The chequered political history of Pakistan

The chequered political history of Pakistan

The pre-partition Muslim leaders envisioned a homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent. This beautiful vision was announced on the eve of March 23, 1940, in the form of a resolution which later culminated into a homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent, on August 14, 1947.  However, the vision which was presented in the Resolution, in all its essence, never materialised. Bad governance and successive martial laws thwarted the constitutional, democratic, political and, above all, socio-economic development of this newly born country at a very early stage. 

In discussing the genesis of Pakistan's growing socio-political crisis and its repeated constitutional failures, many analysts assert that the creation of Pakistan was premature, accidental and without any pre-determined goal and a feasible planning by the leaders. They argue that the duration between the launching of awareness campaigns, to creating knowledge amongst the Muslims about their rights, the initiation of the freedom movement and the fruition of these efforts was not as long as most other nations faced before gaining independence.

Consequently, achieving independence so soon after launching the independence movement was fatal to the success of the new country because the Muslims did not get a chance to get used to the idea of a separate homeland or decide on the best method of governing it. The issue remains however, that how could a nation which was able to pass such a vivid and comprehensive resolution as early as 1940 could yet remain so directionless in 2010 as to be unable to take any positive action to set their country on the path of progress despite the lapse of 63 years?

Keeping in view our performance and progress, during these years, one is reality-bound to say that the "time factor" that analysts refer to when speaking of Pakistan's slow progress, is important only for those nations that wish to learn from it and mend their ways accordingly. We had enough time and resources during the last six decades to emerge as a progressive state, while learning from other developing nations like the Chinese, Japanese, Malaysians and Koreans yet we wasted time and resources.

After independence, the two newly established states of India and Pakistan adopted completely divergent courses of action: On the basis of its seasoned and shrewd political leadership, India embarked on the path of constitutional development, land reforms, electoral and democratic progress. On the contrary, Pakistan fell a prey to political anarchy, lack of vision, undemocratic and unconstitutional tactics of ousting high profile leaders and officials. Indian leaders bridled the horses of feudalism and civil-military bureaucracy at a very early stage, but the Pakistan Muslim League leadership mistakenly continued to rely on both these wings to run the administrative affairs of the country.

The first jolt for the newly created country was the sudden demise of the Quaid in 1948, at a crucial point in Pakistan's history, when the nation was in dire need of his able leadership and judicious planning. A tug-of-war was now underway amongst the politicians for holding the rein of power and the whole political set-up was derailed. The first Prime Minister of the country, Liaqat Ali Khan was assassinated on October 16, 1951, thus effectually giving another blow to the parliamentary setup and the political leadership of the country. Those who came to power after the Quaid-i-Azam and Liaqat Ali Khan no longer had any emotional affiliations with the masses.

With the outburst of religious and sectarian clashes and riots in Punjab, the first martial law was imposed in the country by the Prime Minister Khawaja Nizamuddin in 1953. Similarly, this transition from the political a set up to the military set up in 1953 paved the way for future martial laws in Pakistan.

Dismissal of Khawaja Nazimuddin from the office of the Prime Minister by Governor General, Ghulam Mohammad Malik aggravated the situation and pushed the country further into the quagmire of political instability. The first constitution of Pakistan which was formed on the pattern of England's constitution was enforced on March 23, 1956. However, it failed to produce satisfactory results because of the political instability in the country and the lack of consensus on various issues of national importance. Although Liaquat Ali Khan declared the Objective Resolution of 1949 as the foundation for the first constitution of Pakistan, some members of minority communities and from East Pakistan, showed their reservations regarding the resolution. Declaration of the "Sovereignty of God" and Urdu as the national language of Pakistan were two points which were the subject of dissent.

Within a short span of just two years, four ministries had been made and unmade at the centre as well as in West Pakistan. Cabinet reshuffles were the order of the day.

Prime Minister Muhammad Ali resigned on September 8, 1956, and H S Suhrawardy tendered his resignation on October 17, 1957. One failed government followed another and I I Chundrigar's government fell on December 8, 1957. After this Malik Feroz Khan Noon was overthrown on October 7, 1958, when President Sikandar Mirza decided to take a drastic political action to save the country from further political chaos by imposing martial law whereby, General Mohammad Ayub Khan was appointed the Chief Martial Law Administrator.

President Ayub Khan had to face unpopularity and hatred of the masses (who were once indifferent) in his term as the 'civilian elected president'. Eventually, the nation yet again paid a heavy price in the form of another martial law imposed by President Ayub whereby General Yahya stepped up as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. Despite these changes, it seemed that Pakistan was moving from a bad to worse. General Yahya Khan also failed to put Pakistan on a road to recovery. This ultimately culminated into fall of Dhaka and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971-perhaps the biggest blow that Pakistan faced after its creation.

Unfortunately, Pakistan was to see political turmoil for many years to come and such state of affairs continued even after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto assumed power. On July 5, 1977 Bhutto's government was overthrown by the then Chief of the Army Staff, General Zia-ul-Haq. 

Much to Bhutto's dismay the military coup d'état by Zia-ul-Haq at the expense of democracy was well-received by the public.

From then on the legacy of ups and downs continued for years to come and following the footsteps of his predecessors General Musharraf emerged as the "Chief Executive" of the country after the coup that removed the twice elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from power, on October 12, 1999.

After ruling the country for more than eight years, Musharraf, with his low and high popularity graph at different point in time, resigned from his post in 2008. After Musharraf's dismissal, fresh elections were held, bringing in power Asif Ali Zaradri and Yousuf Raza Gilani on the two coveted posts of President and Prime Minster respectively.

It is a sad reality that even after numerous changes in the government, the people of Pakistan could not get any relief. The simple reason is that none of the governments have ever tried to address their problems and grievances with sincerity and honesty. Moreover, the masses also have no say in any issue or decision of national or global significance. In such a scenario where even the basic problems and needs of the people are not met, how can we expect the masses to actively participate in the political process? It is but obvious that the people are bound to be indifferent towards the government or may be this is what the successive governments wanted so that they could live according to their whims.