Sharza

“At the reception given by Jinnah on 14 August 1947 when Asghar Khan and Lt Col (later Maj. Gen.) Akbar Khan met Jinnah, Khan told Jinnah that they were disappointed that the higher posts in the armed forces had been given to British officers who still controlled their destiny. According to Asghar Khan, ‘the Quaid who had been listening patiently raised his finger and said, “Never forget that you are the servants of the state. You do not make policy. It is we, the people’s representatives, who decide how the country is to be run. Your job is only to obey the decision of your civilian masters.”’4 Could any politician have the temerity to say this to the army chief today? The answer has to be a resounding no. Hence, democratic governance in Pakistan instead of being a tripod of the executive, legislature and judiciary looks more like a garden umbrella in which the army is the central pole around which the other organs of the state revolve. Consequently, civilian governments in Pakistan have neither defined national security objectives nor developed strategies to implement them.”
― Tilak Devasher, Pakistan: Courting the Abyss

“Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

“No army which concerns itself with politics is ever of any value. Its discipline is poor, its morale is rotten and its reliability and efficiency is [sic] bound to be of the lowest order. You only have to look at certain foreign armies which are constantly mixed up in politics to realize the truth of what I have to say.1 —Sir Roy Bucher”
― Tilak Devasher, Pakistan: Courting the Abyss

“Jalib on the army crackdown in East Pakistan: Mohabbat goliyon se bo rahe ho, Watan ka chehra khoon se dho rahe ho Gumaan tumko ke raasta kat raha hei, Yaqeen mujhko ke manzil kho rahe ho.”
― Tilak Devasher, Pakistan: Courting the Abyss