->Sammica20 at 14:37, 20 December 2021

2021-12-20T14:37:43Z

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{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=April 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Short description|Pakistani political and military controversy}}
On 6 October 1998, [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] [[Nawaz Sharif]] relieved the [[Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee|Chairman]] of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee]] and the [[Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Army Staff]] of Pakistan, General '''[[Jehangir Karamat]]''', from the command of the [[Pakistan Armed Forces]] for making public statements regarding and contradicting the policies of public administration.<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news|last=CELIA W. DUGGER|title=Pakistani Premier Prevails in Clash With General|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/20/world/pakistani-premier-prevails-in-clash-with-general.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|accessdate=12 March 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 October 1998}}</ref> At a public and political science circles, General Karamat had a popular support and occupied a prestigious image in the country for his role to promote [[Democracy in Pakistan|democratic]] process in the country. His dismissal remains a controversial topic in the field of [[civil-military relations]], and the move remains still questionable at the political science circles of Pakistan.<ref name="STory of Pakistan"/>

A war veteran of [[Indo-Pakistani wars]] and former professor of [[political science]] at the [[National Defence University, Pakistan|National Defence University]] (NDU), General Karamat was an apolitical and professional military leader, but confrontation involving the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fourteenth Amendment]] and matters of principle of [[civilian control of the military]] was ingrained, which eventually led the relieving of General Jehangir Karamat from his command of the military by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in October 1998.<ref name="STory of Pakistan"/>

==Background==

===Nawaz Sharif===

As scheduled, the [[1997 Pakistani general elections|general elections]] were held on 3 February 1997, which marked the return of [[Nawaz Sharif]] with an exclusive, [[Majority government|two-thirds majority]] in the [[Parliament of Pakistan|Parliament]].<ref name="STory of Pakistan"/> Just after days of re-electing for his second term, Prime Minister Sharif faced serious constitutional crises with the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan|Supreme Court]] and the [[President of Pakistan|Presidency]] on the other side. Nawaz Sharif made very important Constitutional Amendments that inserted in the [[Constitution of Pakistan|Constitution]] which introduced termination of the [[Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Eighth Amendment]] and passing of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Thirteenth Amendment]], with the enaction of the anti-corruption bill in 1997.<ref name="STory of Pakistan"/>

Sharif's constitutional moves were challenged by the [[Chief Justice of Pakistan|Chief Justice]] [[Syed Sajjad Ali Shah|Sajjad Ali Shah]] and President [[Farooq Leghari]]; both were forced to resign by [[Nawaz Sharif]] on 2 December 1997.<ref name="STory of Pakistan"/> After Sharif ordering the [[nuclear tests]] in 1998 and his unsuccessful attempt to pass the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fifteenth Amendment]], a number of military officers publicly disagreed with the administration's policy over administration.<ref name="STory of Pakistan"/> This confrontation led to the resignation of General Jehangir Karamat on 7 October 1998. General Karamat was replaced by General [[Pervez Musharraf]].<ref name="STory of Pakistan">{{cite news|last=Staff|title=Nawaz Sharif becomes Prime Minister|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/nawaz-sharif-becomes-prime-minister-2/|accessdate=12 March 2013|newspaper=STory of Pakistan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115220428/http://storyofpakistan.com/nawaz-sharif-becomes-prime-minister-2/|archive-date=2012-11-15}}</ref>

===Jehangir Karamat===
In stature and seniority, General Karamat was a foremost army generals in the [[Pakistan Military]].<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|last=Aziz|first=Mazhar|title=Military control in Pakistan: the parallel state|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-43743-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCm2DFZblOYC&dq=Dismissal+of+General+Jehangir+Karamat&pg=PA83}}</ref> A son of civil servant and a highly decorated war veteran of [[Indo-Pakistani wars]], Karamat was an academic who graduated with a top of his [[Pakistan Military Academy|PMA Kakul]] class of 1961 and later fully tenured as professor of [[political science]] at the [[National Defence University, Pakistan|National Defence University]] (NDU) during most of the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="Routledge"/>

Karamat was a recipient of Pakistan's highest military and civilian honours as well as occupied a good image in country's public circles.<ref name="Routledge"/> He had a distinguish combat career, and many of his students at NDU would ascended in prestigious combat assignments in the country's military science circles.<ref name="Routledge"/> In 1995, Karamat gained national publicity after thwarting the [[1995 Pakistani coup d'état attempt|conspiracy]] against Prime minister [[Benazir Bhutto]], and his credentials would lead to him to be appointed simultaneously to four-star assignments, [[Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Army Staff]] and [[Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee]] by Benazir Bhutto.<ref name="Routledge"/>

==Events leading up to the relief==

===Problems with Supreme Court and Presidency===
{{Main|Supreme Court of Pakistan#The attack on the Supreme Court in 1997|l1=1997 Pakistan Supreme Court incident|Farooq Leghari}}

