This is a summing up of Pakistani Politics summed up in Daily Nation Lahore.

The article ruffled many feathers in the tinpot Musharraf Junta

Essence of the Matter

Published in the Daily Nation Lahore in September 2002

A.H Amin

While analysis of todays Pakistani politics is outwardly subtle and convincing at the face value , serious historical analysis remains the weak point .What is lacking is the long view , the inability to penetrate through appearances,the motivation to write with an ulterior motivation to please to secure personal business objectives and worse of all to criticise simply because a writer has acquired the reputation of a cynic and his writings are read simply because his cynicism provides a catharsis for many !his does not mean that all

is well or all military or civil rulers are well meaning reluctant coup makers

!his article is an attempt to capture cru" of the whole issue in a few paragraphs An ambitious but certainly not impossible endeavour #irst of all the basis of modern $ndo Pak politics was initially a type of liberal set of beliefs based on faith in %ritish parliamentary system and liberalism mi"ed with the philosophy of self rule !he %ritish

introduced Western democracy in $ndia with a view to afford a vent to the $ndians desire for participation and sense of involvement !he

urban professional classes picked it up as a means for self realisation or self advancement !he feudals picked it up as a means of

continuing their unfair advantage or position of influence in the $ndian society. !he middle classes ran after government jobs as a means of self advancement and economic benefit !he $ndian soldiers served in the army as mercenaries motivated by economic benefits and part propelled by espirit de corps !he politicians came into conflict with

the %ritish not because all of them were heroes or martyrs but because it was a struggle for power !he civil servants and

mercenary pre &'() $ndo Pak soldiers collaborated with the %ritish because it improved their prospects of self advancement !he pre

&'() $ndian Army , the father of the post &'() $ndian and Pakistan Army had nothing to do with $ndo Pak political struggle at least in what they voluntarily or deliberately did less a platoon of *arhwal +ifles which refused to open fire on ,uslims demonstrating in Peshawar in &'-. After all who was shooting down $ndo Pak

civilians like partridges in Wana , +a/mak ,0indh and 1allianwalla %agh other than the %ritish 2ings $ndian Army #our brigades in tribal areas , two brigades in 0indh in the Hur +ebellion !he $ndian or

,uslim civil servant, soldier and policeman till &( th August and some

to date were collaborators of the Western power which ruled $ndia till the transfer of power !he Hindus were better organised politically since the $ndian 3ational 4ongress was dominated by a strong Hindu professional and business class while the ,uslims were condemned to be politically more backward since because of peculiar historical reasons ,r 1innah had no choice but to accept the ,uslim feudals who dominated ,uslim politics ,r 1innah was forced to ally with the

5nionists in Punjab and the 0indhi landlords in future against the advice of Punjabi ,uslim urban leaders like 6r $qbal because it was a strategic compulsion.!hus from August &'() $ndia inherited a strong political culture while !he ,uslim 7eague was destroyed by the feudals who had joined it out of fear of land reforms and because of being in debt to Hindu money lenders just a few years after ,r 1innah8s death Here again economics played a major role $t has

been estimated that in pre &'() Punjab and 0indh money lending was the most important occupation after agriculture and that while the net revenue of $rrigation 6epartment of Punjab was 9:) 7akh +upees that of money lenders was ;.. 7akh +upees $n &'&& out of a total of <.-,;:. money lenders in $ndia some 9; = or &'-,<'. lived in

Punjab alone

!hus while the total population of pre &'() Punjab

was one eleventh of $ndia ,it had some one fourth of $ndia8s money lenders All this ensured that the feudal elements jumped in the

,uslim 7eague band wagon not out of genuine motivation but because of economic compulsion 3ow the post &'() era While post &'() $ndian 4ongress

leaders like 3ehru and Patel chided the $ndian Army for their un nationalistic role in %ritish rule and reduced their basic salary Pakistan was condemned to be ruled by a civil military clique within eleven years of independence ,en who had collaborated with the

%ritish before &'() became Pakistan8s rulers within seven years of $ndependence >fficials of $ndian Audit and Accounts 0ervice like

*hulam ,ohammad and ,ohammad Ali #eudals like 2alabagh who before &'() were faithfuls of a man no higher than the %ritish 6eputy 4ommissioner of ,ianwali 4ompare the fact that while 3ehru

abolished 4antonment %oards within no time after independence even today a Pakistani civilian living in a plot of land bought by paying through his nose in a cantonment area lives within perpetual awe of the cantonment boards simply because no Pakistani statesman had

the courage or the vision to reduce the military or civil bureucrats to si/e A man who spent his life in sycophancy of the %ritish was this country8s governor general within four years of independence while genuine freedom fighters like +aja *ha/anfar Ali were outcasts within four years of independence A political agent whose pre partition

training was to intrigue and lie and make the frontier tribes fight so that %ritish rule was prolonged was this country8s president within eight years of independence A soldier who was guilty of tactical

timidity in %urma was this country8s first ,uslim Army chief within four years of independence While this country8s first military ruler came

with a pledge to modernise this country the culture of police gang rape was a direct result of the Ayub?2alabagh style of governance Who can forget the ,iss Akhtar 4ase of 7yallpur or the 2harian Police *ang +ape case of &':<. 0ince the Pakistani military has had the best of all in most of Pakistan8s history we will confine this discussion to the military8s role A study of history proves that while the +oman +epublic was great the citi/ens were poor or lived a 0partan living While the first four

