Lost pages of history

Dr Farooq Adil sparks reflection on political shifts and economic struggles from partition to modern times

KARACHI:

It is said that one should learn lessons from history. Unfortunately, however, Pakistan as a nation seems to have failed to learn its lesson, though in our case history has been repeated time and again. We seem to have forgotten a lot of things that should have taught us to do much better than we have. It is a misfortune that in our country a lot of facts have been distorted through the years or not presented as they actually happened, as if not presenting them to the younger generation truthfully would erase them from history. Though one should remember that facts associated with history can neither perish nor be erased or modified. Perhaps this is why it is said that one should cast an eye back into the past, as with the passage of time, some new explanation and interpretation of the historic events often come to light.

Dr Farooq Adil’s book Hum Nay Jo Bhula Dia: Tareeq-i-Pakistan Kay Gumshuda Auraq (What We Have Forgotten: The Lost Pages of Pakistan’s History) — a collection of his articles that were published on the BBC Urdu website—revisits Pakistan’s history in an attempt to understand it in a clearer light.

Dr Adil is a senior journalist and columnist and has been associated with many reputable organisations. Though he has never been active as a politician, he has deep political knowledge and at one point worked as consultant to Mamnoon Hussain, the late former President of Pakistan.

In his articles, the author has narrated the various aspects of the important events that took place in Pakistan since its establishment in 1947. The book moves era wise, starting from what went wrong in Kashmir after the Partition detailing the participation of the tribal militants in Kashmir and the role of the
state in it, to the ouster of the first government to seek US aid, the hurdles placed in the country’s path to development due to repeated change of command in the 1950s, to the first martial law imposed in Pakistan along with the background and behind-the-scenes conspiracies, to the formation and ouster of democratic governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, and a lot that happened in between and after.

The initial hiccups faced by the new nation were not just the formation of government and the settlement of refugees that came in hoards. Karachi was declared the federal capital, which raised problems of establishing the secretariat as the federal government refused to set up its offices in Malir which was quite far from the main city and where the provincial government claimed there were many suitable buildings from the WWII days.

Then came the problem of residences for government officials. Contrary to the common belief that the bureaucracy was content to live in tents and burnt houses, citing Hameeda Khuro, Dr Adil writes that it was not the case. For example, Finance Minister Ghulam Muhammad reluctantly accepted a bungalow as it was not on the main road, and was also not happy that his son-in-law did not get a residence that matched his standards.

Dr Adil also writes that Ayub Khuro was not in favour of the people coming in from India to settle permanently in Karachi. While in other parts of the country, the land was permanently transferred in the buyer’s name, here a rule was made according to which land was given on 30, 40, or 99-year lease.

Despite Pakistan being an agricultural country, from time to time, it has faced shortages of wheat which is a staple of most Pakistanis. In early 1953, severe wheat shortage hit the country because of various factors, including mismanagement, forced acquisition of wheat from farmers, and lack of proper policy; it is also mentioned that wheat was smuggled to Afghanistan through NWFP (now KP). To tackle the shortage, rationing was introduced; the scheme too faced problems as the issuance of fake ration cards began. Dr Adil writes that it was announced that bakeries would be issued special ration cards and they would have the responsibility to provide cooked rotis to the people. How serious the government was can be gauged from the fact that the first project for Pakki Pakai roti [ready-cooked flatbread] was
introduced during the Bhutto era.

Citing Pir Ali Mohammed Rashdi, Dr Adil writes that Governor General Ghulam Mohammed was distressed due to financial issues facing the country those days, and in order to get US aid a few pacts, such as SETO and the Baghdad Pact, had to be signed with America, under which Pakistan committed to fight against communism.

While the American food aid that started in 1953 helped Pakistan overcome food shortage and strengthen economy and defence, America also benefitted from it gaining political, economic, and defence benefits. To achieve these aims it effected government changes in Pakistan and used various means to improve US popularity among Pakistani masses.

Taking the readers back in time, the author writes about the way the first President of Pakistan, Iskandar Mirza, was exiled, the dissolution of the first Constituent Assembly, the formation of One-Unit, and the ill-planned operations such as Operation Gibraltar and Operation Grand Slam and the mystery behind them before the 1965 war with India.

The importance of Gwadar for Pakistan in present times cannot be denied as it has now been developed as a major port. However, few people are aware of its history and how it was acquired by Pakistan. At the time of its acquisition, then Prime Minister Feroz khan Noon told the nation through the Parliament that Sultan of Oman had given the area to Pakistan free of cost as a goodwill gesture. However, a few days later, Time magazine revealed that Gwadar was not given as a goodwill gesture but the land had been acquired at a cost of Rs42 million.

