National Defense Policy: Principles & Goals

The Fundamental Principle: Imperatives of Security: Some Guidelines

Prof. Khurshid Ahmad

The prime objective of a nation’s defense policy is national security. It manifests commitment to safeguard sovereignty, territorial integrity and ideological moorings for smooth sailing of a system of governance. Translating these targets into reality is possible only when a nation has strength and power at its command to meet any challenge arising from within or without. This strength should be formidable enough to snatch enemy’s valor to launch any offensive. The enemy should be made aware that war will bring destruction and sufferings to itself. The current military jargon for such capability is deterrence. Needless to say that weakness coupled with the will to suppress the weak invites aggression and that guarantee of peace and amity lies in the muscles to defend it. It is natural and an historical fact not particular to the contemporary world politics rather prevailing since ages that power to defend cradles security and freedom. A nation becomes a stooge, a henchman in hands of global powers when it waives pledge to defend its freedom, integrity and intrinsic values. In such a case, having own flag to hoist, national anthem to play on and days to celebrate, make no sense. Rather, they ridicule a nation’s self-esteem and ego which it has bequeathed to others.

While exploring this facet of national defense, Walter Lipman, a famous political philosopher, opines:

A nation has security when it does not have to sacrifice its legitimate interest to avoid war, and is able, if challenged, to maintain them by war.

(Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, 1968)

The Fundamental Principle

Seen in the light of global politics and the history of war and peace, the above given is the golden principle of national defense and security. Let us now see what Allah Almighty has ordained in this respect, in the Holy Quran, for the Muslim to follow:

Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including strides of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly.

(S.V 111: 60)

Sayyid Abul A‘la Maududi while elaborating this verse says:

For a timely military advancement, you must have war equipment and an ever-ready standing army at your disposal. It should not be that in a situation when danger is afoot, you are pulling together recruits, volunteers and necessary equipment in haste. By the time these preparations are complete, the enemy might have accomplished its task.

(Tafheem al-Quran, vol. 2, p.  155)

Highlighting another aspect of it, Ameen Ahsan Islahi writes:

The implied meanings of "Ribat-ul Khyal" is the horses trained and preserved exclusively for war. Ordinary horses can not meet this need. The major reliance in wars those days was upon the horses alone, which, keeping in view the special climate of Arab soil, were trained with special care. Muslims here are directed the same thing to prepare the able-bodied people for ‘Jehad’ and also have trained horses for this purpose. In this verse, Muslims are asked to augment and pile up their military strength vis-à-vis numerical, armamental and by way of other resources. Horses, in those times wars, had the same importance as clinched by tanks and airplanes these days. In the battle of Badr, Muslims had very few horses at their disposal which in later stages were increased.

In the verse To strike terror (into the hearts of, the enemies, of Allah and yours enemies) is stated the objective of these preparations which is to keep the enemies of Allah and yours, terrorized so that they dare not attack considering you a soft and easy target.

Second part of the verse saying "Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah," is referred to as the encouragement on spending in war preparations to bring the fact home that not even a single penny of it will go waste.

(Tadabbar-ul Quran, vol. III, p. 193-194)

Mufti Muhammad Shafi makes it clearer, when he says:

Make all possible military preparations against the infidels...This is then further explained by using the word "force" meaning the power to combat. It includes all warheads and vehicles, also, personnel training and exercises. The Quran here did not mention the specific arrangements then used. It rather said "force" which could mean any equipment in any age and place. Arrows, swords etc. were used then. Later came rifles and cannons and now it is the age of bombs and rockets. The word force includes all this. So Muslims today should, as far as possible, go for tanks, nuclear warheads, fighter planes and submarines, and must acquire all knowledge and technical understanding needed for the preparation. And if all this is done for the defense of Islam and the Muslims, it will mean Jehad as ordained. For defense preparation and waging war, finance is needed. The excellence of such spending in the way of Allah and its great reward is thus stated, "that what you (the Muslims) spend by way of this cause, will be fully compensated."

(Maarif al-Quran, vol. IV, pp. 272-274)

Four broad principles and goals, at least, can easily be deducted from deeper study of the above quoted verse:

• It is binding on the believers to equip themselves to tackle crisis situations. Any negligence in this aspect may invite dire consequences.
• War preparations include standing army’s numerical strength, ammunition quality and quantity, war tactics, technological mastery and swift logistic movements. These preparations must be at par with the technological sophistication of the age and the combative strength of the enemy troops.
• In size and quality, the preparation must fulfil two objectives:

- to correspond to capability and resource endowment; and

- to be effective in creating terror in the enemy and snatching its sprit to launch aggression. This capability as mentioned above is the deterrence.

• This exercise warrants men and material sacrifices. Allah has full right on our wherewithal and persons. It is obligatory on us to cater to the needs of the forces striving to defend our faith and sovereignty. Muslims should never neglect acquiring necessary force or to spare resources for this aim. Spending on defense and to satiate the needs of the poor is the best expense of a Muslim’s wealth. Quran says:

O ye who believed! May I lead you to a bargain that shall save you from grievous penalty? That ye believe in Allah and His Prophet; and that you wage jehad in the way of Allah, employing your property and your persons: That will be best for you, if you could understand.

