What happened wasn’t the outcome of political failure as much as a consequence of failed actions by the military.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to Sirajuddin Aziz’s article of December 16 titled “Our 1971 debacle”. I would say that what happened 39 years ago wasn’t the outcome of a political failure as much as it was a consequence of failed actions by the Pakistani military.
If Ayub Khan hadn’t declared a martial law in 1958 things may well have been different for Pakistan. Even before him Major-General Iskander Mirza, although not in uniform, but still trained as a military man, made political blunders which can only be expected from a non-thinking man in uniform.
Later episodes have proven one thing: that the generals have not learnt anything from history and keep on usurping power in their own country for personal gain.
Each such intervention ends up leaving Pakistan worse off than before. Jinnah was a visionary but his dream died when the first general took power and trampled on the constitution. What happened in December 1971 should remind us that until and unless we obey the law and respect our constitution things will not improve.
Pakistanis are a proud and hardworking people and all they need is a law-abiding leadership which will ensure rule of law.
Moazzam Salim
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2010.
