Realistic Change
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Almost 39 years ago on July 5th, 1977, a military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq toppled a democratic government and ruled with iron fist for next 11 years till he was forcefully made to quit this world by those who brought him into power for certain goals.
Gen Zia destroyed entire social fabric of the society and turned Pakistan into a safe haven for terrorists, drug lords and sectarian monsters. In Presidency blue prints were prepared to systematically destroy the institutions and make them so weak that no action of ruler can be questioned or challenged. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was top bureaucrat of that time; was instrumental in writing down the Standard Operating Procedures Manual for institutionalizing corruption in every pillar – primarily bureaucracy. We can term the day of July 5th, 1977 as a day when Civilian Oligarchy was replaced by brute Military Dictator who would cross breed in test tube created by Gen Jillani but fertilized by Gen Zia himself. The main criterion was looking for corrupt to the core with lowest possible IQ – and in Nawaz they found both – and that is how the plan to bring in Civilian Oligarchy was put in place – welcome to 2013 and onwards!
July 5th is observed as a black day by most political forces but most notably by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who was the victim of 5th July coup. July 5th can be termed as mother of all other black days – as this sowed the seeds of majority of ills that current Pakistan is facing. Notable other black days are 12th October, when Musharraf took over and 6th October when first martial law was imposed. The damage caused by Zia’ regime was catastrophic for Pakistan and is still continues through the legacies he created in his oubliette laboratory.
General Zia armed the afghan militants in the name of religion to fight soviets in Afghans. He became an American proxy in order to strengthen his own grip on power, he created National Logistics Cell to commence systematic smuggling of arms and drugs and give benefits to the likes of Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehman, Gen Fazle Haq and Air Marshal Anwer Shamim to name a few.
He brought Afghan war inside Pakistan to create turmoil and unrest in Pakistan so his rule is not questioned – he made a famous statement when after the first bomb blast in Peshawar when a reporter asked him about it – while cunningly smiling remarked:
“This is just the first of many many more to happen in Pakistan”.
On Siachen when he was asked has Pakistan lost that territory, the then CMLA proudly stated:
“Not a single blade of grass grows on Siachen – so what if Pakistan has lost it.”
There are a series of his actions that can be referred and discussed that shook the very foundations of Pakistan.
Today, majority of the terrorist organizations that spread like jungle fire can be traced back to Zia regime. It was Zia who divided the country on sectarian, ethnic, caste, and creed basis to weaken his opposition without realizing that these divides will destroy the very social fabric of the country and we see that in our everyday life in Pakistan. Under his regime the culture of drugs and open spread of weapons was nurtured. He did not leave any stone unturned to destabilize Pakistani society for his own political benefit. Till to date Pakistan has not managed to escape the strangle hold of the policies initiated by General Zia and how can we expect that to happen when crown prince of Zia’s legacy is still ruling in the form of current Prime Minister and he takes notes by turning leafs in the book left for him by Zia.
Social evils and terrorism were not the only gifts of Zia to Pakistan. He destroyed the political culture of Pakistan and created a new political class which revolved around the clans and castes. Party-less elections conducted by him in 1985 introduced a new corrupt lot of politicians that joined political arena to maximize their fortunes and whole premise of voting was revised from party based voting to vote for; Shia, Sunni, Chaudhry, Sheikh, Gujjar, Kashmiri, Mohajir etc.,
Most of the current leadership including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs is a product of 1985 elections. If the tragedy had not taken place on 5th July then today Pakistan could have been in much better state than it is currently in- no doubt about it – but now Zia will rule this country from his grave courtesy Sharifs and if anything; Pakistan missed the Golden Decade of 1990s and now in 2016 sitting lower than almost all of our neighboring countries in the region when compared to every index that is measured internationally.
Zia made deliberate effort to create a political setup based on above foundations and keep them in constant blackmailed position to enhance and further his rule but inadvertently helped by putting a soul into PPP as well; many political pundits believe that had Zia not hanged Bhutto; Pakistan would not have seen Zardari as President and who knows Bilawal as future PM. ZA Bhutto (ZAB) was popular for sure – but had he not been hanged the political discourse of PPP would not have been the same as we have seen since 1988.
Zia inseminated the test tube and Sharif’s were born, and he hanged ZA Bhutto and provided oxygen to PPP. Perfect double edged sword from hell.
