Radicalisation of Pakistani Armed Forces

The arrest of Brigadier Ali Khan of Pakistani Army, who was posted at the General Headquarters (GHQ) for links with pan-Islamic radical outfit Hizb-ut-Tehrir, has once again brought to fore the existence of radical Islamist elements within Pakistan’s Armed Forces.  The fact that the Brigadier, who was arrested on May 6, 2011 has still not been released after six weeks, indicates that he is guilty of much more than mere linkages with Hizb-ut-Tehrir.  

Many analysts have for long believed that one of the biggest threat to global peace and security could be the presence of radical Islamic elements within the Pakistani security establishment, as they could easily get access to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.  The fact that Brigadier Khan is a third generation army officer, with a brother, son and son-in-law in the Army, shows the gravity of the situation.  Pakistan has always tried to deny the existence of such elements within its security establishment  and so strong has been the sensitivity of Pakistani agencies to propagation of such facts that investigative journalist Syed Saleem Shehzad was believed to have been brutally silenced for publishing a story which highlighted the presence of Al Qaeda cells within the Pakistani Navy.

Despite the denials by the Pakistani State, there have been clear pointers to the presence of sympathisers and collaborators of Islamic radical organisations within all three armed forces of Pakistan.  Every single attack on a military installation bore clear marks of collusion by elements from within.  Many Pakistani Air Force (PAF) and army personnel including six officers were convicted for attempts on General Pervez Musharraf in December 2003, when he was the President.  An army soldier, Abdul Islam Siddiqui, was hanged on August 20, 2005 after an in camera Court Martial for triggering an explosion to target Musharraf in Rawalpindi.  On another occasion, an anti aircraft gun was discovered on the flight path of General Musharraf’s plane, when he was taking off from Rawalpindi Air base on a pitch dark night.  The fact that only a few Air Force official knew about the timing and the flight path of the VIP aircraft, indicated a clear collusion of personnel from the PAF.   There were also occasions when Army and Air Force officers preferred being court martialled than to fight the Taliban.  In one of the most bizarre case, 200 armed security personnel were taken captive by 20 militants in FATA.  There have also been numerous instances of sabotage in the PAF to prevent aircraft from being deployed against the militants.  

Former army personnel were also involved in the attacks on GHQ, with the possible collusion of insiders.  The attack on PNS Mehran was another case of collusion by serving personnel.  Kamran Ahmed, a former naval commando and his brother Zaman Ahmed were arrested for aiding the attackers.  Another marine commando from Waziristan, who had been posted at PNS Mehran, was arrested in January 2011 for having links with Al Qaeda and Taliban.  In 2010, two former army officers along with two serving officers including a colonel were convicted by a court martial for planning an attack on the Shamsi airbase, which is used by the Americans to fly their drones.  Even before Brigadier Khan, two serving army officers were court martialled for links with Hizb-ut-Tahrir.  

Saleem Shehzad in his book Inside Al Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 which was published just before his death, writes that many ex-officers of the Armed Forces have joined Al Qaeda and many serving officers are collaborating with them.  Many junior officers and other ranks still place faith above the country and accordingly many former officers who were earlier involved with Afghan and Kashmiri ‘jihad’ have joined Al Qaeda.  The book talks about Captain khurram Ashiq from the elite Zarrar Company of Pakistan SSG, who along with his brother Major Haroon Ashiq joined Al Qaeda after resigning from Army.  However, they continued to use their connections within the army to facilitate Al Qaeda aims.  Haroon allegedly killed Major General Ameer Faisal Alavi in Islamabad and kidnapped Karachi film maker Satish Anand with assistance from another officer, Major Basit.  He was subsequently arrested while attempting to kidnap an Ahmadi for ransom and is currently lodged in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.   

The radicalization of Armed Forces is nothing but a manifestation of growing fundamentalism in Pakistani society.  Salman Taseer’s assassination and its aftermath have busted the myth of a silent liberal majority in Pakistan.   The manner in which most sections of the society reacted to his assassination clearly indicated that the balance in Pakistani society and media has shifted in favour of Al Qaeda and its radical cohorts.   As the armed forces draw their manpower from the same society, its composition is bound to reflect the biases of the society.  As it is General Zia ensured that a whole generation of Army personnel had to listen to fundamentalist Mullahs and interact with members of Tableeghi Jamaat, as a result they believe that they are in the Army, not only to fight for Pakistan, but also for the glory of Islam.  General Musharraf after two assassination attempts did try to cleanse the Army of radical elements and succeeded in purging overtly religious generals.  However, the junior officers and other ranks by and large reflect the prevailing views of the society.  Most of them still believe that the war against Taliban is America’s war and have reservations on fighting them.

This is bound to create a rift within the armed forces.   Few days before his murder, Saleem Shehzad had described the attack on PNS Mehran as "the violent beginning of an internal ideological struggle between Islamist elements in the Pakistani armed forces and their secular and liberal top brass."  Most analysts believe that the Pakistani military is the glue that binds a fissiparous state like Pakistan and one can well imagine the implications of an ideological war within this institution.  However, the immediate concern for the international community is the prospect that there could be some Brigadier Khans in Strategic Planning Directorate (SPD) of Pakistani Army that is responsible for the security of Pakistani nuclear stockpile.

Alok Bansal is a Senior Fellow at CLAWS

(The views expressed in the article are that of the author and do not represent the views of the editorial committee or the centre for land warfare studies).