(S.L xi: 10-11)

At another place Allah says:

In whose wealth is a set right for the (needy) who ask and him who is deprived.

(S.L xx: 24-25)

Principles and goals of the Pakistan defense policy must be set in the light of the aforementioned Quranic verses. Thus, the objective of our internal and foreign policies should be to defend faith, freedom, integrity and to ensure national honour and peace. This is possible only when we, on the one hand, have proper threat perception in the regional and International scenario and on the other morally and militarily fully commensurate with the task.

Imperatives of Security

After the demise of Communism, the Western powers hastily and without proper assessment of consequences branded Islamic movements as the new threat. The politicians, military experts and media persons, all busied themselves in crusade to malign Islam and the global Islamic movements. In the new emerging scenario, the U.S. and the Western powers are working new alliances with India and Israel C countries having aggressive designs against the Arab world, Iran and Pakistan. The creation of Israel was itself a dagger in the heart of the Muslim world. Both these countries are being armed with most modern equipment and nuclear power to counter Islam.

India, aspiring to become regional super power, is being extended full support by the U.S., the Western countries and Israel. The American eagerness to grant this status to India can be noted in President Carter’s statement who said while addressing Indian Parliament in 1978:

United States was one of the super powers and India was the biggest country of the non-aligned movement. This makes it essential that both states honour each others internal role.

(Shelton Kodikase, Factors in Interstate Relations in South Asia,

Canberra, 1979, p. 45)

America’s South Asian policy analysis shows that it secured full benefits from its relations with Pakistan but at the same time extended generous support to India to assume role of a regional super power. Worse still is the fact that Pakistan has been under constant pressure to bow down before the Indian supremacy in the region.

To further mount pressure, Israel had been extending India strategic co-operation for the last 40 years or so. This esprit de corps ranges from sensitive intelligence information to the trade of armaments, joint military exercises and commando operations. This nexus has brought them so close that the Israeli defense minister and other top military brass are now fully active in the formulation of India’s regional military plans. They rendered India guidance on how to deal with the freedom movements in Kashmir, Punjab and many other troubled areas. Israel has a significant role in fomenting nasty plans and conspiracies against Pakistan. A detailed information in this regard is given by Seymon Hersh in his world famous book, The Samson Option, which details the Israeli nuclear preparations. He says that it was on Israel’s policy plans to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear installations in Kahuta.

The situation necessitates Pakistan’s not having only the defense capability but also possessing deterrence for Indian or Israeli attack. We should also be mindful of the fact that in today’s wars, it is not the military muscle or strength in term of number and quantity but the quality of strength which makes the defense line invincible for any aggressor.

The 1991 Gulf war has brazened the limitations of the conventional weapons. The war analysts believe that besides the conventional weapons, now the nuclear deterrence, the mid-range missile technology and efficient air force alone can ensure security of any country from threat. Conventional weapons matter to some extent, but their role and efficacy has sweepingly receded during the last few decades. Now it is possible to make striking power more efficient and prompt by reducing dependence on the conventional weapons and that too without adversely affecting the total striking power. Power to face the adversity is necessary; and that too only relative and not essentially equal; only that which can repel aggressor. Such capacity alone can put an effective check on Indian war designs.

This has been opined by many war commentators that India would not have dared attack Pakistan had the latter possessed nuclear deterrence in 1971. Former Indian chief of army staff, Gen. Krinshna Swami Sundur Ji, while exploring the intricacies of three Pak-India wars maintained that had the two countries been nuclear at the time, "these wars would have not occurred."

(Sundur Ji’s article "Changing Military Equation In Asia,"

The Relevance of Nuclear Weapons)

In India Today (April 30, 1993) Gen. Sundur Ji claimed: "If India and Pakistan possess nuclear deterrence, I believe they would be able to slash their respective armies."

Some Guidelines

This brings forth some guiding principles and targets for defense policy of Pakistan:

