An Open Letter to the Corps Commanders, Formation Commanders, and the Newly Anointed Field Marshal

An Open Letter to the Corps Commanders, Formation Commanders, and the Newly Anointed Field Marshal

Dear Generals,

I find myself wondering why I’m writing to you, but then again, in today’s Pakistan, that wonder itself is misplaced. Over the last few decades, and particularly in recent years, there remains no institution or constitutional office with even a flicker of independence or a sense of doing right. And while I would never accuse you of such noble intentions, what can one say? Hope, as they say, springs eternal—often against all reason.

And so, here I am, writing not to the judiciary, not to Parliament, not even to the President (who might be busy in the ‘affairs’ of Sindh and beyond), but to you, the last men standing, albeit on a hill of their own making. That I write to you alone is, in itself, the perfect snapshot of our national tragedy. As the poet once lamented: Mera qaatil, mera messiah, mera munsif hi tha…

But I digress. The reason for writing is not the petty loss of a constitutional government, the ceremonial independence of the judiciary, or the disappearance of a free press. These, I fully understand, go against the spirit of your very existence; vertical and horizontal expansionism needs room, after all. What prompted this letter is, in comparison, a triviality, yet one that speaks volumes. A nugget, if you will, from the increasingly surreal theatre that is the Islamic Republic.

Yesterday, the Punjab Health Minister, buoyed, I presume, by the Sector Commander who moonlights as a kingmaker in the Lahore Zoo, oversaw the renaming of the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology to the Maryam Nawaz Institute of Cardiology. On paper, not exactly a national emergency. One could even argue that the glowing visage of Maryam Nawaz, always ready for her close-up, is easier on the eye than our eternally stern-faced Quaid, who probably spent his final days wondering what fresh hell he’d unleashed.

Truth be told, I wouldn’t lose sleep over the name of a state-run hospital, as long as it offers something resembling healthcare. But you, dear sirs, should be losing some sleep, if not over the name, then at least over your narrative. Remember the “Jinnah House” saga? The place your institution turned into a shrine after the May 9th damage, invoking military trials and eternal damnation? The same house which, by the way, should have long been a public museum but instead served as plush lodging for your Lahore-based Commander.

You mobilized your entire machinery for the desecration of Jinnah’s former residence, but are oddly silent while his name is wiped off an institution and replaced with, well, let’s just say “Punjab’s favourite daughter.” One would have thought “Jinnah” was your red line, unless, of course, lines are red only when politically convenient.

Need I remind you of the Sharif family’s colourful past, those very allegations of corruption, nepotism, money-laundering, that your own briefings once so eloquently highlighted for us? You made us believe that the House of Sharif was an existential threat to national integrity. But now, you allow them to erase the memory of Jinnah in the city of his supposed house?

Allow me, then, to share a small nugget of Lahore’s own institutional memory: The Gulab Devi Hospital. Built by Lala Lajpat Rai in memory of his mother. Land donated. Funds raised. Opened by Gandhi, felicitated by Jinnah and Fatima Jinnah, because even ideological foes once shared civic values. Maryam Nawaz, on the other hand, is not yet deceased (nor particularly saintly), and unless she’s secretly funding this cardiac institute from her own purse, the analogy falls flat. It is we, the wretched taxpayers, footing the bill, while the credit, as usual, is photoshopped.

But back to your own reputational concerns, which I raise with deep concern. You did manage, for a brief moment, to recover some global standing, a little flirting with Trump here, a good word from the Brits there. But gestures like these, allowing Jinnah’s name to be erased while criminalizing protest in his name, undo whatever credibility you think you’ve earned.

I am not suggesting, heaven forbid, that you try the Chief Minister or the Health Minister in a military court (that would be an overreach of your already elastic authority). But perhaps a word of consistency wouldn’t go amiss. A quiet nudge. A whispered warning. A reminder that the name “Jinnah” isn’t just for press releases and coup justifications.

In closing, I hope you’ll appreciate the restraint with which this letter is written. I did not mention the man “who shall not be named,” despite having every reason and temptation to do so. That, perhaps, is a subject for another letter.

But for now, reflect on this irony: Maryam Nawaz can name Sharif Medical City after herself ten times over, but to rename an institute bearing Jinnah’s name, on your watch, makes your entire “Jinnah House” crusade look like farce.

And if your red lines are this faint, then one fears that the map they’re drawn on may already be lost.

Yours

Lawyer, Former Advisor to Prime Minister IK on Accountability & Interior,Human Rights, hopeful for a better Pakistan🇵🇰