For an Indian, Pakistan remains a condemned state; a hostile and estranged sibling who severed sacred mother to forge an independent state but as last Prime Minister of India said with sagely wisdom that we can choose our friends but not our neighbours so we can hate Pakistan but we can not ignore it.
The 'Struggle For Pakistan' is a well written book on the history of Pakistan from the Lahore Resolution to last democratic elections of 2013. Historian Ayesha Jalal contends but rather unconvincingly that Jinnah did not want to create an Independent state for Muslims but he was simple using bug bear of Pakistan as the counter of bargaining and he failed to use it that way and thus Pakistan was created. She did not blame Jinnah for the partition, she blames the politics of that period. She claims that Jinnah wanted to create a Pakistan as a Muslim state with Parliamentary democracy respecting individual rights but his early demise in late 1948 sealed the fate of Pakistan.
From 1948 Pakistan has seen a large number of assassinations, genocide, military coup, judicial coup, terrorism, wars, sectarian violence and what not. The first PM of Pakistan 'Liaqat Ali Khan' was assassinated in 1951 in Rawalpindi by a Pathan followed by a botched investigation. General Ayub Khan executed the first coup in 1958 followed by Martial Law in Pakistan, the debacle of 1965 caused his downfall but this was not the downfall of military rule, one Dictator was followed by another more brutal Yahya Khan in 1969.The first genuinely popular leader Muzibur Rehman was imprisoned when he proposed genuine devolution of power to the provinces against an ever centralizing state followed by genocide of Bengalis (mainly Hindus), the Indian intervention cut down Pakistan in two Independent states with Pakistan losing majority of its population to Bangladesh. This cataclysmic event aroused a wide feeling of national resentment which was exploited by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but he fell to the greed of power and delusion of invincibility. He was hanged by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1979 (in Rawalpindi). Zia-ul-Haq encouraged Islamist parties and exploited the USSR intervention in Afghanistan to the fullest, the Jihadis was nurtured and factories were built with full support from USA. An act of God killed him in Air crash (as described by Benazir Bhutto). Democracy returned in 1988 only to be scuttled by Pervez Musharraf in 1999 followed by yet another intervention in Afghanistan. Popular discontent led to his downfall and democracy was restored in Pakistan but not before the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Dec 2007 (again in Rawalpindi). Since 2008 democracy has been functioning in Pakistan but not without consistent threat of Military intervention.
Ayesha Jalal contends that factors like cold war geopolitics, fear of India and volatile middle east played a major role in shaping the history and the future of Pakistan. She gives unconvincing benefit of doubt to the people of Pakistan and admits her faith in the people of Pakistan.
This book is a benign take on the history of Pakistan and the good part is that the book is not anti-India and the writer has not blamed India for wars of 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. She squarely blames Bhutto and Ayub Khan for 1965 debacle, Yahya Khan for 1971 and Musharraf for 1999 debacle.
Recommended (7/10)
1 comment:
sounds like Pakistan after Gandhi :)
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