Sharif reviews the army. (Photo : Pakistan Army)
Pakistan's heavily criticized travel ban on a Pakistani journalist that again revealed infighting between the civilian government and the powerful Pakistani military again shed light on the inconvenient truth the military calls the shots in Pakistan's foreign policy and national security.
On Oct. 6, Pakistan's English-language newspaper, Dawn, published a story written by Cyral Almeida, one of its journalists. The story revealed a recent meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Rizwan Akhtar, director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, at which Sharif complained ISI support for certain militant groups connected to ISI is leading to "a growing international isolation of Pakistan."
The government was also said to have warned the military its "militaristic behavior" puts Pakistan at risk of international isolation and any subsequent economic consequences. The story suggests the military sees Pakistan's foreign relations as a military tool to achieve military aims.
Despite the apparent schism between itself and the military, the government denounced Almeida's piece as a "fabricated story."
"The participants were unanimous that the published story was clearly violative of universally acknowledged principles of reporting on national security issues and has risked the vital state interests through inclusion of inaccurate and misleading content," said government statement from Sharif's office.
Almeida was subsequently placed on the government's Exit Control List that prevents persons from leaving Pakistan. Almeida's inclusion in this travel ban list was blasted by Amnesty International that called the ban a crude intimidation tactic designed to silence journalists and stop them from doing their jobs.
Government critics believe Almeida's story has again exposed traditional tensions between the civilian and military establishments where each tries to assert its control over matters related to national security and foreign policy, especially when it comes to issues related to India and Afghanistan where ISI operations are focused.
They said the general perception is the military has the final say in the civilian decision-making process affecting these countries.
One activist claims the civilian government intentionally leaked reports of the meeting to Almeida instead of issuing a formal statement for fear of a military backlash.
"I think this is where the problem lies. The problem is not with the messenger, but with the people who are trying to communicate and they are unfortunately doing it timidly because they know that if they do it openly and publicly there is going to be a problem," said investigative journalist Matiullah Jan, who also pioneered Dawn TV's first investigative show.
"After leaking the story, they (the civilian government) are now giving the impression that action against Cyril taken on army insistence after (Monday's) meeting, and making sure the things are mentioned in the press release so that blame is again shifted to (the army) General Headquarters and ISI for targeting a journalist," revealed a source within the military to media.