,uslim caliphs practised austerity the ,uslim 2ingdom touched

4entral Asia at one e"treme and @gypt at the other Pakistan

3ow compare

!hree of the four of Pakistan8s military rulers till to date

were from humble background less Aahya 2han whose father was from the $ndian Police 0ervice All three less Aahya 2han departed

richer than they were when they took over while the Pakistani state successively became poorer with their departure 4ompare Ayub

Bia8s or any of todays three or four star generals assets with what they had at the time of passing out from the miltary academy whether it was the 0andhurst or >!0 6era 6un or 2akul As per #eldman a reliable authority Ayubs studies in college were financed by 3awab 2alabagh ,ajor *eneral !ajammul states that in &';. the then Bia of &':.s is

major general Ayub had just one green suit

remembered by *ul Hassan as a meek obsequeous soldier , a man unfit to be an officer of the Pakistan Army in words of his immediate senior ,ajor *eneral 3awa/ish Why these man acted the way they did Was it because of

ideology or self interest C #rom necessity or from choice C ,ustafa 2emal had saved !urkey from disintegration , a direct consequence of the !reaty of 0evres 6egaulle was a military hero of #rance Ayub destroyed the 4onstitution of

What were our military rulers

&';: , a direct consequence of which was the separation of @ast Pakistan within fifteen years *eneral Bia destroyed the 0econd

4onstitution of Pakistan simply because he feared a prime minister who could threaten his personal authority

We had one who came to wipe out corruption and institutionalised corruption in the Pakistani society through route permits and industrial permits We had one who attempted to undo

what his soldier predecessor had been doing for eleven years in order to perpetuate his rule and presided over this country8s partition in &')& We had one who wanted to hold hands with *od Almighty in

his dishonesties and in the process introduced e"tremism in this country8s politics He came with a ,orris ,inor and today his sons

are in 7and 4ruisers We have one who professes to be a liberal and is strengthening the police and faces the most serious religious threat in Pakistan8s history All were motivated by self interest All three

came poorer and left the country poorer if not economically then politically What is the conclusion All military rulers acted out of self

preservation !hey had no ideology 7ess Aahya all started from the lower middle class or middle class and ended as business tycoons !hey destroyed constitutions , promiscuously destroyed the political system by introducing test tube babies in politics who they later condemned as corrupt and defective !hey destroyed Pakistan8s

constitution transforming the office of prime minister from that of a potent statesman and respectable political chief e"ecutive to that of a glorified eunuch All to preserve one man8s head All to ensure

personal power When they acted out of choice it was for self preservation , when they acted out of choice it was for self advancement $n a nutshell Pakistan8s political history is a story of

soldiers of humble origins motivated by intense ambition and rising to

the highest political office @ntering the stage with one green suit and departing the stage leaving a dynasty with phenomenal riches whether it was Bia or Ayub or todays 4rore 4ommanders While

admirals guilty of worst sort of bribery are allowed to go scot free politicians against whom one single charge even one tenth of ,ansoorul Haq is not proved are rotting in 1ails since last five years >ur memories are short , we have been brought up doctored through propaganda,through censured press and are made to believe that our present rulers are honest while their predessors were dishonest Alas we have reached a stage when no one seriously !he self proclaimed ,essiahs of

reads the newspapers any more

this nation administered so many injections of falsehood and distortion to it that today that the average man has lost all political awareness He is well meaning and motivated but no longer has faith in the state or in those who lead him reduced him to a robot $nflation and depression has

#rom those who day and night praise this regime motivated by a large number of reasons of self interest one may ask this question Has human nature changed $s personal interest not the ideology of todays military government $f submarines were bought in the past $f there was a polo

are not %oeing ))) being purchased today

ground constructed in the past what about many hundred acres

leased to a foreign company for a commercial golf course today 6efaulters who cannot enter 6ubai are heading banks in Pakistan $f all was divided in between cousins and inlaws yesterday , is not the same happening today $n the worst ,achiavellian phrase in todays Pakistan dominated by the soldiers self propagated image as one who 3A%s the corrupt what is it all other than a simple proof of ,achiavellis dictum D Assume a virtue,Prince,if you have it not Honesty and 0partan living are not virtues in todays Pakistan ,achiavelli was not wrong when

he said D men are easily corrupted and let themselves become of the opposite nature,no matter how good they are and well taughtE. We are condemned to rigged elections,manipulation of like minded lotahs and palace intrigues We are condemned to long term insecurity

simply because some individuals are not secure with a strong and stable political system for this country !his is our tragedy from which we can only be rescued albeit ironically by unforeseen air crashes or war