Brave Or Stupid? Nawaz Sharif Attempts To Put The Pakistan Army And ISI In Their Place

The civilian government in Pakistan may finally be showing the Pakistan Army its place. Or perhaps this is all just window dressing.

According to a Dawn report, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government seems to have made it clear to the army that Pakistan has been completely isolated on the issue of terrorism and recent tensions in Kashmir.

Reports also mention a verbal confrontation between between Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), General Rizwan Akhtar, during a meeting chaired by Pakistan’s prime minister.

When the foreign ministry officials briefed those present at the meeting about Pakistan’s growing isolation in international fora, Shehbaz Sharif reportedly suggested acting on some of the demands made by India, the United States and even China. These actions include prosecuting Jaish-e-Mohammad, the well-known anti-India terrorist organisation, and completing the investigation in the Pathankot air force base attack case.

The ISI-led Pakistan armed forces delegation did not seem to have liked this one bit. However, two broad plans of action have possibly been agreed upon.

First, General Akhtar, accompanied by National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua, is to travel to each of the four provinces to inform the ISI sector commanders that they are not to interfere if law enforcement acts against banned militant groups. General Akhtar’s inter-provincial tour has begun with a visit to Lahore.

Second, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed that progress be made on the Pathankot investigation and to restart the stalled trials related to Mumbai attacks in a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court.

This appears to be the latest in a series of events that have led to heightened tensions between Pakistan’s civilian government and its armed forces.

What we can only say at this point of time is that it is too early to tell who will win this face-off.