Waiting for Allah by Christina Lamb

263 Pages·2016·2.65 MB·English

WAITING FOR ALLAH
PAKISTAN’S STRUGGLE FOR
DEMOCRACY
CHRISTINA LAMB
Reproduced By
Sani H. Panhwar
Member Sindh Council, PPP
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .. .. .. .. .. .. 1
MAPS .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2
CHRONOLOGY .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4
INTRODUCTION .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7
1. INVENTINGA COUNTRY .. .. .. .. .. 18
2. GANGSTERSINBANGLES’ COMETO ISLAMABAD .. 33
Benazir Bhutto’s inheritance
3. TICKETSTO THEMASKEDBALL .. .. .. .. 44
Democracy—Pakistan style
4. THESUPERPATRONAGEROADSHOW .. .. .. 56
Feudalpolitics
5. A SUBCONTINENTALDYNASTY .. .. .. .. 69
The White Queen andthe Evil Dictator
6. ‘BUTMINISTER ...’ .. .. .. .. .. .. 85
Whorules Pakistan?
7. SINDH-LANDOF ROBINHOODSANDWARRIOR SAINTS 103
8. DIAL-A-KALASIINIKOV .. .. .. .. .. 120
Of ethnic violence andidentityproblems in Karachi andHyderabad
9. PROPHETSANDLOSSES .. .. .. .. .. 144
The immoral economy
10. THEGREATGAMEREVISITED .. .. .. .. .. 163
Of bloodfeuds andtribal wars
11. ‘RESISTANCETOURS LTD’ .. .. .. .. .. 179
Afghanistan —the war on the borders
12. SQUANDERINGVICTORY .. .. .. .. .. 199
Fightingtothe lastAfghan for adeadman’s dream
13. INTHENAMEOF THECRESCENT .. .. .. .. 223
India—the dragon on the doorstep
14. THEEMPIRESTRIKESBACK .. .. .. .. .. 238
GLOSSARY .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 256
SELECTBIBLIOGRAPHY .. .. .. .. .. .. 258
An Elusive Dawn
Thistrembling light,thisnightbittendawn
Thisis not the Dawn we waitedfor so long
Thisis not the Dawn whose birthwassired
By so many lives,so muchblood
Generationsago we startedour confident march,
Our hopeswere young,our goalwithinreach
After allthere must be some limit
To the confusing constellationofstars
Inthe vast forest ofthesky
Eventhe lazy languidwaves
Must reachat last theirappointedshore
Andso we wistfully prayed
For aconsummate endto our painfulsearch.
FAIZ AHMED FAIZ
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Throughout the length and breadth of Pakistan there are many people for whose
help I am grateful and because of whom I have an enduring affection for the
country —so many that it isnot possible tomentionthemall.
The Arbab family, Naseem and Sehyr Saigol, Kamal Azfar, Arif Nizami, the late
Brigadier Salik,NajamSethiandNusrat Javedwere allofparticular help.
Not least among those to whom I owe thanks are the many Afghan mujaheddin
with whom I travelled into war zones and late into the night discussed the
region’spast andfuture.
Hamid Karzay, Hamid and Ishaq Gailani and Asim Nasser-Zia were particular
friends, as was Commander Abdul Haq, with whom I shared a fondness for ice-
cream.
Sir Nicholas Barrington, the British High Commissioner in Islamabad, also
deserves a special mention for his help in trying to stop the Interior Ministry
deporting me.
Thanks are owed to my colleagues at the Financial Times for their support, in
particular to Robin Pauley and Jurek Martin for encouraging me to give up a
perfectly decent jobat CentralTVto go out andlive inPakistan.
Professor Akbar Ahmed at Cambridge University has been an invaluable friend
andsounding board.
My editor,JonRiley,haspatiently guidedme throughmy first book.
Above all, thanks to my parents for putting up with a daughter frequently lost in
the wildsandmy endlessbattleswiththe wordprocessor.
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CHRONOLOGY OF PAKISTAN
1947: Independence from British Rule and formation of Pakistan from Muslim
majority provinces of India. War with India over Kashmir, the only
Muslimmajority province to stay inIndia.
1948: Death of Jinnah, founder of Pakistan and first head of state. Liaquat Ali
Khantakesover asfirst Prime Minister.
1951: Liaquat assassinated in mysterious circumstances. Civil servants become
dominant force.
1952: First ethnic riots in the majority province of East Pakistan, at attempts to
impose Urdu as the national language and lack of representation for
Bengalisincentraladministration.
1953: First religious riots against minority Ahmadi sect. First martial law
imposedinLahore.
1954: Pakistan joins SEATO, a US-sponsored military alliance, and US becomes
principalmilitary supplier.
1955: Provinces of West Pakistan merged into ‘One Unit’, causing resentment
among smaller provinces.
1956: First Constitutionframed.
1958: First military coup under command of General Ayub Khan. Parliament
dissolvedandmartiallawimposed.
1962: SecondConstitutionintroducedto installacentralizedpresidentialsystem
underwrittenby the military.
1964: Ayub ‘defeats’ Fatima Jinnah, sister of the country’s founder, in
Presidentialelection.
1965: Secondwar withIndia overKashmir.Defeat weakensAyub’sposition.
1966: Awami League, main party of East Pakistan, proposes a confederation of
the two regions.
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1969: Ayubhandsover to GeneralYahyaKhanafter periodofunrest.
1970: Pakistan’s first free elections. Awami League sweeps East Pakistan and Z.
A.Bhutto’sPeople’sParty winsmajority inWest Pakistan.
1971: Army refuses to transfer power to Awami League and sends in troops to
East Pakistan. India goes to aid of Bengalis who secede from Pakistan to
form Bangladesh. Z. A. Bhutto takes over as Martial Law Administrator of
remaining Pakistan.
1972: Bhutto, now Prime Minister, devalues rupee by 131 percent and begins
nationalizationcampaign.
1973: Third Constitution introduced, but this time with the support of all
political parties. Baluchistan government dismissed and N W FP
government resigns in protest. Army sent into Baluchistan to deal with
insurrection.
1977: PPP government rigs country’s second parliamentary elections. Army
called out to deal with resulting protest movement and martial law
declaredincities.
General Zia ul-Haq takes over in coup, promising elections within ninety
days.
Bhutto chargedwithmurder.
1978: Islamicizationprocess beguninattempt to legitimize military rule.
1979: Bhutto executed.Politicalactivity banned.
Soviet UnioninvadesAfghanistan.
1980: Afghanrefugeesbeginpouring into Pakistan.
USendsPakistan’s internationalisolationbydeclaring support.
1983: Army sent into Sindhto suppressrevolt against military rule.
1984: Benazir Bhutto leavesPakistanfor London.
Zia declares himself ‘elected’ President after referendum on Islamicization.
1985: Zia announces Mohammad Khan Junejo Prime Minister of Assembly
elected onnon-party basisto formcivilianbuffer for militaryrule.
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