• The foundation stone of defense policy should be to defend our faith and country. It is certified by the Quran and the Sunnah, and the history of Islam stands witness that the sprit of Jehad alone can make a smaller nation’s defense invincible from threats and assaults of a powerful enemy. Former Pakistan Navy Chief, Admiral Sharif acknowledged at an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) sponsored seminar that Chinese Premier Chau En Lai reminded him during a meeting in 1968 that the defense of Pakistan lies in the undying sprit of Jehad. (Foreign Policy Debate, p. 152)
• It is not necessary for Pakistan to be at par in nuclear capability vis-à-vis India and Israel but to acquire nuclear deterrence sufficient to desist these countries from launching any attack. The maintenance of this capability is essential for our freedom, integrity and religious identity. Effective delivery system, short and medium range missiles and efficient air force are of course the integral part of this deterrence. We must also have a small but smart navy equipped with nuclear weapons to defend our oceans.
• Reorganisation of the army to bring conventional machinery and other weapons in tune with the new requirements of time is essential.
• Defense industry and research work must coincide with the modern requirements and should lead the country to self-reliance in this field.
• To maintain second-line defense, all healthy citizens should be imparted substantive military training. The concept is being successfully run in Turkey and most of the Western countries. Switzerland and Israel keep a small but highly professional army equipped fully with the modern weaponry on the one hand, while on the other they have four to six fold greater, well trained civilian force ready to assist army. This force is capable of taking up position on a short one-week notice. This kind of defense mechanism thus spares army for more sophisticated jobs in war. Pakistani youth have proved its metal in Afghanistan and Kashmir and need minor training to match well trained enemy troops.
• Strengthening of economy and food self-sufficiency form part of reliable defense. It is a shame that while Indian army was busy in merciless butchering of Kashmiris and shelling border areas, our indifferent leadership clamoured for opening full-fledged trade relations with India to import wheat and other food commodities.
• Restoration of peace and security environment besides having a standard civil defense training programme is also very important.
• Steps must be taken for moral upbringing and protection of religious, social and cultural norms of country. A programme should be chalked out to rebut the tide of Hindu and Western cultural onslaught.

These are the guiding principles which a national defense policy must aim at. By following this objective course we shall be able to safeguard our religion, country and the honour of the Muslim Ummah.

Here, a logical question arises and that is the allocation of funds. We have no doubt that Pakistan and the Islamic world has no dearth of financial resources but the problem is how to tap these resources and reform decision-making. Following are some points for consideration in this regard:

• A firm determination and acute vision: Quran inspires the believers to spend in the way of God and promises manifold returns for all that is spent in preparations for Jihad. Ruler and the ruled, both must be clear minded that security and defense demand inevitable allocation of financial resources.
• Revamping economic and development policies, priorities and direction: Without solid, constructive and healthy plans and an extravagant free spending, the national freedom and cultural identity can not be ensured. Tendencies like, feeding on loans, smoking away of national exchequer on non-development schemes, corruption, concentration of wealth among a few privileged wealthy groups and families, ignoring agriculture and persistent demand from the commoners etc., can not establish a nation on its own two feet, neither can it bring welfare to citizens.
• Policy-making: Leadership, our scholars, scientists and policy-makers should chalk out new long- and short-term policies for defense and national security. This will strengthen those permanent foundations on which rests our defense.
• Mixed nuclear and conventional defense system: A balance may be maintained between these two systems so that an integrated policy could be formulated. The systems have so far been running parallel. To integrate them and within this new arrangement reconstitution of the defense system at all levels is essential.
• Utilisation of the national exchequer: It is extremely sad to note that the wealth of the nation is being ruthlessly plundered in all government sectors. We are not resource-deficit nation but stuck up in the trauma of dishonesty and misappropriation. We lack in the sense of administering service and accountability before Allah and the public. The national exchequer should be utilised keeping in mind the concept of sacred trust and the trustees.

If we take care of what is said above, Allah shall increase our resources and endows us with new ones. His has promised that if His path is followed with faith and true sense of accountability, the earth with ooze out its treasures and heavens will shower bounties.

(Nov 4, 1997)

Chairman, International Institute of Islamic Economics, International Islamic University, Islamabad (1983-87); President, International Association of Islamic Economics, Leicester, UK (1984-92); Member, Supreme Advisory Council, International Center for Research and Islamic Economics, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah (1979-83); Vice President, Standing Conference on Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe, Berlin and London (1974-78); Member, Advisory council, Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, UK (1976-78); Member ,National Hijra Committee, Govt of Pakistan (1978-83); Member, Committee of Jurists to Evaluate Islamic Laws in Sudan (1986-87); Member, International Review Committee, Islamic Research and Training Institute, Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah (1988-89).

He remained member of Senate of Pakistan for two terms (1985-l997) and was also Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning.

Prof Khurshid is Founder and Chairman of both Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad and The Islamic Foundation, Leicester (UK). He is member of Boards of Trustees of Islamic Centre, Zaria (Nigeria); International Islamic University, Islamabad; Foundation Council, Royal Academy for Islamic Civilization, Amman (Jordan) and Vice President of Islamic Research Academy, Karachi and Lahore.

Prof Ahmad has been editing a number of ideologically oriented magazines and periodicals. He authored and edited more than 30 books in English, over 20 books in Urdu and contributed to a large number of magazines. He has so far participated in over 100 international conferences and seminars in his personal as well as representative capacities.

In view of his pioneering work and contributions towards the development of Islamic Economics as an academic discipline, he was awarded the First Islamic Development Bank Award for Economics in 1988. His contributions to the Islamic cause and Islamic Movement was recognized in the form of King Faisal International Award,1990.

Khurshid Ahmad became a member of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) in 1949 and was elected as Nazim-e-A’ala (President) of that organisation in 1953. He formally joined Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan in 1956. Besides several other responsibilities he is presently editor of the Tarjumanul Quran a monthly organ of Jamaat-e-Islami.