A lot of other questions besides the above are to be asked from the responsible, but to little avail for no suitable answers thereof would come from them except the one: "We cannot transform the lot of the poor masses overnight". They have made it a rule to say so and do not make efforts to change the circumstances of their masses no matter they may rule over them less than one year or more than a year. In this paper, I have also tried my best to tell that who and who rulers governed Pakistan for how many years and what they did for the good of their people and what they did to prolong their rule. Let me recapitulate on them briefly.
Let us start from those rulers who governed Pakistan for the first decade or so. In this regard, the name of Gen. Ayub Khan comes first. He was the holder of such a personality that caused a colossal loss not only to the democratic set-up of Pakistan but also to its very survival. He remained very close to the centre of power ever since his elevation to the position of Commander-in-Chief of our army. He stayed on as such for seven years and saw seven prime ministers. In this period, there was only one General and that was Ayub Khan. Almost in the same corresponding period, India had a single prime minister, and several army chiefs. That is, the chaos that had permeated the Pakistani politics in 1950s cannot simply be blamed on the politicians alone. It was Ayub Khan who did not let the democracy to flourish in the country. But contrary to it, he blamed the parliamentary system for having failed to provide political stability and national unity that was necessary for the country's well being. He held Pakistani politicians in derision announcing that the country was riddled with "disruptionists, political opportunists, black marketeers, and other such social vermin, sharks and leeches".
While upon the assumption of power as the Chief Martial Law Administrator and President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan wielded supreme power. In order to run the affairs of the country, he relied much on the bureaucracy for he used to take a light view of the politicians. He always tried to lay all ills on the heads of the politicians, while he himself had been buried in oblivion that all the major decisions taken by Ghulam Mohammad and Iskander Mirza had enjoyed his tacit approval. He remained in power for more than a decade and the condition of Pakistan and its people had never improved. Moreover, he took such extreme political and economic measures that had made Pakistan rend into two after his departure. Had he not been elevated to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the army, the debacle of East Pakistan would have been averted.
The period of Gen. Yahya starts with the resignation of Ayub Khan. People were the victims of boredom and frustration on account of his long military rule and they wanted to have a democratic government. In his radio address to the nation on March 26, 1969, he declared: "I have no ambitions other than the creation of conditions conducive to the establishment of constitutional government. It is my firm belief that a sound, clean and honest administration is a prerequisite for sane and constructive political life and for the smooth transfer of power to the representatives of the people elected freely and impartially on the basis of adult franchise..."
It goes without saying that Yahya had fair and free elections held in the country in which. Bhutto's party got a landslide victory in the western wing, while in the eastern wing, the Awami League captured 288 out of the total of 300 seats. Despite holding fair and impartial elections in 1970, Yahya could not prove himself to be a man of words and transparent sincerity. He also did not live up to his faith and showed no sense of responsibility that was devolved on his shoulders after the elections. That is, a greater charge that comes into his share, was the downfall of East Pakistan. Had he worked with some sort of sanity and responsibility, this mishap would not have occurred. When the position of Awami League was far better than the PPP in the elections, why did Yahya not make Mujibur Rehman the prime minister of Pakistan? Why did he use delaying tactics in this connection and gave enough time to the people of eastern wing to take up arms against the government?
After Yahya comes Gen. Zia-ul-Haq whose reign also extended over a decade. He imposed Martial Law on 5th of July 1977. In his address to the nation, he declared that he harboured no political ambitions and had been pressed to take the reins of the country into his hands because of the 'vacuum created by political leaders'. He went on to state: "My sole aim is to organize free and fair elections, which would be held in 90 days. Soon after the polls, power will be transferred to the elected representatives of the people. I give a solemn assurance that I will not deviate from this schedule".
On October 1, 1977, he postponed the elections by announcing that: "There is a cry from the country that accountability should take place before elections. Holding elections under the present circumstances will be inviting a new crisis. So the elections are postponed till further announcement." And in this way, he ruled over Pakistan for more than 12 years and less than a month after announcing the party-less elections, Zia died in a plane crash shortly after it had taken off from Bahawalpur. During his long reign of twelve years, he did nothing good for the country and instead fought a long war in Afghanistan.
