Letters to Staff College Quetta and What Is Wrong with Pakistan Army

Book excerpt: There is something seriously wrong with command and staff college which means that Pakistan Army cannot be an outstandingly effective army unless command and staff college Quetta is reformed. This institutions assessment system is defective, lacks third party audit, not based on any training in field and the biggest conspiracy against all talent and dynamism. My squadron officer Colonel M defined his impressions of staff college . " first day in class, our instructor colonel F openly stated that he was here because of XX Punjab Regiment and will favor Punjab regiment officers ." These were impressions of countless officers that I interviewed. The rot starts from staff college basis of favoritism, parochialism and lack of merit. War course is not really important as the officer efficiency index of an officer is decided by gradings that he receives at command and staff college Quetta. Castration of rights joined by Pakistan Army officers as inherited from British Indian Army Act An army officer till 1951 could not be retired summarily.However after the so called Pindi Conspiracy affair Pakistan Armys chief Ayub Khan, Pakistani Secretary of Defence Iskandar Mirza advised Pakistani premier to amend rules of service regarding retirement of an officer. From now on an army officer could be retired or dismissed by the government as easily as a sweaper ! This is the simple summing up of why a Pakistan Army officer is programmed to be docile. Any officer of any rank could be retired without any reason and this officer could not go to a civil court while in uniform against this decision. An officer was as good or as bad as a personal slave of the Pakistani state.Job security being Nil ! Even the Pakistani politicians failed to give the army personnel the basic constitutional right to appeal enjoyed in India. Thus while ZA Bhutto did allow this initially in constitution in 1973, he immediately took it back once the Attock Conspiracy took place. In 1958 when martial law was clamped, Pakistans military dictator Ayub Khan also castrated Pakistans civil servants. Arbitrary interference of an overpowerful executive and no job security.This is Pakistans issue of governance ! The key issues why Pakistani military has remained structurally weak and slavish raised in this book have never been raised by any so called famous analyst of Pakistan Army.