What is the present nature and character of the Pakistan Army and what are its attitudes towards the question of Indo-Pak relations? Surprisingly, many former senior officials in India, both civil and military, maintain that the Pakistan Army, the mainstay of political power in Pakistan, is a highly disciplined force. Further, that it would, unflinchingly, implement any decision taken by Pakistan Army’s collegiums of Corps commanders. The prevalence of such a perception, mistakenly, arises from applying the template of the Indian Army to the Pakistan Army, as both were components of the British Indian Army, built on the values of soldierly traditions, discipline and honour. Overlooked is the fact that the Pakistan Army has been subjected to different influences in the last 53 years that corrodes the discipline and honour of any effective military force. Such influences need to be analyzed in greater depth.
The Pakistan Army, in the very first decade after the creation of Pakistan, became a politicized army. It became the power behind the throne in Pakistani politics and soon seized political control. It has thereafter intervened frequently to seize political power and has imposed military rule for protracted periods; General Zia’a regime lasted for 12 years and General Musharraf seems to be headed for an equally long run. The Army has thus ceased to be apolitical. Tasting political power, it is subjected to the same corrosive influences of corruption, influence peddling and political patronage as the politicians.
The officer-cadre, and especially the Pakistani generals, are divided between themselves. There is politicization manifested in continuance of Punjabi predominance at the expense of the others, Mohajirs versus non-Mohajirs, and preferences for particular political parties or politicians. Pakistan Army has also exploited Islamic fundamentalists as political allies. Under these circumstances, tt would be naïve to assume that politicization of the Army would remain confined to the generals and not permeate down the ranks.
Today, the Pakistan Army is rapidly moving towards Islamic fundamentalism at all levels; this was a natural phenomenon in Pakistan because of socio-economic causes. The large masses of the urban and rural poor, with no avenues for economic advancement have been drawn to the fundamentalist organizations that are financed by the oil-Sheiks of the Gulf countries.
The soldiery of the Pakistan Army is drawn from the rural and urban masses. It would be inescapable for the soldiery not to be infected with the Islamic fundamentalist virus propagated by the thousands of madrassas in Pakistan.
Turing General Zia’s regime, the composition of the Pakistan Army cadre was changed at the expense of the urbanized, western looking middle class and upper class elite. Preference in officers’ commissions was given to the emerging rural educated generation which had strong leanings towards conservative Islam. This large body of Islamist officers, commissioned during Zia’a regime, comprise the backbone of the Pak Army – middle cadre officers of the rank of Majors and Colonels; they would soon be moving into the higher echelons.
The Pak military hierarchy today is seriously divided into two groups, namely the Islamic fundamentalist generals and the relatively more liberal ones. The former pre-dominate and it was they who brought General Musharraf to power. Why did the Pakistan Army not go in for a military coup when General Karamat was removed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif? Pakistan Army’s present leaders have obviously forced Gen Musharraf to give in to the demands of Islamic fundamentalists on many issues.
The Pakistan Army was forced into an identity crisis soon after the formation of Pakistan and the constitutional amendment made by Bhutto to turn Pakistan into an Islamic state. The Islamic identity that Pakistan acquired solved the Pakistan Army’s identity crisis. It decided that an Islamic state must have an Islamic Army. British traditions, apolitical character and discipline soon began fading away. Visiting former Generals of Pakistan Army have conceded to this.
In the overall analysis, the Pakistani Army presents the following profile:

• Pakistan Army is a highly politicized military force, both within and without
• Pakistan Army is a Islamic fundamentalist military force
• These two major influences are likely to corrode its professionalism and more significantly its discipline

The United States, ‘patron-in-chief’ of their so-called ‘strategic ally of long-standing’, needs to note that a politically adventurist army is also a militarily adventurist one, especially when it controls nuclear weapons. Pakistan Army in the service of pan-Islamic causes could become the biggest strategic liability for the United States.