Though he had been in power for nearly 12 years, the condition of the people did not improve in his period. Here the question is: For how long would he have stayed on in power to transform the plight of the poor masses of Pakistan? Were twelve years not enough to change the appearance of the general public? When the betterment of their own and also the well being of their descendants are involved, they do not wait even for a night and do work in hours.
If we cast a glance at Pakistan's polls of 2002, we hardly find any big difference in the strength of PML (Q), PPP and MMA. Though the right to make the government was not of PML (Q), it was that of PPPP and MMA (being the third major party) to form the government for both these parties had 141 seats as against 118 seats of PML (Q) in a house of 342. Instead of convening the newly-elected federal and provincial assemblies session without any further delay, the military junta gave ample time to PML (Q) so that it could garner support for a parliamentary majority.
In the province of Sindh, PPPP managed to win 50 seats, MQM got 32 seats, PML-F 12, NA 11, PML-Q and MMA succeeded in having 10 seats each, while the independents got 4. Indeed, the position in Sindh favoured the PPPP to from the government. But the PPPP was not allowed to muster enough seats so that it could form the government in Sindh, while this right the centre was given to PML (Q). In denying the people of Pakistan the real fruits of democracy, the blame by and large lies on our self-serving politicians. Have they ever thought as to how long these forces continue to rule over the country if they (politicians) do not support them in running the administration of the country? Why can't they learn political acumen from the politicians of India? Why do they remain so impatient in making hay while the sun shines? Again, have they ever pondered over this fact as to why in India the uniformed people do not take the reins of the government? They know well that their politicians will neither tolerate them nor will they back them in running the country.
That is till to date, whatever intrigues have happened in Pakistan, hardly any serious efforts might have been made to arrest the culprits. It's also true that their reports have never been made public. When Pakistan did not publish the Justice Hamood-ur-Rehman Report, India took the initiative in this regard and published it partly. Despite all this, Pakistan did not take the trouble of publishing the same report as the said Justice presented it to the government. However, the Urdu newspaper Jung tried a little bit in this regard. It published the parts of that report which India had already published. Therefore, the wrongdoers play hide and seek games with the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan as and when they like for they know well that nothing can be done to them no matter what the loss is caused to the country.
Bhutto came as a minister in the Martial Law Cabinet of October 1958. He had a close relationship with Iskander Mirza prior to his rising very high in Ayub Khan's affections and had also the status of an 'adopted son' of this older man.
He (Bhutto) played a pivotal role in getting Ayub Khan crowned with a victory over Ms. Fatima Jinnah in the elections. After the 1965 war, relations between the two started becoming tense. The key players in Ayub Khan's downfall, inter alia other things, were Air Martial Asghar Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He (Bhutto) used to say that Pakistan had lost the winning war of 1965 in Tashkent, while he (it was alleged) was the drafter of Tashkent Agreement.
First Bhutto attempted to join the Council Muslim League as its secretary-general but Daultana rejected him. It was then he felt a need of his own party, and Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) was formed on December 1, 1967. He wanted to capitalize on his popularity in the Punjab and tap the public's growing resentment of Ayub Khan. In his speeches, he tried to win public popularity by using his a four-faceted campaign: the first was an attack on the personality of Ayub Khan and the corruption scandals surrounding his family and his government; the second and vital assault which he used to make against Ayub Khan was the Tashkent Declaration; the third was his fierce anti-India propaganda to gain favour in Lahore and the populous central Punjab; and the last was his anti-US rhetoric to take advantage of public hostility resulting from the US arms embargo during the 1965 war and after.
On December 20, 1970, Yahya resigned and Bhutto became the Chief Martial Law Administrator and the president of Pakistan. When he became all in all in the country, he did not try to win the hearts of people by governing them justly and honestly. Apart from oppressing political opponents, his regime continued with its violent campaign against the Press as well. He also ensured that the government party should remain within his tight grip, and if anyone might try to stray even slightly from his narrow and suspicious standard of loyalty was immediately dealt with.