Bhutto’s cult was created by Zia’s action of hanging ZAB, if we look at Bhutto’s rule of 5 years it cannot be termed as glorious that he can rule from his grave as he mentioned in his book – although several critical mistakes and also major victories were achieved in his tenure but in no way – it can be termed as outstanding term – maybe his next term could have been better – but unfortunately, it can only be guesstimated now. His quest for absolute power resulted in igging and it kick started a nationwide agitation of Opposition parties known as Pakistan National Alliance (PNA).
Zia used the PNA agitation as a pretext to impose martial Law on 5th July. No one can deny the mischievous designs of Zia behind the decision of imposing martial law but Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto also was partly responsible for it. Bhutto tried to brutally crush the PNA agitation; he delayed any settlement with them and prolonged the talks between PNA and PPP. All the top leadership of PNA was imprisoned during the course of agitation. If Bhutto had displayed courage and shrewdness and accepted the demand of re-election of PNA in April then Zia would not have got opportunity to topple his regime and in all likelihood would have gotten the majority though not the 2/3rd majority that ZAB was so much fixated on.
Most of the PPP supporters will dislike the aforementioned criticism of ZAB. The reason is that PPP supporters, also called Jiyalas, blindly follow the Bhuttos and defend their every action, similarly PMLN has gotten an opportunity to cash in on Oct 1999’s Martial Law and present themselves as victims, they have blind supporters often termed as Noonies or Noontoons. It’s because if such people that parties like PPP and PML-N come to power again and again despite their abysmal performance in the past. Pakistan can never expect any positive change as long as common people let their emotions take the best out of them and vote for dynasties such as Bhuttos and Sharifs and keep selling their votes for naan.
The damage caused by the Zia was a result of systematic polices during his entire regime. These wrongdoings can’t be reversed overnight, and overhaul of corrupt from the core and to the hilt system needs to be done as custodians of institutionalized corruption and with every office (Bureaucracy, Army, Judiciary, Press etc.,) is deep down and chain of corruption has self defence mechanism for Sharifs and Bhuttos who always bring up the “files” of those who want to either stay neutral or want to voice their concerns re any issue that threatens the power base of Sharifs or Bhuttos.
There is a consensus in Pakistan that military dictatorships must never be supported. However, the more pertinent question is can Imran Khan not bowing down to this despoiled and rotten system, can unintentionally, invite another General Zia and then Pakistanis would have to live with another Sharif and then see our children grow in Sharif Square (raise to the power 2) or will there be any upright and honest individual who by the stroke of luck happens to be sitting in key stakeholders position and thinks about Pakistan first and her/himself second?
Gen Zia destroyed entire social fabric of the society and turned Pakistan into a safe haven for terrorists, drug lords and sectarian monsters. In Presidency blue prints were prepared to systematically destroy the institutions and make them so weak that no action of ruler can be questioned or challenged. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was top bureaucrat of that time; was instrumental in writing down the Standard Operating Procedures Manual for institutionalizing corruption in every pillar – primarily bureaucracy. We can term the day of July 5th, 1977 as a day when Civilian Oligarchy was replaced by brute Military Dictator who would cross breed in test tube created by Gen Jillani but fertilized by Gen Zia himself. The main criterion was looking for corrupt to the core with lowest possible IQ – and in Nawaz they found both – and that is how the plan to bring in Civilian Oligarchy was put in place – welcome to 2013 and onwards!
July 5th is observed as a black day by most political forces but most notably by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who was the victim of 5th July coup. July 5th can be termed as mother of all other black days – as this sowed the seeds of majority of ills that current Pakistan is facing. Notable other black days are 12th October, when Musharraf took over and 6th October when first martial law was imposed. The damage caused by Zia’ regime was catastrophic for Pakistan and is still continues through the legacies he created in his oubliette laboratory.
General Zia armed the afghan militants in the name of religion to fight soviets in Afghans. He became an American proxy in order to strengthen his own grip on power, he created National Logistics Cell to commence systematic smuggling of arms and drugs and give benefits to the likes of Gen Akhtar Abdur Rehman, Gen Fazle Haq and Air Marshal Anwer Shamim to name a few.
He brought Afghan war inside Pakistan to create turmoil and unrest in Pakistan so his rule is not questioned – he made a famous statement when after the first bomb blast in Peshawar when a reporter asked him about it – while cunningly smiling remarked:
“This is just the first of many many more to happen in Pakistan”.
On Siachen when he was asked has Pakistan lost that territory, the then CMLA proudly stated:
“Not a single blade of grass grows on Siachen – so what if Pakistan has lost it.”
There are a series of his actions that can be referred and discussed that shook the very foundations of Pakistan.
