The narrative seeks to cover the author’s experiences under the changing structures of civilian and military governments inexorably affecting political and administrative institutions and the quality of the civil services in general
Syed Munir Husain belongs to the early generation of civil servants in Pakistan – well known for their professional competence, personal integrity, administrative acumen, and commitment to duty. A Lahorite by birth, he is the scion of a respectable family genealogically connected with men like Justice (Retd) Syed Fayyaz Hassan Shah, Syed Fida Hassan, Syed Shabbir Hussain, Group Captain (Retd) Syed Fayyaz Mahmood, Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Saghir Hussain and Syed Anwar Mahmood. He joined the coveted echelons of the civil service of Pakistan in 1952.
The title of the book would remind one of Susan Osborn’s novel Surviving the Wreck (1994) but the analogy ends there as here the canvas is broadened to incorporate a civil servant’s personal history of Pakistan as against the fictional narration of a distressed female’s personal tragedy in the earlier work.
The book is comprised of sixteen chapters describing its author’s personal life, his civil service career starting from the KPK Province (then NWFP), the three Martial Laws and their impact on the socio-political life of the country, civil-military relationship on the issues of governance, President Ayub Khan’s election and the 1965 war with India, role of radio and the abdication of President Ayub Khan, the merger of Swat State, the East Pakistan debacle, the Marri tribe insurgency and deployment of Army in Balochistan, 1977 general elections and their aftermath, 1982 population census and repercussions of Russian invasion of Afghanistan, cleavage between President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and PM Muhammad Khan Junejo, restoration of the civilian rule, civil services under Martial Law and civilian rule, need for a durable governance, and nation’s capacity to address its painful past.
‘The writer has inserted in the narrative his thoughtful personal observations, reflections, and comments on the fluid state of affairs in the country with a view to educating the readers on the cause and effect cycle of events culminating into a series of some significant but crucial episodes in the history of Pakistan’
Besides, the commonplace questions that the author has ventured to explore and answer in the book relate to the surety and sanctity of constitutional dispensation, extremism and violence, the demon of malpractice and corruption, institutional decline in the general standard of education and other fields, and the dilemma of population explosion. The narrative seeks to cover the author’s experiences under the changing structures of civilian and military governments inexorably affecting political and administrative institutions and the quality of the civil services in general. He laments that ‘this short and important history is characterised by constitutional abrogation, dire ineptitude of civilian rule and a pathetic degeneration of the bureaucracy’. While portraying the dismal scenario of the politico-administrative governance of the country in his near 40 years long tenure as a privileged civil servant, the author has relied more on objectivity and his benign catholicity of temperament than on any personal egotism or prejudice.
Bereft of his parents in early childhood and falling under the care and guardianship of his maternal grandparents, Syed Munir Husain had to work very hard to assure himself of a berth in the highly prestigious civil service of Pakistan after meritoriously passing MA in Economics from Government College, Lahore and serving as a Lecturer in the subject at the University of Punjab for over a couple of years. Without lapsing into unnecessary details, he has summarily highlighted his childhood and its eventual transition into a promising youth destined to traverse on the winding path of an eventful existence, with courage and conviction.
The quality of an autobiography is assumed to be directly proportionate to its readability which stipulates judicious selection of material, a racy style, and a lively portrayal of characters. The instant work displays these attributes in a reasonable measure. Omissions of proof-reading apart, the author is fully conversant with the niceties of expression in a foreign language that English is. His choice of persons and events is very pertinent and engaging, too. He has seen the rough and tumble of the highly volatile political scenario in the country across the latter half of the past century, His discreet asides on characters and events is sure to facilitate readers’ apprehension of the eventful saga. Being an astute analyst of the human psyche, his wise deductions from the anecdotes narrated in the book do also serve to enlighten the common reader on the enigmatic contours of our socio-political history sprouting from the partition of the sub-continent.
A civil servant’s role in the affairs of governance has always been controversial in our scheme of things. Bureaucracy is often maligned for its alleged collusion with the ruling top brass, political or military, for self-serving ends preceding the interests of the nation and the country. That is not perhaps the whole truth. The author gives a graphic account, mingled with some amazing inside stories, of his direct or indirect interaction with the ruling elite of the country including Iskander Mirza, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Gen Muhammad Ayub Khan, Gen Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Gen Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Muhammad Khan Junejo, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, and Ms Benazir Bhutto besides a host of politicians and other men of substance which presents a sordid picture of how Pakistan has all along been governed down the years after its celebrated founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his trusted lieutenant Liaquat Ali Khan, the first prime minister of the country.
‘His choice of persons and events is very pertinent and engaging, too. He has seen the rough and tumble of the highly volatile political scenario in the country across the latter half of the past century, His discreet asides on characters and events is sure to facilitate readers’ apprehension of the eventful saga’
The writer has inserted in the narrative his thoughtful personal observations, reflections, and comments on the fluid state of affairs in the country with a view to educating the readers on the cause and effect cycle of events culminating into a series of some significant but crucial episodes in the history of Pakistan like the language riots in ‘East Pakistan’, the formation of One Unit of West Pakistan, the Martial Law of 1958, the 1965 War with India, the Martial Law of 1969, the dissolution of the One Unit, the 1971 War with India and the dismemberment of the country leading to the emergence of Bangladesh, the rise and fall of ZA Bhutto, the Martial Law of 1977, and toppling of the elected governments of Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in the dying decades of the last century.
The format of the book, purported to be an autobiography, is impressionistic yet comprehensive, and the redeeming feature of narration is that the narrator is far from self-righteous in his avowals which enhance its credibility and, ultimately, readability. The recipe for good governance, as hinted by him, is ‘adherence and commitment to constitutional rule’. And he concludes his declamation on an optimistic note thus: ‘The obvious course for the armed forces and civilian setups is to stay within their respective callings under the framework of the constitution’.
Surviving the Wreck–A Civil Servant’s Personal History of Pakistan
Author: Syed Munir Husain
Publisher: Ilqa Publications, Gulberg II, Lahore
Pages: 304; Price: Rs 995/-
