Rhetoric Over Reason

Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir’s incendiary remarks expose not confidence but desperation — a bid to mask domestic chaos and military insecurity

- SHANTANU MUKHARJI

Pakistan's loudest generals have always mistaken noise for power. Asim Munir is only the latest echo in that long, hollow corridor

It would appear that Field Marshal Asim Munir, the Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan, has decided to continue to remain and act in a hysterical mode, trying to speak irrationally with extreme provocations, using language whose tenor is marked with war frenzy and nonstop spewing of venom.

On October 18, Munir, while addressing the cadets of the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, Abbottabad, cautioned India with an aggressive tenor that Pakistan would respond much beyond the expectations of the initiators of any war, obviously insinuating India further, saying that India should settle core issues as Pakistan would never be intimidated or coerced by India's rhetoric and shall respond with exceeding proportions to even a minor provocation without any qualms. He further cautioned that the onus of escalating tension—one that may ultimately bear catastrophic consequences for the entire region—will rest squarely on India.

Here, we need to take into account the audience to whom Munir spoke. 'The listeners were very young army officers who are bound to be indoctrinated by such anti-India hate speech. Hence, the next generation of Pakistani officers will also nurture such offensive thoughts about India, thus minimising any chance of peace in the future.

‘This is the second time in two months Munir has warned India with such a threatening tone. First, in Tampa in August, after attending the farewell of the Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander, Munir had said that Pakistan, being a nuclear nation, in case of a war—if we think we are going down—we will take half the world down with us. He was addressing a section of the Pakistani diaspora.