COAS doesn’t respond to requests not to retire

PESHAWAR: In the faraway North Waziristan where militants held sway until June 15, 2014 when the military operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched to restore the writ of the state, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif didn’t respond when leading tribal elders asked him during a Jirga in Miranshah to stay on instead of taking retirement later this month.

Tribal and official sources told The News that in their speeches at the Jirga and later while having lunch, some of the elders told the army chief that they wanted him to complete the important reconstruction and development projects in North Waziristan and the rest of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) before retiring. “We have placed our hopes in you. We want you to stay,” insisted one of the elders.The sources said General Raheel Sharif kept listening to the mostly-turbaned Maliks, but made no comment.

The tribal elders who spoke at the largely attended Jirga and later had a chat with General Raheel Sharif during lunch included Malik Nasrullah Khan, Malik Khan Marjan, Pir Rahmatullah, Pir Aqil Zaman and Malik Nazeer Khan, the lone Member of the National Assembly from North Waziristan. They represented the Wazir and Daur tribes.

Officials termed it the farewell visit of the army chief to North Waziristan, where he paid visits almost every month since ordering the Zarb-e-Azb operation against the local and foreign militants in June 2014.

The army chief was on a day-long visit to North Waziristan and South Waziristan to inaugurate major development projects and meet tribal elders and officials.

Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Hidayatur Rehman, General Officer Commanding Major Gen Hassan Azhar Hayat and other civil and military officers welcomed him in Miranshah.

General Raheel Sharif was accompanied by his wife on her first visit to North Waziristan and South Waziristan. This was apparently her maiden visit to anywhere in Fata. The wife of Peshawar corps commander gave her company during the visit.

They met around 150 local women and wives and daughters of government officials at the Governor Model School in Miranshah and exchanged views on a range of issues, particularly resettlement of the displaced persons and their problems and aspirations. The wife of Kamran Afridi, Political Agent of North Waziristan, was the host of the meeting. She is involved in the rehabilitation of girls’ school in North Waziristan. In fact, it is after almost 15 years that the wife of a political agent is living in North Waziristan and actively participating in post-militancy rehabilitation work.

The main purpose of the army chief’s visit to North Waziristan was to inaugurate the grand, newly-built Younus Khan Sports Complex, named after the famous cricketer, costing Rs247 million and spread over 33 acres of land and formally open the Bannu-Miranshah-Ghulam Khan Road, which the military officials commonly refer to as the BMG. A senior army officer said about 5,000 people watched the first match at the cricket stadium, which is a part of the complex also containing football and hockey grounds and basketball and volleyball courts, while hundreds of others couldn’t enter the premises. “It was unbelievable. The hallmark was the ambience as the tribal elders and youngsters all thronged the stadium and enjoyed the match,” he remarked.

The Younus Khan Eleven, made up of cricketers from outside the tribal areas, defeated the Fata Eleven in the 20-over match.

In South Waziristan, the army chief and his wife visited the Army Public School in Chagmalai and met students and teachers. This is one of the several upcoming schools in South Waziristan and North Waziristan.