The beast:
What I call the beast is normally named as the deep state, which is basically the influential people who protect the existing portfolio/maintain the status quo or take the country forward through small measures which provide a baseline for a major shift in policy.
The beast in Pakistan has two essential components the civilian side and the forces side, usually without overtly agreeing both work in tandem with each other as a peaceful co-existence the favorite meeting places where both interact regularly without making it obvious is at the clubs like Islamabad club, the gun club, Lahore gymkhana, sind club and golf courses. If you are a regular there you'd see people from both components interacting with each other each side evaluating what the other is thinking and trying to move in which directions. Lately a formal avenue has been developed for the interaction of both and that is NDU where both components come together for a course and stay in touch with each other long after that course.
I am not going to take too many examples and define how the interaction of both produce what, but one typical example of both components of the beast interacting and supporting each other for the greater good of the country was Pakistan Nuclear program, rulers came in and left, Govts of dictators, civilian, left/right and socialist came and went but nothing changed for the program civilian, military all acted together to succeed in the same.
One example of the military side of the beast was Noora always had problems with Army Chiefs got rid of Gen Kakar, and after that General Karamat. These are not decisions which should be made without serious consideration unfortunately in our country we have been blessed with ruler with no vision, no after thought and no habit of studying. for Army the beast are its commanders right from platoon to Corps, who in turn have to have a feel of the pulse of people under their command. When Noora fired Gen Karamat there was a very strong resentment in the army; army chief is one designation which should not be taken lightly in Pakistan, the indoctrination is absolutely out of this world, the gelling in of officers with Jawans is exemplary, the jawans are treated much better that any of our neighbors. So the resentment became so strong that the message was passed all the way from bottom to top and acknowledgment and future course of action was send from top to bottom that this family will never again be allowed to fire a serving Army Chief. Musharraf was not a widely respected Army Chief many of the people who knew him abhorred him but since he was appointed Army Chief, he was their head. Whne noor decided to fire the Army chief while he was in Sri Lanka it was not a well planned army action it was a result of the previous decision 10th Corps decided it was enough, Gen Usmani and Gen Iftikhar ensured his plane landed safely and the rest is history.
I have reservation with certain aspects of our Armed forces but having traveled extensively over the decades interacted with people from across the globe trust our is one of the best indoctrinated Armed Force across the globe, our circumstances, our geography, our coming into being, our survival, our covert and overt enemies and our religion all have played a major role in the evolution of Pakistan Armed forces the way they stand today. Nutshell I have a lot of respect for them and their tenacity. Corruption yes, traitors to the country bare minimum.
Not all bureaucrats are good and not all are bad, but generally pre 80s bureaucrats were much better and pro Pakistan than the post 80s lot, however media and social media of today are what is going to modify the character of these bureaucrats in the future.
Keeping things the same is very easy in the civilian side of the beast just keep sitting on a file/decision, return with one objection at a time, pass it with negative remarks and the decision if taken will cost someone something once new Govt takes charge. So while bureaucracy has not really been pro Pakistan, in a way in many aspects its reluctance to change has also protected Pakistan.
But what has happened with BISP its unearthing of bureaucrats benefiting from BISP has scared the sh*t out of them.
There is another component to the beast but it has been ineffective/incompetent and lacked vision and that is the industrial tycoons, although Malik Riaz I must admit is part of the beast much to my disliking.
There are people from the corporate sector who interact with both the military and civilian segments of the beast, inform them of the benefits of new law/legislation e.g; I and a few people do take credit of the improvement in taxes through real estate sector because we have been lobbying against real estate being used as money laundering and investment avenue for over a decade.
Will try and add more once I have more time.
@incognito1000
