Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Noor Aftab

Islamabad

The Pakistan Army remains a regular and volunteer professional force that has been pursuing its true character as a defender of geographical boundaries of the country, ex-chief of army staff and former Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States General ® Jahangir Karamat said Monday.

He was addressing as a chief guest at the launching ceremony of a book titled ‘Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army and the Wars Within’. The book was authored by famous scholar Shuja Nawaz and published by the Oxford University Press (OUP).

Jahangir Karamat said the Pakistan Army has been a critically supportive pillar in a transition towards promoting and strengthening true democracy in the larger national interest of the country.

“The book reveals the true facts about how inordinate development of one element badly affected the other elements in the overall scenario that led to events considered highly important in our history,” he said.

He said the Pakistan Army has undergone a long evolutionary process from colonialism to modern era that witnessed various phases relating to compelling and original character of this highly professional force.

Lauding the efforts of the author he said artistic use of both skills and experience has paved the way to write this book that has all the reasons to be considered as a brilliant piece of work.

Political analyst Nasim Zehra said while covering 60-year period the author has shown some interesting patterns especially in the context of bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States.

“The book effectively highlights the basic features of military strategies, resource allocations, politics and foreign policies besides discussing in detail the wars fought in 1948, 1965 and 1971,” she said.

She said going through the book certainly provides new insights into the Pakistan Army as an institution and helps understand the true nature of events taken place in different points of the history.

Chairman of Hashoo Group Sadaruddin Hashwani said the Muslims of the sub-continent had achieved a separate homeland after rendering great sacrifices in the Independence Movement. “Every one should evaluate that what he has given to this country and when we adopts such approach than we will be better able to cope with the growing challenges,” he said.

He said all those people who have intellect and expertise should come up and help develop a society where every one should work for the development and prosperity of the country. Author of the book Shuja Nawaz while highlighting the main features of his book said 700-page book focuses on various important issues and underlines the fact that the Pakistan Army represents the country as a whole and is a true professional force that has a strong ability to defend our frontiers.

He said when he was going through various documents it was quite encouraging to see that more army officers were recruited from Karachi than Jhelum in 2006. “Trend of joining the Pakistan Army has gained momentum also in the urban areas that helps utilize potential of talented youngsters.”

OUP Managing Director Amina Syed said the book is outstanding and unique in many ways as it gives overview and in-depth coverage of events occurred in the past.

She referred to a phone call by an Indian scholar AJ Noorani who while giving comments over the book said this is the best book on this topic written either in India or Pakistan since the independence.

caption

Guests listening to a speaker at the launching of Shuja Nawaz’s book.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=113692