It is axiomatic that military
has no political role in any democratic country. Unfortunately,
a weak political system allowed the Pakistan military
to manipulate events, and, ultimately, hijack the state.
The military has cast a long shadow over politics in Pakistan
even during the period of civilian rule. Repeated army
intervention in the politics of Pakistan has been a recipe
for disaster. It has thwarted the growth and development
of parliamentary democracy and destroyed whatever little
faith people had in their political institutions. What
is worse, it has eroded people’s faith in themselves
as citizens of a sovereign, independent, democratic country.
Marx once said: “Neither a nation nor a woman is
forgiven for an unguarded hour in which the first adventurer
who comes along can sweep them off their feet and possess
them”. October 7, 1958, was our unguarded hour when
democracy was expunged from the politics of Pakistan with
scarcely a protest.
The result is the mess we are in today. As a direct consequence
of military intervention in the politics of Pakistan in
1958, we lost half the country in 1971. Our Bengali compatriots
parted company with us when we drifted away from the democratic
path.
They saw no future for themselves in a military –
dominated Pakistan and broke the country in two. We lost
half the country but learned nothing. 33 years after that
traumatic experience, a General in uniform rules Pakistan.
Some lessons of history, they say, take time to have an
effect.
It is now abundantly clear, except to those who are blind,
or on drugs, that Pakistan cannot survive if army is not
taken out of the turbulent arena of political conflict.
Pakistan cannot survive under military rule, with or without
a civilian façade, because military rule lacks
legitimacy and is an anachronism in a world of global
markets, information and media.
Pakistan cannot survive under military rule because military
rule symbolizes the hegemony of Punjab over the smaller
federating units. Pakistan cannot survive under military
rule because experience has amply demonstrated that military
rule is a recipe for disaster. Army is the only shield
we have against foreign aggression. Why involve it in
politics?
On August 14 / 15 1947, both Pakistan and India emerged
as sovereign, independent, democratic countries with great
hopes and high expectations. 57 years after independence,
the Indian army remains bound by tight constitutional
and political constraints. There has been no coup, no
colonels or brigadiers conspiracy to seize power. The
Indian army has not intervened in politics. De Tocqueville
and other theorists have argued that democracy and a large
standing army were incompatible, but India has managed
both. Indian democracy has stood the test of time.
The constitution has kept the country united, allowed
its democracy to survive and kept the armed forces at
bay. The structure of the Indian civil-military relationship
is still intact largely because the legitimacy of the
political system remains high. The British tradition of
separate spheres of military and civil authority has carried
over. Indian officers like to boast that politics and
military do not mix; that the two are immutably different
and separate. Junior officers are taught to be political
illiterates. Tragically, Pakistan army followed a different
path with disastrous consequences for the country.
The engine of history is moving Pakistan backwards. If
we are not vigilant, our fledging democracy may, after
all, turn out to have been a historical accident and a
parenthesis that is closing before our eyes. Today Pakistan
has no choice: It is condemned either to be part of the
democratic world or not to be at all. Pakistan will never
be all it can be, let alone all it need to be, if army
is not taken out of the arena of political conflict and
civil administration.
Asghar Khan is right when he says that, “Only powerful
public pressure to restrict the armed forces to their
defense responsibilities under political direction can
bring about a change”. This task must be undertaken
today. Tomorrow will be too late. Today our fate is still
in our hands, but soon it may pass beyond control.
