Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif has been firm, right from the beginning of his tenure as the army chief, not getting an extension in services.
However, a political moment has been seen in the roads across the country by ” Move on Pakistan” (MoP) urging Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif to takeover the country and impose martial law and form a government of technocrats.
These banners have been seen across the country especially in Karachi between Chief Minister House and the Rangers headquaters roads with a slogan ‘Janay ki baatain hui puraani, Khuda k liye ab ajao’.
The banners news banners have been seen put up in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Hyderabad.
In the earlier campaign Move on Pakistan urged the COAS to reconsider his statement not to take further extension in his services which is due in November 2016.
According to daily newspaper ‘The News’, a federal minister confided to this correspondent that in a private gathering during the first year of his tenure, General Raheel said that even otherwise, being a member of a family which is the recipient of two the most prestigious military awards of Nishan-e-Haider, he would never want to be an army chief on an extension.
This was the spontaneous response of General Raheel to a question hurled in a private meeting of his well-wishers held within eight months of his assuming charge as Chief of of Army Staff.
Read: Its official: Gen Raheel doesn’t intend to extend his tenure
In the said meeting, discussion was focused on the issue of governance and deteriorating standards of different institutions which have eclipsed the overall performance. According to the minister, come what may, General Raheel will never be in the mood of getting any extension in his tenure as he is very sensitive about his career as true soldier. Pakistan’s all institutions are facing a collapse like situation mainly because of the culture of giving extensions to top notches.
With his retirement date approaching on November 29, 2016, a strong campaign has been kicked off asking the Army Chief to move on, and commit questionable and unwanted act.
According to ‘The News’ quoting close aides of COAS said, General Raheel never had any intention of getting an extension so he thought of immediately ending all rumours in this regard. He would be the first Army Chief to retire on time in two decades. His predecessors General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and General Pervez Musharraf got extensions, while General Jehangir Karamat was sent home prematurely. (PhotoNews / The News)
