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In this special exclusive conversation with MATRIX MAG, former finance and foreign minister, advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz reflects on the dream of Pakistan which he insists is still alive.
MATRIXMAG(MM): What are your reflections on Pakistan at 72?
Sartaj Aziz (SA): Pakistan came into being in exceedingly difficult times. We did not have even paper pins. The government began its work in adverse circumstances in Karachi. Most of our assets were in India. Over five million refugees from India were the biggest issue. Most Indian observers then had anticipated that Pakistan will not survive beyond six months. But the spirit of the Pakistan movement was still very much alive and people were
ready to work hard and with commitment. And then everybody saw the result of that commitment. Back then, the new-born country hardly had any factory, now we have thousands. Today, we are self-sufficient in food. We only had two universities at the time of independence but today there are more than 200 universities across Pakistan. Economically, we were ahead of India during the first 40 years or so. We were growing at over five percent, compared to the 4 percent growth rate of India. Our per capita income was also higher than that of India’s. Our armed forces also developed into a professional army and successfully defended the country in the face of hegemonistic designs of India. Although socioÂeconomically, Pakistan could not develop as fast in the last 20 years as it did earlier yet as a whole we have done well.
MM: Where did we fail?
SA: Our failure is primarily political and its reasons are very basic; firstly, normally leaders who lead a nation into independence manage to evolve consensus on settling some basic issues such as the constitution, the governance system (parliamentary or presidential), the level of provincial autonomy, and the role of religion in the state affairs. Our basic failure is political because we have not been able to evolve a sustainable democratic system. From the very outset we could not reach a consensus on the issues I just mentioned.
Pakistan was, however, unfortunate in this regard. It lost its founding father – Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in September 1948. Almost three years later – in October 1951 – Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan, was martyred at a public rally. The country was then left with a leadership vacuum and thus some core issues remained unresolved.
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India drafted and adopted its first constitution in 1950 but we got ours in 1956, nearly nine years after the independence. This had happened after the rulers broke a basic democratic principle and increased the number of seats of West Pakistan to create a parity with East Pakistan, despite the fact that East Pakistan was larger in population. This obviously created a sense of deprivation.
Unfortunately, the then defense minister General Ayub Khan seized power in 1958 and abrogated the 1956 constitution.
Another misfortune was that the first truly democratic general elections, according to my own view, were held in 1970 – over twenty-three years after the independence but it really did not give way to a true democratic process. Ayub Khan’s decade-long martial law had widened the cleavage between the eastern and western Pakistan. That is why not a single candidate from West Pakistan could win from the eastern wing. Similarly, only one Bengali leader Noorul Amin could secure a seat in West Pakistan.
This means people in the East had literally voted for separation.
I would say the fear of India had in fact kept us together but the Bengali Pakistanis realized during the 1965 war with India that the West was not in a position to defend them. No surprise that six months later Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman presented his Six-Points and six years later Bangladesh came into existence.
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MM: What were the basic shortcomings in this journey?
SA: The loss of founding leaders in quick succession was one big disadvantage. Then the first martial law, then the second and third (General Yahya Khan in 1969 and then General Ziaul Haq who deposed Z.A.Bhutto in 1977). Had Ayub Khan handed power to political leaders they would have probably found a political solution to the simmering issues. When martial law ends it leaves behind a plethora of issues. Military leaders don’t really transfer power. They actually look for a civilian faô€€‰ade to continue their rule. That is why we see that most of all civilian leaders are the product of military rule. You see what happened to Bhutto, Junejo and Sharif when they tried to assert themselves. We simply got caught up in a vicious cycle.
Secondly, we in Pakistan paid heavily for wrong decisions by military rulers Ayub Khan (alliance with the United States and his indulgence in the Cold War, disregarding Russia), Gen. Zia ul Haq’s initiation of the Afghan Jihad and General Pervez Musharraf’s partnership in the US-led ‘War on Terror”
Is it a coincidence or a grand design that Pakistan found itself under military rulers during the Cold War, the USÂled Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union and then the War on Terror? And our leaders partnered with the West. We are still paying a heavy price for the military rule. We shall have to ultimately allow the civilians to sort out national issues among themselves through the electoral process. Democracy allows mass participation, irons out differences of all kinds. Had democracy been allowed to function things would have been different. Democratic system could not take roots.
MM: Do we see some hope for future, have we moved for the better?
SA: Things have improved meanwhile. We have an independent judiciary, a vibrant civil society and media and these are all essential elements for a true democratic process. Terrorism has been defeated to a large extent. Government has brought reforms in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) – now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the fencing of the Afghan border is also underway. Islamabad is playing a vital role in the Afghan peace process, and economic connectivity through China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is in full swing. All this augurs well for a prosperous future of the country.
MM: Would you agree that had politicians ruled with integrity and greater responsibility it would have minimized military interventions and interference?
SA: That is true but when leaders are preoccupied with issues of survival they mostly focus on securing their flanks instead of governance. Politics is primarily a game of space and survival. The current polarization is very unfortunate and our economic adversity is also because of this political instability.
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MM: Would you agree that we have been fed on an overdose of “India fear.”
SA: The fear of India is a reality. Given the current circumstances and the hostile policies of the BJP government I can foresee peaceful coexistence but no real friendship with India.
MM: How do we extricate ourselves from the current socio-political mess?
SA: No single institution or person can tackle our current problems. In the wake of these challenges, it would not be wrong to say that this is the right time for a grand interÂinstitutional dialogue as contemporary issues cannot be solved by a single institution, as had been suggested by former chairman Senate, Mian Raza Rabbani too. There is a need for across-the-board cooperation.
MM: What is your message to young Pakistanis?
SA: Let me quote you an example. I had once asked students of the Beacon House University about their motivation; almost 60 percent said they wanted to earn a lot of money and lead a comfortable life. The same year I visited Jamia Millia in India and asked the students the same question. Surprisingly almost half of them said they wanted to excel in their subject and contribute to the store of knowledge.
My message to the Pakistani youth therefore is: Stop running after material and aim for excellence in your respective fields. The dream of Pakistan is still alive. You should not let it die.