The conservative mass led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had come to the power with a two-majority as a result of [[1997 Pakistani general elections|1997 general elections]]. Sharif established the [[Anti Terrorism Court of Pakistan|Anti Terrorism Courts]] (ATC), [[National Accountability Bureau|Anti-Corruption Bill]] and passed the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fourteenth Amendment]] to the constitution, all in 1997.<ref name=PublicAffairs>{{cite book|last=Lieven|first=Anatol|title=Pakistan : a hard country|year=2011|publisher=PublicAffairs|location=New York|isbn=978-1-61039-021-7|page=114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ztr4xfSjH_4C&dq=Nawaz+Sharif+attack+on+supreme+court&pg=PA114|edition=1st}}</ref> After criticising the [[Chief Justice of Pakistan|Chief Justice]], the supreme court summoned Nawaz Sharif of [[Contempt of court]] and appeared in supreme court with party workers, members, chief ministers, and constituents to hear the proceedings.<ref name="Brookings Institution Press"/> Unruly party workers stormed into the Supreme Court, forcing Chief Justice [[Sajjad Ali Shah]] to remove the finding of contempt against Prime minister Sharif.<ref name=PublicAffairs/> Hundreds of PML-N supporters and members of its youth wing, the Muslim Students Front (MSF), breached the police barrier around the courthouse when defence lawyer [[S.M. Zafar]] was arguing Sharif's case.<ref name="Brookings Institution Press">{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Stephen P.|title=The idea of Pakistan|year=2004|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=0-8157-1502-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ideaofpakistan00cohe/page/219 219]–220|url=https://archive.org/details/ideaofpakistan00cohe|url-access=registration|quote=1997 attack on supreme court pakistan.|edition=1. paperback}}</ref> The partisans invaded the supreme court premises and intimated the [[List of Justices of Supreme Court of Pakistan|senior judges]] at the supreme court; all of this actions were recorded in security cameras and television channels broadcast the event nationwide.<ref name="Routledge"/><ref name="Brookings Institution Press"/>

Chief Justice Shah wrote a letter to President [[Farooq Leghari]] to call for armed forces actions against Sharif.<ref name="Brookings Institution Press"/> However, the constant pressure of Farooq Leghari deteriorated his health and resigned from the presidency.<ref name="Brookings Institution Press"/> Chief Justice Shah's tenured was cut short when Sharif appointed Justice [[Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui]] in his place, and his appointment was approved by the new president; Shah also resigned from the supreme court after hearing the news on television channels.<ref name="Brookings Institution Press"/>

===Public statements and relief===

After ordering the [[nuclear tests]] in 1998, Prime minister Sharif chaired the [[Defence Committee of the Cabinet (Pakistan)|Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC)]] session with the chairman and chiefs of armed forces to overview the situation with India.<ref name="Yale University Press"/> Although both [[Nawaz Sharif]] and general [[General Jehangir Karamat|Jehangir Karamat]] were educated and hold common beliefs concerning the national security, but problems arose with chairman joint chiefs and chief of army staff general Karamat in October 1998.<ref name="Yale University Press"/>

While addressing the naval officers and cadets at the [[Pakistan Naval War College|Naval War College]], general Karamat stressed the re-creation of [[National Security Council of Pakistan|National Security Council]] (instead of DCC)<ref name="nytsoldier">Crossette, Barbara. [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/13/world/coup-pakistan-man-soldier-s-soldier-not-political-general-pervez-musharraf.html "Coup in Pakistan – Man in the News; A Soldier's Soldier, Not a Political General."] New York Times (13 October 1999).</ref> which would be backed by a "team of civil-military experts"<ref name="Yale University Press"/> for devising policies to seek resolution ongoing problems relating the civil-military issues; also recommended a "neutral but competent [[Civil Service of Pakistan|bureaucracy]] and administration of at federal level and the establishment of [[Local government in Pakistan|Local governments]] in [[Provinces of Pakistan|four provinces]].<ref name="Yale University Press"/>

This proposal was met with hostility, and it succeeded all in accomplishing was pricking the Prime minister's highly inflated altered ego.<ref name="Yale University Press"/> Nawaz Sharif's dismissal of general Karamat,<ref name="nytsoldier"/> plummeted his mandate in the public circles and criticism he received from [[Leader of the Opposition (Pakistan)|Leader of the Opposition]] [[Benazir Bhutto]] was rogue.<ref name="Yale University Press">{{cite book|last=Abbas|first=Hassan|title=Pakistan's Drift to Extremism|year=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|location=United States|isbn=9780765614964|page=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiKm-ahTpS8C&dq=lieutenant+general+ali+kuli+khan&pg=PA166}}</ref>

