In the war against the Corona Virus what kind of civil-military relations are being

established and why this relationship is important?

Sudden Corona outbreak gave rise to so many issues in the country. It includes economic
growth, peace, businesses, jobs, and the living of underprivileged people. Attention from
important factors has been diverted toward corona. The country is now in chaos and situations
seem uncontrollable. A partial lockdown has caused so many issues, nothing is properly running.
Prime Minister, Imran Khan is trying his best to control the situation, he came up with Covid-19
Pandemic Relief Fund agency to help the country to surpass this pandemic, and many people like
Edhi-foundation contributed to it, also a man anonymously sent a cheque to the government. But
still, in conferences, Imran khan was found helpless and hopeless. It seems like the government
is failing because, in the TV conference of the PM, he stated that the government is monitoring
the pandemic from January and reported the first patient on the 26th February and the current
number of infected people is about 30,000 and death tolls to 650.
The start of this hybrid civil-military governance was when Imran Khan came in power in 2018.
The army chief has greater influence such as interceding in economic and other issues that fall
within the scope of civilians. But Imran Khan has been sidelined from the Military after he failed
to act properly on the Corona crisis and impose a proper lockdown. After that the military of
Pakistan was left with no other option but to deploy rangers all over the country and establish
new civil-military relations. On 23 March (2020) , Chief spokesman Major General Babar
Iftikhar reported that rangers will be posted all over the country in response to call for help from
provincial authorities. It was a clear sign that the establishment was losing patience due to the
refusal of Imran Khan to provide responsible leadership when the country required it. Because he
kept saying, the situation will keep getting worse with time but we don’t need to panic because it
is just the flu and he was not taking any proper measures.
Kind of relations that are being established:
As per the new model of civil-military relations, decisions taken by the army are understandable
because they are trying to safeguard the interest and not keep everything under control without
losing political legitimacy. The military is all over the country right now. Rangers are stopping
people from coming out of houses. Taking care of patients of corona and civil mobilization.
They built a separate hospital for corona patients in 10 days. They are on duty at airports,
checking every person coming from foreign, and taking care of people in quarantine. They are
trying to restore or repair their power to rule. They are cooperating with scholars to keep people
at home and stop coming out and gathering in mosques. They are providing their military nurses
and doctors for the treatment of patients. Infected and people in isolation are being kept in
military camps and hospitals. They are trying their best to provide medical equipment for
patients. Doctors and nurses protested for safety equipment for them because many doctors
tested positive after working with Corona patients and many doctors lost their lives so the
military provided them with safety equipment.
In Pakistan, calling the military out for help in this pandemic might not be the decision of PM
Imran Khan but the first time in history the Article 245 of the constitution of 1973 is invoked all
over the country. Last time the same article was invoked was in 2014 in Imran Khan’s Anti-
government protests in Islamabad. But at that time the high court continued functioning as it is
and the law was not applicable in the whole country. It is also a reminder of variation of 1958
martial law when the military came and stayed for longer and also high courts of the provinces
lost power. Corona pandemic may be an opportunity for the army to dump Imran Khan because
he has proved costly for military legitimacy. And Imran Khan is aware of the threat to his power.
Importance of relations :
At the moment, civil-military relations are important because the government alone can not do
anything. They need the military to assist them in taking all kinds of measures. Government
alone can’t stop people from coming out and with a partial lockdown it is not possible at all. But
the military is giving his best and controlling situation. The military has power and people know
that, they can control people by using that power. They are collaborating with different agencies
and organizations to stop the spread of Covid-19 like with health institutions to provide them
with nurses and doctors and required medical equipment. Without the help of the military it was
not possible to keep the peace maintained. People would have been panicking and there would be
chaos in the whole country. Without the military's separate hospitals for corona patients, people
with other diseases would have been ignored. So it was important to establish civil-military
relations. In handling the corona pandemic, the government left a big gap and the military tried
to fill that gap. The government only imposed lockdown and social distancing but it was the
military who made people follow it. Many scholars came together and warned the government
that lockdown will not be implemented in mosques. Once a mob attacked police in Karachi and
once a mob attacked a female SHO in Karachi because they were allowing gatherings in
mosques. Then the military cooperated with scholars and they advised people to pray at home
and allowed only a few people to pray in mosques but keeping social distancing rules in mind.