Today, majority of the terrorist organizations that spread like jungle fire can be traced back to Zia regime. It was Zia who divided the country on sectarian, ethnic, caste, and creed basis to weaken his opposition without realizing that these divides will destroy the very social fabric of the country and we see that in our everyday life in Pakistan. Under his regime the culture of drugs and open spread of weapons was nurtured. He did not leave any stone unturned to destabilize Pakistani society for his own political benefit. Till to date Pakistan has not managed to escape the strangle hold of the policies initiated by General Zia and how can we expect that to happen when crown prince of Zia’s legacy is still ruling in the form of current Prime Minister and he takes notes by turning leafs in the book left for him by Zia.
Social evils and terrorism were not the only gifts of Zia to Pakistan. He destroyed the political culture of Pakistan and created a new political class which revolved around the clans and castes. Party-less elections conducted by him in 1985 introduced a new corrupt lot of politicians that joined political arena to maximize their fortunes and whole premise of voting was revised from party based voting to vote for; Shia, Sunni, Chaudhry, Sheikh, Gujjar, Kashmiri, Mohajir etc.,
Most of the current leadership including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs is a product of 1985 elections. If the tragedy had not taken place on 5th July then today Pakistan could have been in much better state than it is currently in- no doubt about it – but now Zia will rule this country from his grave courtesy Sharifs and if anything; Pakistan missed the Golden Decade of 1990s and now in 2016 sitting lower than almost all of our neighboring countries in the region when compared to every index that is measured internationally.
Zia made deliberate effort to create a political setup based on above foundations and keep them in constant blackmailed position to enhance and further his rule but inadvertently helped by putting a soul into PPP as well; many political pundits believe that had Zia not hanged Bhutto; Pakistan would not have seen Zardari as President and who knows Bilawal as future PM. ZA Bhutto (ZAB) was popular for sure – but had he not been hanged the political discourse of PPP would not have been the same as we have seen since 1988.
Zia inseminated the test tube and Sharif’s were born, and he hanged ZA Bhutto and provided oxygen to PPP. Perfect double edged sword from hell.
Bhutto’s cult was created by Zia’s action of hanging ZAB, if we look at Bhutto’s rule of 5 years it cannot be termed as glorious that he can rule from his grave as he mentioned in his book – although several critical mistakes and also major victories were achieved in his tenure but in no way – it can be termed as outstanding term – maybe his next term could have been better – but unfortunately, it can only be guesstimated now. His quest for absolute power resulted in igging and it kick started a nationwide agitation of Opposition parties known as Pakistan National Alliance (PNA).
Zia used the PNA agitation as a pretext to impose martial Law on 5th July. No one can deny the mischievous designs of Zia behind the decision of imposing martial law but Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto also was partly responsible for it. Bhutto tried to brutally crush the PNA agitation; he delayed any settlement with them and prolonged the talks between PNA and PPP. All the top leadership of PNA was imprisoned during the course of agitation. If Bhutto had displayed courage and shrewdness and accepted the demand of re-election of PNA in April then Zia would not have got opportunity to topple his regime and in all likelihood would have gotten the majority though not the 2/3rd majority that ZAB was so much fixated on.
Most of the PPP supporters will dislike the aforementioned criticism of ZAB. The reason is that PPP supporters, also called Jiyalas, blindly follow the Bhuttos and defend their every action, similarly PMLN has gotten an opportunity to cash in on Oct 1999’s Martial Law and present themselves as victims, they have blind supporters often termed as Noonies or Noontoons. It’s because if such people that parties like PPP and PML-N come to power again and again despite their abysmal performance in the past. Pakistan can never expect any positive change as long as common people let their emotions take the best out of them and vote for dynasties such as Bhuttos and Sharifs and keep selling their votes for naan.
The damage caused by the Zia was a result of systematic polices during his entire regime. These wrongdoings can’t be reversed overnight, and overhaul of corrupt from the core and to the hilt system needs to be done as custodians of institutionalized corruption and with every office (Bureaucracy, Army, Judiciary, Press etc.,) is deep down and chain of corruption has self defence mechanism for Sharifs and Bhuttos who always bring up the “files” of those who want to either stay neutral or want to voice their concerns re any issue that threatens the power base of Sharifs or Bhuttos.
There is a consensus in Pakistan that military dictatorships must never be supported. However, the more pertinent question is can Imran Khan not bowing down to this despoiled and rotten system, can unintentionally, invite another General Zia and then Pakistanis would have to live with another Sharif and then see our children grow in Sharif Square (raise to the power 2) or will there be any upright and honest individual who by the stroke of luck happens to be sitting in key stakeholders position and thinks about Pakistan first and her/himself second?
