive General will further maul the fledgling democracy.
However, the military chief is created by the officers under him- corps commanders and senior military staff. They will have to ensure that the chief does not overstep the mark hurting the army’s interests. New Delhi can only keep its fingers crossed. No real change can be expected in Rawalpindi’s policy. The army and the ISI will continue to cast a shadow. It is Nawaz Sharif who will make the decision; India will have to face it.
