Though the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) seems to have backtracked from its Co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari's tirade against the military establishment, condemnation by noted defence analysts continued to pouring in newspaper offices. Security analyst Lieutenant General Talat Masood (Retd) said that the remarks of former president were not appropriate and advised caution in making such statement against the military, especially when it is engaged in war against terrorism.
He said after the damage was done, it is of no use to give clarifications that it was directed towards the military dictators, adding the time was not ripe for such things as the armed forces are doing a great job in strengthening democracy. Lieutenant General Hamid Gul (Retd) said that Asif Zardari's calculation 'went wrong' as he thought he could weaken the military by pursuing his 'friendly opposition' policy, but things change with the passage of time.
He said that the statement from Zardari came after he realised that Bilawal House may also be on the `hit list' of paramilitary forces engaged in the operation currently under way in Karachi against criminals. He said that before the launch of the military operation, the prime minister had assured the PPP that he himself will monitor the operation, but he handed it over to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan as it was made clear that unless financial crime was not stopped, the control on all other crimes would not be possible.
The Rangers made it clear that the criminal elements on an average collect Rs 230 billion every year and the ill-gotten money is then spent on criminal activities. "If an across the board operation is carried out, the criminals backed by the political parties will be eliminated, which is not in favour of some people, and these people are maligning the army for their vested interest," he added.