Sharif summoned the chairman joint chiefs and notified him of his relieving from the service.<ref name="Dawn Archives">{{cite news|last=Staff|title=Karamat retired, Musharraf takes over as COAS|url=http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1998/10Oct98.html#kara|accessdate=13 March 2013|newspaper=Dawn Archives|date=10 October 1998}}</ref> On 6 October 1998, Nawaz Sharif dismissed and signed the relieving papers which went on effect immediately.<ref name="Public Affairs, Kathy"/> Many in Pakistan became surprised of Sharif's moved since the dismissal of four-star general was never happened before in country's [[History of Pakistan|short history]].<ref name="Public Affairs, Kathy">{{cite book|last=Gannon|first=Kathy|title=I is for infidel: from holy war to holy terror in Afghanistan|year=2005|publisher=Public Affairs, Kathy|location=New York|isbn=978-1-58648-312-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/iisforinfidelfro00gann/page/145 145]–146|url=https://archive.org/details/iisforinfidelfro00gann|url-access=registration|quote=Dismissal of General Jehangir Karamat.|edition=1.}}</ref>

==Aftermath==

===Response and fallout===
With Karamat's dismissal, it was widely felt in the armed forces that Sharif had ruthlessly established his control all over the country, including the military.<ref name="Rosen Publications">{{cite book|last=Daniel E. Harmon|title=Pervez Musharraf: President of Pakistan|year=2008|publisher=Rosen Publications|location=United Kingdom|isbn=978-1-4270-9208-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pervezmusharrafp0000harm/page/65 65]–66|url=https://archive.org/details/pervezmusharrafp0000harm|url-access=registration}}</ref> The dismissal of General Karamat was least popular decision in Sharif's prime ministerial ship, and his approval ratings plummeted.<ref name="Rosen Publications"/> Media Minister [[Syed Mushahid Hussain]] and later Prime minister himself justified his actions on national and international media:

{{quote|text=In a democratic society, would a Chief of Army Staff and chairman Joint Chiefs talk about the Government like that? What happened to [[Douglas MacArthur|General MacArthur?]] Mr. [[Harry S. Truman|Harry Truman]] did not [[Relief of General Douglas MacArthur|waste much time]]. Pakistan is finally becoming a normal democratic society.|sign=Mushahid Hussain, Media Minister in Nawaz Government|source=<ref name="The New York Times"/>}}

The relieve of General Karamat was a heated issue discussed even by his senior government ministers.<ref name=OUP>{{cite book|last=Aziz|first=Sartaj|title=Between Dreams and Realities: Some Milestones in Pakistan's History|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Karachi, Pakistan|isbn=978-0-19-547718-4|page=408|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\08\09\story_9-8-2009_pg3_5}}</ref> The most-senior and the former Treasury minister [[Sartaj Aziz]] gave vehement criticism and showed opposition to the Prime minister for making this move.<ref name=OUP/>

Writing a thesis in his book, ''Between Dreams and Realities: Some Milestones in Pakistan's History'', Aziz maintained: "Blunder of firing of General Karamatt; others will blame Nawaz Sharif for many mistakes he made. But in my view, the most serious of these mistakes was Nawaz Sharif's decision to remove General Jehangir Karamat as chief of army staff in October 1998". Aziz was extremely confident and certain that [[Chief of General Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of General Staff]] [[Lieutenant-General]] [[Ali Kuli Khan]] would be appointed as the Chief of Army Staff based on his seniority, merit, among a very competent officer, and next in seniority to General Karamat.<ref name=OUP/>
{{quote|text=It came to the conclusion that in relieving General Jehangir Karamat, Prime minister Sharif had committed a "blunder". He also failed to recognize that despite his heavy mandate, it was not advisable for him to dismiss two army chiefs in less than a year. In doing so he had overplayed his hands and effectively derailed the democratic process for nine long year...|sign=Sartaj Aziz, 2009|source<ref name=OUP/>}}

In 1999, Nawaz Sharif later dismissed [[Chief of Naval Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Naval Staff]] Admiral [[Admiral Fasih Bokhari|Fasih Bokhari]] to promote General Musharraf to chairman joint chiefs.<ref name="Yale University Press"/> The following month, a failed attempt to dismiss Musharraf led to a [[1999 Pakistani coup d'état|military coup d'état]] against Prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.<ref name="Yale University Press"/>

==Citations and references==
{{Reflist}}

==Readings and books==
* {{cite book|last=Aziz|first=Mazhar|title=Military control in Pakistan: the parallel state|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-43743-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCm2DFZblOYC&dq=Dismissal+of+General+Jehangir+Karamat&pg=PA83}}
* {{cite book|last=Riedel|first=Bruce|title=Deadly embrace : Pakistan, America, and the future of the global jihad|year=2010|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=978-0-8157-0557-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3RPdFmqxwAC&dq=Dismissal+of+General+Jehangir+Karamat&pg=PA45}}

[[Category:Civil–military relations]]
[[Category:Nawaz Sharif administration]]
[[Category:1998 in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Terminations of public office by individual|Karamat, Jehangir]]

Resignation of Jehangir Karamat - Revision history

->Sammica20 at 14:37, 20 December 2021