Pakistan has an unfortunate history of prominent civilian political figures being labeled ‘traitors’ and ‘security risks’ by the establishment. Prime Ministers, ambassadors and even the founder of the nation’s late sister Fatima Jinnah have been targets of this kneejerk reaction to fair critical commentary. That the same treatment is being meted out to former DG ISI Lt Gen(retd) Asad Durrani is however unprecedented. General Durrani has been on the exit control list (ECL) since 2018 after a book titled The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace that he coauthored with former RAW chief Amarjit Singh Dulat, was published. His request for removal from the ECL has been denied on the basis that he has been “interacting with hostile elements” including India’s premier intelligence agency RAW since 2008. It makes little sense as to why such perceivably severe and baseless allegations had to be made against a person who had held the office he done, just in order to keep him on the ECL, when there were plenty of other legal arguments with less far reaching implications that could have been made to achieve the same. While the government will be able to retain General Durrani’s name on the ECL for longer, it has perhaps unintentionally provided RAW an opportunity to boast about its ability to turn a former Pakistani spymaster. The incident also gives rise to some valid questions as well. Have other former DGs of the ISI been involved in similar activities? If General Durrani had been collaborating with RAW for more than 12 years, why wasn’t he stopped or caught by any of the officers who succeeded him?
If the purpose of keeping him on the ECL at the cost of ravaging the credibility and reputation of the ISI and armed forces is to stop his future books and articles from being published, then this is a horrifically ill-conceived censorship strategy as that content will still see the light of day one way or another. It is high time that this high sensitivity to criticism that has seen so many leave the country to express their opinions openly is dialed down and rationalized.
