Akram Shaheedi
It was Quaid-i-Azam’s democratic struggle led to the creation of Pakistan but it was the Bhuttos who guaranteed its invincibility by making country’s defence impregnable. Pakistani nation is deeply beholden to Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and pays tributes on his birth anniversary today for giving consensus constitution, making the country a nuclear power and granting the right of one-man-one-vote on the basis of adult franchise. The aspiring members of the national and provincial assemblies now have to beg their support from the people to get them elected. It was a giant step towards the empowerment of the people of Pakistan as the ultimate arbiter. Previously, the role of the people was inconsequential in the election of lawmakers because Ayub Khan’s Basic Democracies (BD) members used to elect them.
Indeed, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was on a mission to make Pakistan a stronger Pakistan, a prosperous Pakistan, and above all a democratic Pakistan that would be at ease with itself and with the international community in general and the Muslim world in particular. He also introduced far reaching reforms in all walks of national life with a view to empower the less privileged segments of Pakistani society leading to their upward social mobility. Sadly, he was not allowed to complete the mission and was removed at gun point in1977 and later assassinated by tyrant dictator General Zia-ul-Haq. The General was largely responsible of creating royal mess the country is embroiled in today. His dictatorship was the worst among all during which evils of extremis, terrorism, bigotry and culture of Kalashnikov and drug permeated in the country to asphyxiate the society and its dynamics of creativity and ingenuity.
Unfortunately, the history of government and politics of Pakistan remained mired in political turmoil after independence, mainly due to the early demise of the Quaid-i-Azam. After that, the civil and military bureaucracy in collusion with feudal opportunists played havoc with the new country. The politicians failed to frame constitution till 1956 whereas India promulgated its constitution in 1949. The 1956 constitution, based on the principle of parity representation between East and West Wing, was promulgated at last but abrogated by General Ayub Khan in1958 triggering the process of national disintegration. The resultant political and economic alienation among the East Pakistani culminated to the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 when General Yayha Khan was the self-appointed president of the country.
After the debacle of 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became the President of Pakistan as the Pakistan People’s Party emerged as the biggest party in the elections. While dealing and addressing many problems emanating as a result of dismemberment of the country, he prioritised the framing of the constitution reflective of the aspirations of the people of Pakistan. His tireless efforts succeeded in passing the almost unanimous constitution by the elected assembly within months that envisaged federal parliamentary system of government in the country. The constitution has kept the fragmented pieces of the country united despite many political upheavals caused by the misadventures by men on the horseback. Successive dictators though despised the constitution but could not abrogate it because it enjoyed the massive support of the people of Pakistan. They fiddled with it, mutilated it beyond recognition, but it survived due to its inherent strength. This invaluable gift of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the nation will ensure the continuity of democracy and safeguarding of the federation in the final analysis.
The military debacle of 1971 was a fatal blow to Pakistan’s stature in the comity of the nations with ninety thousands POWs in India and vast territory under enemy’s occupation. Defence analysts were unanimous in their views, and rightly so, that Pakistan could not defend its territorial integrity with conventional weapons in the face of vast difference of weapons of enemy country, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. The only choice was nuclear deterrence to meet the future challenges to the country’s security. The tilted balance of power in favour of India could only be rectified by acquiring the nuclear capability of military level. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave this daunting task to Pakistani scientists in a conference held in Multan in early1972 who assured him that they would not disappoint him. Pakistan’s nuclear programme obviously became an Achilles’ heel for the West in particular and they warned Zulfikar Ali Bhutto through Mr Henry Kissinger of making a horrible example out of him if he did not desist from following ‘Pakistan’s clandestine nuclear programme’. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto embraced martyrdom but did not give in and continued the programme because he could not afford to compromise on the nation’s future, its dignity and independence.
He matured the nuclear programme making the defence of the country impregnable. If Pakistan had not been a nuclear power, the Indians would have put the security of the country at the greatest peril and the extent of nuclear blackmail would have been huge, making the independence as inconsequential to Pakistanis. The events later on proved his assessment was quite accurate. India amassed its massive military build-up under Operation Brass Tacks but had to withdraw due to nuclear deterrence. It was the nuclear deterrence that forced India to see redemption in withdrawal rather than indulging in active hostilities. Pakistan’s nuclear plan has also shattered the Indian dream of establishing its hegemony in the region. It also guaranteed Pakistan’s defence against any aggressor either from the East or from the West. Salam to the vision of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who not only conceived the programme but also laid solid foundations leading to the attaining of full nuclear power capability during early ’80s. Quaid-i-Azam made Pakistan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto defended the country through nuclearisation and equipping the country with the state of the art missile technology.
But, anti-Bhutto and anti-Pakistan forces were active in hatching conspiracies to eliminate the great leader. They were at the look out to strike. The elections of 1977 provided them the opportunity and the establishment instigated the opposition parties under the banner of PNA and lunched agitations against the government on the charges of rigging in elections. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto agreed to the demands of the opposition to hold fresh elections but impetuous Zia-ul-Haq was behind the whole agitations and imposed martial law on the same night because he did not want the agreement between the opposition and the government fulfilled due to his personal ambitions. He later hanged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a judicial murder. The PPP has filed a reference in the Apex Court to review the case of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but the decision is still awaited.
The martial law of Zia-ul-Haq was ferocious as he unleashed the reign of terror and persecution and political dissidents were eliminated through summary trials. They were subjected to torture, public hanging and lashing on purpose — to strike fear into the hearts of all and sundry of his illegitimate and tyrannical rule. The other dimension of his insidious decision was to promote the religious seminaries to counter-balance the support of the political parties who were protesting against him to hold elections that he postponed on one pretext or another. His promise of holding fair and free elections within ninety days did not see the light of the day even after a decade. His referendum became the joke of decades because of its outlandishness and silliness. He hoodwinked the political parties of PNA and used them to perpetuate his rule. With divine intervention the people got rid of him when he was killed in an air crash.
The pusillanimous of PNA politicians made the nation suffer for about 11 years of his dictatorial rule in the hope of getting their pound of flesh. On the other hand, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto fought heroically to subdue the dictator despite undergoing the shock of hanging of her illustrious father, but she did not abandon the cause of the people of Pakistan. She succeeded in restoring democracy in Pakistan after the tyrant’s unnatural death. She was elected as the first women Prime Minister of Pakistan. She deserved this honour and the people of Pakistan while acknowledging this bestowed this on her by electing her the Prime Minister of Pakistan. But retrogressive forces struck with vengeance and her government was dismissed by the father of the establishment, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, despite PPP’s majority in the National Assembly. Despite this, her struggle for democracy continued till she embraced martyrdom on December 27, 2007.
If these forces had not interrupted the democratic process in the country, the nation would have been rubbing shoulders with the developed nations today rather than being known for the wrong reasons. The evils of extremism and terrorism are the legacies of the dictators who also inflicted national embarrassments of huge proportion both at domestic and diplomatic fronts. All territorial losses to the nation were wrought on during the watch of dictators. The dismemberment of Pakistan, occupation of Siachen by India, Kargil fiasco and 1965 war are irrefutably attributed to tyrant rulers. On the contrary, enemy could not occupy an inch of Pakistan’s territory during the civilian rules. Prime Minister Feroz Khan Noon added Gwadar in the landmass of the country. Its strategic and commercial potentials cannot be defined today. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) revolves around this port entailing 46 billion dollars of investment initially. It is going to connect China, Central Asia and the Middle East and beyond. It is the beginning and sky is the limit.
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