Fight fought well: ‘In military coups I saw my opportunity’

Political biography of Syeda Abida Hussain launched in city.

LAHORE:

Politician Syeda Abida Hussain said on Friday that the military had been able to dominate the nation due to the failure of civilian politicians to formulate long-term policies.

She was speaking at the launch of her political biography Power Failure: The Political Odyssey of a Pakistani Woman. Hussain spoke neither in favour nor against the proposed establishment of military courts. She said the government must make a decision in this regard and stick to it. Hussain said the government appeared to be backtracking on its decision to set up the courts.

She said the military construed this as retreat.



Hussain said she had supported military coups during her political career as she had always viewed the dissolution of assemblies as an opportunity to approach and acquaint herself with public opinion.

She said the abolition of Article 58 (2) (b) from the Constitution had taken away a mechanism to reach out to citizens. Hussain said the military had been able to dominate the nation due to the failure of civilian politicians to devise long-term policies.

She said it was imperative for politicians to read more to be in a position to formulate enduring policies. Hussain said she had found the entire process of writing a book ‘exciting.’

She said the initial response to the book had been ‘heartwarming.’ Hussain said she hoped that the young would read her book to understand what growing up meant in a different era.

“I feel that my life has always been inextricably intertwined with that of the nation,” she said

Society for the Advancement of Education Executive Director Abbas Rashid regaled the audience with some of the anecdotes in the book. Hussain has opined in the book that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had let off former president Pervez Musharraf cheap by going to the United States of America alone.

She said he would have gotten an earful there if he had accompanied Sharif on the trip in the context of the Kargil conflict.



Oxford University Press Managing Director Ameena Sayyid spoke about the struggles that Hussain had persevered through. She said that a candid and truthful voice emerged from the book that people affiliated with Hussain would be able to immediately recognise. She said her description of her childhood in Jhang and her father’s funeral had resonated with her.

People from all walks of life including politicians, journalists, bureaucrats and literary personalities were present on the occasion.  The event had been organised by Latitude CRS.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2014.