Sunday, August 3, 2008

ISI CANNOT BE TAMED


By M Rama Rao
JULY 31, 2008

New Delhi: Pakistan’s flip-flop over its most infamous agency, Inter-Services Intelligence has a subtle message- ISI cannot be tamed. Anyone, whether a civilian ruler in Islamabad or his well-wisher in far away Washington, who entertains such a thought is living in a fool’s paradise, as are those who think that the ‘agency’ that makes many of the country’s citizens ‘disappear’ and rig elections on orders from the army can be humanised.

Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, is, obviously, not in synch with the unchanged reality of his country. That was why he had rushed into hailing the official notification that placed the ISI as also the country’s Intelligence Bureau under the interior ministry. He must have blushed a thousand times a day later when his optimism proved to be entirely misplaced as the ‘government’ in Islamabad clarified that the notification on ISI had been misinterpreted by the media.

Far from daring to misinterpret, the Pak media perhaps was genuinely puzzled by the late night notification after Prime Minister Gilani was airborne on his way to the US for his first date with President Bush. To suggest that in future ISI would report to the interior minister makes little sense given the clout of the ISI in the country. The agency, a creation of Ayub era, has always been under the direct control of the army, one of the trinity of ‘As’ -Allah, America and Army - that decide the destiny of Pakistan.

The army would have had no difficulty in making out a case against transferring the ISI to the civilians at this juncture when it seems to have made one notable achievement in the continued subterranean war of inflicting a thousands wounds on India - the spread of the jihadi poison outside Jammu and Kashmir with places far apart as Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad coming under a wave of terrorist attacks. These ‘missions’ were carried out by local sleeper cells, without perhaps no direct involvement of Pak nationals, as was the case earlier.

Likewise, the army would have also referred to accusations by the Afghans against the ISI activities in their country---a proof that the ISI has penetrated deeply into Afghanistan and is in a position to carry out Pakistan’s twin objectives of unsettling the Hamid Karzai government and hitting Indian-aided projects in that country as well as Indian citizens, including diplomats.

Now reality check on the whys and ifs of the ISI notification. What appears quite plausible is that the army was taken by surprise (after the notification was released to the press) and it lost no time in ‘warning’ the PPP-led government against interfering with its hold over the ISI. President Pervez Musharraf may not have spoken against the notification with anyone in the government, given his frosty relations with the civilian rulers. Also, Musharraf might have wanted to test the nerves of army chief Kiyani and see to what extent the General would be willing to go along with the American prescriptions and the compulsions of Zardari- Gilani combine.

Given the army’s stranglehold over Pakistan – it runs not only a parallel government but also parallel economy with a thriving private sector (with retired personnel) of its own, the GHQ could have scared the hell out of the Gilanis and Zardaris by telling them that if the ISI is civilianised, Pakistan’s very existence would be in imminent danger.

Some PPP seniors claim that ‘original’ ISI notification was cleared by top leadership - a euphemism for co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari who ‘remote controls’ the party from his mansion in Dubai. He had approved of the idea of taming ISI – an irrestible temptation of every Pak politician worth his salts - after it was mooted by de facto interior minister, Rehman Malik. Malik had good reasons to sweet talk Zardari into approving his idea.

First bringing the ISI under the civilian control would dilute the criticism against the ISI which has been accused of becoming a rogue organisation, a state within the state, as a result of which the army has also been getting a bad name. Second the US would be pleased as it has been voicing concern over ISI shenanigans. Third with ISI under his care, Rehman Malik becomes more powerful than Gen (retd) Musharraf.

Naturally, this scheme could not have been acceptable to any one in the army or the ISI, which is at present headed by Lt Gen, Nadeem Taj, who is related to Musharraf. A country that is still for all practical purposes ruled by the men in uniform cannot see a change of ownership in such an organisation.

From Pakistan’s point of view the ISI has been doing some very useful jobs that the army cannot perform, at least overtly, because of the country’s participation in the so-called war on terror. The ISI has been relentless in striking at India. On the country’s western borders, beyond the Durand Line, the ISI is continuing its mission of spreading the Taliban influence. In the days of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, this work was carried out at the behest of Americans who had bankrolled the mission. These days, when the Americans are desperately trying to demonstrate their hold over Kabul in a bid to boost Bush ratings, the ISI is trying to find its way into the power structure of Afghanistan and thus secure for the country a foreign policy depth.

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The plain fact is ISI is an instrument of state policy. As long as Pakistan retains a policy of hostility towards its two neighbours, India and Afghanistan, the agency will remain Pakistan’s most powerful body, one that will brook no ‘interference’ from anyone and from any quarter. Put bluntly, whether the ISI reports to X, Y or Z matters little. Or, there can be nothing more than a cosmetic change undertaken to mislead the Americans.

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