After the 1965 war, leaders of India and Pakistan met in Tashkent to resolve the differences between the two nations. What happened in Tashkent is contrary to what was published in the newspapers back then. Dr Adil writes that the Pakistan delegation was ill-prepared for talks and did not prioritise the inclusion of Kashmir issue which India refused to do. Though at one point, President Ayub asked the Soviet prime minister to include resolution of Kashmir issue. In reply the Soviet prime minister
reminded him that the Pakistan foreign minister had earlier agreed that Kashmir issue would not hold a conclusive place in the talks.

Ayub Khan’s early years are said to be a period of development and prosperity. But as they say even good things come to an end and so did Ayub’s popularity. The reasons for his downfall are varied, but interestingly the rise in prices of items of daily use especially sugar proved to be the culminating point. During the same time, students began nation-wide protests. The death of a student during these added fuel to the fire, with politicians, especially Bhutto, taking advantage of it. The ensuing unrest throughout the country ended in Yahya Khan taking over the reins.

There is a detailed account of pandemonium in the Dhaka Assembly, in 1958, which resulted in the death of the Deputy Speaker; the chaos had started when objection was raised to the presence of non-members in the assembly hall. They were MPAs but under the rules their membership should have ended as they had recently been inducted as government lawyers. However, just a day before, the president had passed an ordinance which allowed government lawyers to retain their assembly seats. It is said that the president had passed the ordinance so as to retain their membership as otherwise Muslim League would have lost the majority in the East Pakistan assembly. This shows that since
the early days, rules were changed to gain advantages or suppress opposition. This incident is also cited as one the reasons for the first martial law in the country.

What led to the separation of East Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh is not given much place in our history books. However, Hum Nay Jo Bhula Dia discusses the situation in detail.

We read about the political situation, the treatment meted out to the Bengalis, the neglect of and discrimination against East Pakistan by West Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s six points and their rejection, the agitation in East Pakistan and the army’s role, the blocking of and misleading information and news censorship, and the eventual break-up of the country.

On October 1, 1980, Pakistanis, waiting to hear Gen Zia’s speech in the UN General Assembly, were pleasantly surprised when they heard Qari Shakir Qasmi reciting a verse from the Quran before Gen Zia’s speech. Dr Adil writes that it was the work of PTV which merged two shots to appear as if people in the assembly hall were listening to Qari Shakir’s tilawat, though in fact the speaker preceding Gen Zia was still speaking. Another version to this is that Gen Zia had a small tape recorder in his pocket and switched it on as he reached the rostrum.

Many other events of historic importance have been discussed in detail such as the MRD movement and the government’s failure to suppress it and how its leaders ended it suddenly after Indian
prime minister tried to use it for their advantage.

During the mid-1993, the nation witnessed a tussle between President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, resulting in the dissolution and restoration of the Assembly and finally the exit of both Nawaz Sharif and President Ishaq Khan.

One reads with interest the minute-by-minute description of Gen Musharraf’s military coup, wherein, to some, it may come as a surprise that the coup was not a reaction of his ouster but had been given a thought, rather planned, before the attempt at ouster.

There is a touching account of the unceremonious exit of an elected president, Rafiq Tarar. This brings to light how the Martial Law administrators manipulate things through PCOs to their advantage. The president wanted it to be on record that he had not resigned and, hence, refused any farewell ceremony. He did not even respond to Gen Musarraf’s salute as he left the President House.

The last chapter of the book reveals how most of our leaders/rulers are in the habit of visiting spiritual men and shrines, and that it is not a new trend. From Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad’s inclination towards a ‘baba’ in Ajmer and Zardari’s reliance on a particular Pir and Benazir visiting durgahs [tombs and shrines of Muslim saints] and spiritual men to Imran Khan believing in kala jadu [black magic] and relying on a spiritual adviser all seem to have depended on spirituality to rule the
country.

The book is written in an easy-to-follow manner, yet shows the author’s observation, study and analysis. He has presented the facts as well as criticism with any bias or humiliating anyone. To
give authenticity to the facts stated, the author has cited references from various books and newspapers. The book can prove to be a treasure trove for those who want to keep an eye on
the political developments in the country.

The reviewer is a freelance journalist and tweets @naqviriz; she can be reached at [e-mail]