I don’t want to judge the former PM, as that would be subjective. What I want is to come up with, in this short space, an objective analysis of the former PM’s role during a critical period of our history — the decade of 70s. Historically, many medieval thinkers viewed society as divided into three groups: those who work; those who fight; and those who pray.
Metaphorically speaking, the 70s decade provided PM Bhutto a great opportunity to decide which group he should support for it to be in the forefront and lead, reconstruct and rebuild a nation that had just experienced the worst act in its history — dismemberment of half of the country. In the post-East Pakistan tragedy and in an era that demanded urgent political, military and economic reforms, the country needed the best leadership that could be there on offer. Was such a leadership provided by PM Bhutto?
To reach any conclusion, it is best to examine some of the prevailing events, socio-political circumstances, and not only the socio-political constraints of the time but also the political freedom and leverage that PM Bhutto enjoyed to execute and implement his decisions. Those decisions left an undeniable effect on the way not only our society but our politics is structured today. ‘Those who fight’ were licking their wounds and in no way could take over the mettle of the national leadership. It is another fact, though, that despite such a disqualification, the military was able to initiate in 1977 a bloodless military coup and topple the government of PM Bhutto. ‘Those who work’ could have become the real stakeholders not only in the creation and consolidation of democracy in the country but also in playing an active role in the country’s economic growth. The middle class never got a chance to move on. Roti, kapara aur makan, instead of becoming a harbinger of social reform, remained a political slogan that hardly achieved any objectives.
The rich became richer and the poor, poorer. The nationalisation of all industries came down as a God-sent curse on ‘those who worked’ and if there ever was an opportunity in the 70s to increase the middle class, that opportunity was blown away. This leaves us with ‘those who pray’, and if history can play the role of a judge then this group can easily be seen as the greatest beneficiaries of PM Bhutto’s rule in the 70s decade.
The entire concept of the modern world’s democratisation and emergence of welfare states is based on the constitutionalism, separation of powers and religion having to do nothing with the business of the state. PM Bhutto understood this much better than any other leader of that time. Yet for circumstances that one would imagine were beyond his control, or circumstances that were the creation of his actions, ‘those who prayed’ trumped both ‘those who worked’ and ‘those who fought’ to emerge as the greatest and most challenging political force in the country.
To assert his political authority, Bhutto needed the backing of ‘those who fought’. He was not sure of getting that after what the military had recently experienced in East Pakistan. The debate of whether it was a political or military defeat was ongoing, but there was no denying the fact that Pakistan had suffered a military defeat.
In 1976, Hassan Askari Rizvi, a renowned scholar on the subject of civil-military relations in Pakistan, had written that “once the political leadership is sure of the military’s support, they assert their authority in the society and deal with the opposition effectively.” If one reads Gen Gul Hassan’s autobiography, Memoirs of Lt. Gen. Gul Hassan Khan, it is revealed how the Military Commander had refused many of Bhutto’s preferences which had direct bearing on the military matters. Two significant preferences were refused related to the creation of FSF (Federal Security Force) and Bhutto heading the senior officers’ promotion board.
Bhutto could never have lost the March 1977 elections as there was no one else to win these elections. He couldn’t see the forest for the trees and, in the want of an absolute majority in the parliament, became a sitting Prime Minister accused of rigging the elections. Rigged elections were unacceptable to the opposition and the country was riven and shaken by demonstrations.
The Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), which Bhutto referred to as the gang of nine, was at the forefront of the demonstrations. What previously was his policy of cowing down the opposition turned into appeasing them, especially the three religious parties that were part of PNA. He ordered the closure of all nightclubs and bars, banned the sale of alcohol and replaced Sunday with Friday as the weekly holiday. He had already promoted Gen Ziaul Haq as COAS disregarding seven officers senior to him.
Religious parties that had initially opposed martial law were quite content when they saw the ideological preference of the military leader. If the lid of the bottle was removed by Bhutto, the gin of religiosity with all its force was let out by Ziaul Haq. ‘Those who prayed’ had succeeded in taking the lead in writing the story of the reformation of Pakistan. Pakistan would never be the same again.
Today, both religious Pakistan and democratic Pakistan go hand in hand. No democratic leader can imagine winning elections without raising popular religious slogans. There can ever be true democracy in this country as democracy is at the mercy of the dominant role religion plays in our society.
Separating religious and government affairs is not a political agenda of any party because “religion has got nothing to do with the business of the state” reflects a principle of secularism, and the use of that phrase is a sure sign of an electoral defeat in Pakistan.