Bhutto had succeeded in getting the occupied territories of Pakistan vacated. The process of repatriation of the POWs had also begun. Undoubtedly the Islamic Summit was the climax, for it helped the defeated nation to see the entire Islamic world standing shoulder to shoulder with it. In 1977 elections, he had to recourse to widespread rigging to obtain a win. One could not help but notice the palpable fury of the assembled people as the doctored results began pouring in. Driven to desperation, Bhutto announced new Islamic measures on April 17, 1977. Alcohol, and all forms of gambling including horse racing were banned, nightclubs and bars were closed down and Friday replaced Sunday as a holiday. He thought that by these measures, he would regain his lost ground among the masses. But it was not to be so. The real issue behind the protests was the call for fresh and fair elections. The public agitation continued without abating. Bhutto wasted three months before agreeing to meet with the Opposition, and Zia on 5th July 1977 toppled his government.
In return for passing the 8th Amendment, the state of martial law was finally lifted. With the return to a 'civilian' system, Zia soon learnt that his unlimited powers had been clipped. Junejo would not let him have his way when it came to the selection of the federal cabinet.' That is, the simmering tensions between Zia and Junejo got worse when Junejo started 'meddling' in army affairs. Zia was also against the signing of the Geneva Accord on Afghanistan and demands that a coalition government be installed in Kabul after the Soviet withdrawal. The day he sacked Junejo, Zia went on television to justify his action. He stated: (that) the Prime Minister was compelled to succumb to unwholesome political pressure, which led to rampant corruption, nepotism and misadministration, finally leading to a complete breakdown of morality and law and order in the country."
Unlike Ayub Khan, Zia had also refused to relinquish the post of army chief and he solved this problem by retiring the generals who were awaiting their turns of elevation to the position of Army Chief of Staff. At the time of his death in August 1988, he had been army chief for a record period of 12 and a half years over four times the regulation tenure for the post.
On 20th July 1988 Zia announced the modalities of the elections. The election date, which he gave for 16 November, 1988 was 168 days after the dismissal of the Junejo government. It was an open contravention of the constitutional requirement of 90 days. Zia justified the delay by asserting that an earlier date was not possible because of the monsoon season, religious holidays, the absence of some 80,000 Haj pilgrims, and the need to redraw election districts to reflect population shifts. All this was widely suspected in the country on account of the reason that Benazir Bhutto was expecting her first child at the end of the year. Zia was thinking that she (being in the late stages of pregnancy) would not be able to undertake the full-fledged election campaign.
The result of 1988 elections failed to provide a majority party in the National Assembly. The PPP succeeded in obtaining 92 out of a total of 215 contested seats. In contrast, the IJI received only 54. It is widely believed that the Acting President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and the ISI, who were considered to be the joint-creators of the IJI, had planned to install Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi as the new Prime Minister. Their hopes had been shattered by the defeat of Jatoi in his home constituency. Reluctant to hand over power to BB, the power brokers delayed the process of naming the Prime Minister for about three weeks and did so when they had been successful in extracting concessions from BB: In regard to the matters of Defence and Afghanistan policy, she would have no say of her. Ghulam Ishaq Khan ensured that the finance matters would be stayed within the direction of his chosen official, and more importantly, he (being the Acting President) obtained a firm commitment from BB that she would ensure his election as President.
On 2 December 1988, the nation witnessed a woman being sworn into the office of an elected prime minister. BB had refused to abide by the democratic principles and her most of time as Prime Minister was spent in destroying Nawaz Sharif. Left with little option, Nawaz Sharif met her head-on in a vicious struggle for political survival. She was sacked as Prime Minister twice one by Ghulam Ishaq Khan and then by Farooq Leghari. Also, Nawaz Sharif was made Prime Minister twice and he was also sacked once by Ghulam Ishaq Khan and then by Pervez Musharaff.
Gen. Musharaff has since October 12, 1999 been in power. He ruled over Pakistan for more than four years with the help of his army generals, and bureaucrats. He also got 2002 elections held in the country. They failed to get PML (Q) sat on the driving seat of the parliament and because of its lack of majority; it had to rely on other parties. This resulted in a coalition government and Mir Zafarullah Jamali became Prime Minister. He remained in power for nearly 18 months and was forced to resign. He himself or those who had made him Prime Minister know better as to why he had been forced to resign. In his final speech in the National Assembly, he tried to clarify his position: "I have resigned at my own accord and no pressure of whatsoever the nature from any corner of the country have been put on me to resign. I am going at my own will."
(To be concluded)
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