Memogate: What's next?

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Former ISI Chief Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha recently appeared before the Memogate Commission and recorded his testimony. He told the Commission that on the direction of Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, he had met Mansoor Ijaz in the Pearl Continental Hotel, London, on October 22, 2011. The meeting continued for four hours.

The former ISI chief reiterated that he had briefed both the army chief and the president on the meeting — General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on October 24th last year and President Asif Ali Zardari on November 13.

General Pasha also said he had seen the 35 BlackBerry messages (BBM) between Ijaz and Husain Haqqani during his meeting with the former.

Concerning the issue, one can faithfully deduce the following observations from General Pasha’s appearance and statement before the Commission.

In the context of current events, it gives one an idea that the ex-ISI chief was committed to the affidavit he had submitted earlier and had not wavered from his principled stance. In other words, he did not give any statement that was contradictory to the affidavit.

Significantly, it was categorically rebutted by General Pasha that a coup was planned by the army following the May 2 development in Abbottabad. “The ISI knows about any revolt in advance, and there was no plan of a coup attempt following this incident,” he was quoted as saying in his statement. This is a very important declaration coming from the top spymaster as the memogate was reportedly based on coup rumours.

Moreover, Pasha’s appearance in the court confirmed the army chief’s pledge that armed forces will respect the rule of law without interfering in government affairs.

At the same time, Pasha showed his dissatisfaction before the Commission over the reply given by the ex-envoy to the US. This demonstrates that the army would like the other party to be as forthcoming as the national security institution was before the Commission and contest any parallel version of legitimacy and truth.

Moreover, General Pasha’s appearance also proved that the army still takes the memo issue very seriously despite efforts by some quarters that continue to downplay the importance of the memo for the armed forces and the national security. It is vital to remember that the concerned memo is not about feeding a myth and buying into a propaganda scam. As far as the national security institutions are concerned, there is no doubt about its veracity.

(The News)

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