Critical security decisions in the countryÂ’s history have been made mostly by military rulers. They were either so arrogant that they didnÂ’t think it necessary to seek popular approval or thought their decisions were so appalling that they would never get public endorsement so didnÂ’t bother.
There is no point in going back to Ayub KhanÂ’s Seato and Cento agreements, where Pakistain allowed itself to be drawn and locked into a Cold War camp, even as our democratic neighbour India, while maintaining its non-aligned status, was able to enjoy both the worlds.
With the left fragmented, hunted and hounded and the right-wing religious parties firmly behind the US-GHQ alliance, there was no more than token resistance to the decision. Ayub Khan saw himself as a saviour so sharing any rationale for his decisions with the people wouldnÂ’t even occur to him.
The less said the better about the decisions made by AyubÂ’s successor. Gen Yahya KhanÂ’s regime used the media to keep the West Paks in the dark about events in the eastern wing and perpetuated myths and lies till the truth went
kaboom!to the fore in the countryÂ’s break-up.
A brief democratic interlude followed. Then Gen Zia ul Haq
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...overthrew the elected government after a general election some of whose results were disputed by the opposition. A coup was staged as the two were nearing agreement on by-elections to the disputed seats.
This was 1977. Two years later Zia refused to stay the execution of the man he had tossed, after a sham trial on murder charges. The dictatorÂ’s luck was endless. As international opprobrium at Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
...9th PM of Pakistain from 1973 to 1977, and 4th President of Pakistain from 1971 to 1973. He was the founder of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP). His eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, would also serve as hereditary PM. In a coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq, Bhutto was removed from office and was executed in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent...
Â’s judicial murder gathered pace, the Soviet Red Army marched into Afghanistan.
The man who was fast heading to the top of the international pariahs’ list suddenly became the darling of the ‘free world’.
Recruited and rewarded to lead the most decisive fight of the Cold War history, Zia did his patrons proud.
I have often detected hostility from some bright and well-meaning members of the post-Zia generation who rubbish all criticism of the dictator by saying that it is pointless to blame him as so very little has been done since he perished in that 1988 air crash.
That may be true but the seeds of the disaster we reap today were planted unquestionably by Zia and hence the biggest blame shall remain his. And then the CIA’s. Both decided along with their Saudi allies that the ‘godless, communist’ Soviets could only be countered via jihad.
Its ideological inspiration and part funding was to come from Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
. The rest was funded by the US with the CIA providing the special warfare technical expertise and weaponry. PakistainÂ’s ISI was the conduit for most of the funds and weapons and the CIAÂ’s training partner.
You must be wondering whatÂ’s the point here of recalling this history that everyone probably knows anyway. Well everyone may well know all these facts but they arenÂ’t recalled often enough to explain where we are today.
This jihad proved so effective that the Red Army didnÂ’t only have to leave Afghanistan after failing to secure its objectives.
Many believe that the setback was so severe that it pushed the Soviet Union over the edge and it started to unravel.
After the exit of the Soviet Union, Zia and his military commanders were so inspired by this low-cost war, where a conglomerate of international jihadis had been used to bleed the Soviets to near-death, that they developed other ambitions.
What could humble the mighty Soviets would also enable the GHQ to finally force to its knees the eternal and numerically superior enemy which somehow managed to get the upper hand in each of the mutual conflagrations despite not having the ‘right faith’ on its side.
And bleed the enemy they did. Look at Indian-held KashmireÂ’s history since those rigged elections in the early 1980s led to an indigenous uprising. This was soon to be overtaken by foreign jihadis of every description taking the violence to hitherto unknown levels.
What if in the process Bulleh Shah and Shah LatifÂ’s Pakistain ceased to be? What if Kashmire valleyÂ’s cherished faith espoused by the Sufis was obliterated? A violent, repressive, misogynistic, intolerant, often sectarian state-backed ideology was ready to supplant all shades. And it did.
The cost to Pak society notwithstanding, this course was pursued. The post-Soviet Afghanistan was riven with chaos and led to the birth of the Taliban. The ISI, which had grown in influence and power enormously through the Afghan war, gleefully went into partnership with the group.
Arab, Uzbek, Chechens — you name them and jihadis of every description were present in Afghanistan. The Arabs provided the ideological rallying cry and money for the jihad while instructors of different origins taught the zealots guerrilla warfare and terror tactics.
Pakistain was using some of these Arabs for its own purposes so missed their agenda as they planned and carried out 9/11. This was around the time Gen Musharraf received that famous phone call from Washington seeking his support and warning of consequences in the event of a refusal.
Given how close Pakistain was to some of the international jihadis and more so with their Afghan protectors, the attack on the US mainland targets instilled fear in the heart of the military ruler who openly went from garrison to garrison explaining his rationale for agreeing to back Washington.
Similar vigour was needed to explain the decision to the people of Pakistain but this didnÂ’t happen. Instead, the Musharraf regime deployed lies and deception to placate them and this policy backfired badly.
Columnists and opinion-writers are often slammed for focusing endlessly on the state of play but offering little in terms of solutions. LetÂ’s reflect this week. Next week perhaps weÂ’ll try and think if there is a way out of the mess we are in.