Criticising the Army is dangerous business in Pakistan, where it can even get you killed. And this extends to social networks, which are always monitored by lintelligence agencies to keep a check on the spread of any dissenting voices. Which is why #AskGHQ is such an unusual trend.
Instead of going after the obvious culprit of the Peshawar attacks, when 132 children were killed by terrorists inside an Army school, Pakistanis are beginning to turn their eyes on the ostensible victim of the attacks: their own army. While some have been content to rail against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who took credit for the attacks, or India, which has always been a convenient culprit for anything that goes wrong, Pakistanis are now also criticising the culture that the army has nurtured.
The hashtag #AskGHQ, a reference to the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army, seeks to question the use and misuse of terrorists by elements within Pakistan’s military. Starting on December 19, the hashtag has slowly begun gathering steam and is now trending in Pakistan, accompanied by predictable responses for those who think such a thing is unpatriotic.
The Pakistani military's connections with terrorist organisations, particularly the Taliban, which was created with help from Islamabad, are well-known. The army has often seen its relationship with these non-state actors as being a way of building what it calls "strategic depth", a term that refers to Islamabad's ability to hit targets it would like to, such as along the Line of Control, without being held directly responsible.
As with the United States' support for the mujahideen in Afghanistan however, this policy has often backfired, with the militant organisations biting the hand that fed them and turning their arms on the Pakistani populace. As Pakistani politicians frequently like to point out, their country is one of the worst victims of terror attacks on earth. #AskGHQ seeks to question the "strategic depth" policy and the Army's willingness to fund militants who end up hurting their own.
In response, both #ThankYouPakFouj (Fouj is Army in Urdu) and #AskLiberalFascists have also been trending, accusing those behind the #AskGHQ of not being patriotic enough and being funded by India.
The hashtag actually comes as a follow-up to protests at the Lal Masjid in Islamabad, where civil society activists accused the head cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, of being a Taliban apologist after he said the use of force against them would not be a "wise option". There Pakistani liberals appeared to be taking on one holy cow of Pakistani discourse, religious leaders. Aziz was eventually pressured into apologising, after a First Information Report was filed against for making threats, with the cleric clearly saying he condemns the killing of the school children.
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Instead of going after the obvious culprit of the Peshawar attacks, when 132 children were killed by terrorists inside an Army school, Pakistanis are beginning to turn their eyes on the ostensible victim of the attacks: their own army. While some have been content to rail against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who took credit for the attacks, or India, which has always been a convenient culprit for anything that goes wrong, Pakistanis are now also criticising the culture that the army has nurtured.
The hashtag #AskGHQ, a reference to the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army, seeks to question the use and misuse of terrorists by elements within Pakistan’s military. Starting on December 19, the hashtag has slowly begun gathering steam and is now trending in Pakistan, accompanied by predictable responses for those who think such a thing is unpatriotic.
On Dec 19th, 2014, around 8pm Pakistanis started a twitter trend #AskGHQ to demand policy shift in strategic depth policy #Pakistan
— beena sarwar (@beenasarwar) December 19, 2014Knowing personally how closely Pakistani intel agencies monitor digital traffic, very brave of folks across border to use #AskGHQ. Salute.
— Rezaul Hasan Laskar (@Rezhasan) December 19, 2014#AskGHQ about strategic depth pic.twitter.com/YNpE02wrAA — What's the rumpus? (@ammad19) December 21, 2014I dont #AskGHQ coz I dont want to end up missing .....
— eshal mirza (@EshalMirza) December 21, 2014#AskGHQ Why Baloch students organisations are banned but religious fanatic groups LeJ, LeT, JuD are free to roam spreading terror?
— Ghaffar Baloch (@Alhaan_) December 21, 2014#AskGHQ why they have created a network of fake think tanks and analysts to conduct psyops and confuse our OWN people? — omar ali (@omarali50) December 19, 2014#ASKGHQ hashtag venting fury at military's jihadi policy + asking awkward questions. GHQ, which monitors twitter closely, will b concerned — Saeed Shah (@SaeedShah) December 19, 2014Reality: We all say #ThankYouPakFouj all the time but no one can actually #AskGHQ not even those mandated under the constitution.
— Raza Rumi (@Razarumi) December 19, 2014This is Jinnah: “Do not forget that the armed forces are the servants of the people.You do not make national policy..." 1/2 #AskGHQ
— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) December 19, 2014"it is we, the civilians, who decide these issues and it is your duty to carry out these tasks with which you are entrusted." 2/2 #AskGHQ
— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) December 19, 2014The Pakistani military's connections with terrorist organisations, particularly the Taliban, which was created with help from Islamabad, are well-known. The army has often seen its relationship with these non-state actors as being a way of building what it calls "strategic depth", a term that refers to Islamabad's ability to hit targets it would like to, such as along the Line of Control, without being held directly responsible.
As with the United States' support for the mujahideen in Afghanistan however, this policy has often backfired, with the militant organisations biting the hand that fed them and turning their arms on the Pakistani populace. As Pakistani politicians frequently like to point out, their country is one of the worst victims of terror attacks on earth. #AskGHQ seeks to question the "strategic depth" policy and the Army's willingness to fund militants who end up hurting their own.
In response, both #ThankYouPakFouj (Fouj is Army in Urdu) and #AskLiberalFascists have also been trending, accusing those behind the #AskGHQ of not being patriotic enough and being funded by India.
The hashtag actually comes as a follow-up to protests at the Lal Masjid in Islamabad, where civil society activists accused the head cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, of being a Taliban apologist after he said the use of force against them would not be a "wise option". There Pakistani liberals appeared to be taking on one holy cow of Pakistani discourse, religious leaders. Aziz was eventually pressured into apologising, after a First Information Report was filed against for making threats, with the cleric clearly saying he condemns the killing of the school children.
