A valuable addition to study on Pakistan

The long road from the beginning to the abyss

The book is a collection of period studies by experts which would be highly useful not only for students of history but also for common readers. Justice cannot be done in a review to 19 period studies, mostly by writers specialising in the field.

Two articles on the “great pre-historic heritage” are followed by three on the country’s inheritance of South Asian Islamic heritage, one on the British era, while twelve chapters focus on to the new country that was born in 1947 but had been bequeathed a rich cultural heritage beginning seven thousand years back, which the religious extremists in the country disown.

The first article covers the period from Paleolithic era to the Indus Civilisation. The second investigates the archaeological heritage of Pakistan and the Indo-Gangetic tradition including the early historic chiefdoms and states of the northern subcontinent. Both are written by American archaeologist Jonathan Mark Kenoyer. The chapter on Islamic era by Manan Ahmed Asif covers the advent of Islam in South Asia, the Delhi and provincial Sultanates and the Mughal rule.

The modern era beginning with the British rule over the areas comprising present day Pakistan brought about phenomenal changes in the region in about a century. All this is summarised by Marc Jason Gilbert in thirty-one pages. The paucity of space was dictated by the parameters of the volume conceived by the publishers. The volume deserved another article to deal with issues like institution building and questions why these could not be maintained after 1947.

A number of articles on post 1947 developments are authored by widely known writers who have written copiously on issues related to Pakistan’s history. These include the editor of the volume Roger D Long, Craig Baxter, Ian Talbot, Lawrence Ziring and Philip E Jones. Ayesha Siddiqa’s article deals with the Pervez Musharraf era

The highly insightful chapter on “The Democratic Phase” by British historian Ian Talbot covers the period 1947-58. Among other things the article deals with the politics of the provinces, a subject that had received little attention so far.

The modern era beginning with the British rule over the areas comprising present day Pakistan brought about phenomenal changes in the region in about a century. All this is summarised by Marc Jason Gilbert in thirty-one pages

According to Talbot, compulsions generated by the struggle for survival during the first decade after 1947 led to distortions in the system that were to continue to haunt the country later on also.

“Political institutionalisation was set aside in a crisis situation which threatened the very existence of the new state. Yet the emphasis on bureaucratic control and the maintenance of the local elite’s power quickly ended the inchoate hope of the Muslim masses for social and economic transformation and a diffusion of political power accompanying independence. “

Consequently, what the country managed to develop was what Talbot calls a “procedural democracy”, where little more was done than holding regular ballots, rather than a social democracy with its participatory element in the exercise of power and the removal of social inequalities.

Talbot rejects the point of view that Pakistan’s democratic failure was the outcome of the politicians’ misuse of power, corruption and factional intrigues. He points to the ‘profound anti-democratic sentiments’ in powerful bureaucrats who managed the country after Jinnah’s death. Then he comes to the two major issues that arrested the growth of democracy.

“Firstly that the Muslim League’s weak political institutionalisation prevented it from playing a similar consolidating role to that of the Congress in India. The League lacked the grassroots organisational base to prevent landlord domination and this thwarted social reform and perpetuated clientelism… Second, centralisation was seen as a requirement for state consolidation, yet it had the effect of intensifying conflict between the centre and the provinces. This not only undermined political process but encouraged an often self-serving politicisation of ethnicity. The consequence of both landlord politics and centre-province conflict was a creeping authoritarianism which culminated in the 1958 coup.”

Sarah Ansari, professor of history at Royal Holloway College, University of London, has written a piece on the Pakistan Movement, covering the seven years between the Lahore Resolution 1940 to the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Roger D Long has written on the founders of Pakistan. Starting from Jinnah, he also takes note of the contributions by Liaquat Ali Khan, Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman and MAH Ispahani. The chapter fills a gap as Khaliquzzaman and Ispahani are often ignored by historians.

Craig Baxter was in Pakistan, who served in the US Consulate in Lahore between 1965 and 1968 before starting a new career as professor of history and political science, has written on the Ayub era. The chapter is a useful round up of Pakistan’s military ruler and the policies he followed.

The volume includes a challenging reappraisal of the Yahya Khan era. Sarmila Bose questions some of the commonly held opinions about the man who presided over the breakup of the country and the creation of Bangladesh. Bose considers the charge of licentiousness as the reason behind the failures of Yahya Khan simply unjust.

The “widespread references to Yaha’s personal life and heavy drinking do not explain his regime’s failures in terms of defeat to India and the secession of East Pakistan. Nor do they explain his rather remarkable successes: the swift return to political activity and holding of elections as promised; the reform of the political system to one of universal suffrage based on population; the first fair and free election in Pakistan; and successful diplomatic mediation in the US-China breakthrough.”

Bose challenges the notion that the defeat in the war against India and the break-up of Pakistan were caused by Yahya’s personal habits, particularly his addiction of alcohol. “Such easy reductionism does not advance the understanding either of the failures or the significant achievements of Yahya and his regime,” she maintains.

In the breakup of Pakistan, Yahya’s “Himalayan blunder” was that he “attempted to find a military solution to a political problem.” According to Bose the only option consistent with remaining on the path of democracy would have been to convene the assembly and leave the country’s fate to its politicians. Yahya’s decision to go for military action instead reflects a total lack of understanding of politics, “both individually and institutionally”.

Talbot rejects the point of view that Pakistan’s democratic failure was the outcome of the politicians’ misuse of power, corruption and factional intrigues. He points to the ‘profound anti-democratic sentiments’ in powerful bureaucrats who managed the country after Jinnah’s death

Lawrence Ziring is known in Pakistan for his study of the Ayub era in “The Ayub Khan Era: Politics in Pakistan, 1958-1969”. In the present volume he has raised interesting issues while writing on the Zia period. These include the relationship between the 1971 defeat and the rise of militancy in present day Pakistan. This is how Ziring puts it:

“On its face, the Indian army thrust into East Pakistan, the humbling of the Pakistan army and the recognition of Bangladesh appeared a win-win policy for Indian interests. A closer examination of the Indian victory, however reveals otherwise — that in fact, India disturbed semblance of order in the subcontinent and set in motion forces with not only regional but worldwide implications.

“The Pakistan army was destined to make Kashmir its core policy in its return to active political status, and this issue also crystallised the army’s decision to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons.”

By 1977 “the army had clandestinely permeated Kashmir. A veritable intifada (uprising) had erupted in the state and Indian forces were pressed to deal with a revitalised insurgency engineered by the clandestine Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). “By the time Zia-ul-Haq found himself at the helm of Pakistan’s political life, the Kashmir front was ablaze in guerrilla warfare. Perpetrated not by Pakistan’s conventional forces, but by radicalised Islamic bands supported and made manifest by the members of the ISI”.

The book also carries three articles that deal with Pakistan’s foreign policy, economy and social and cultural history, which make it a comprehensive round up of the important aspects of Pakistan.

Roger D Long’s collection of articles is a valuable addition to the books Oxford University Press has published on Pakistan related issues.

A History of Pakistan

Written by: Roger D Long

Published by: Oxford University Press

Pages: 843; Price: Rs2,500