Derailment of Democracy, by Tanveer Zahid

 

Derailment of Democracy, by Tanveer Zahid

 

It was on Oct 7 way back in 1958, just little more than eleven years of Pakistan coming into existence, that democracy was derailed for the first time. The author of Pakistan’s first martial law regime was Ayub Khan who had been reprimanded for dereliction of duty by the Quaid-i-Azam some months before his demise in 1948

 

The influx of refugees from India into Pakistan after the creation of a new Muslim country on the world map was the biggest human, administrative problem. Most of the Muslim refugees were coming into Western Punjab from Eastern Punjab. The Quaid-i-Azam had entrusted the important responsibility of looking after the refugees to his trusted lieutenant Sardar Abdul Rab Nishtar. Major-General Ayub Khan was to help him in this gigantic humanitarian task. But Ayub Khan was more interested in spending his evenings in the army mess or some club rather than to assist Sardar Nishtar in the accomplishment of the task assigned by the Quaid-i-Azam. After tolerating this for some time, Sardar Nishtar addressed a letter to the Quaid-i-Azam pointing out what Ayub Khan was doing.

 

Obviously, the Quaid was greatly annoyed. He did not expect such dereliction of duty from a senior army officer and that too within less than one year of Pakistan’s coming into being.

 

The Quaid-i-Azam picked up the holder and wrote with a G nib in black ink on the same (Sardar Nishtar’s) letter:

 

I know this army officer. He is more interested in politics than the army matters.

 

1/ “He is transferred to East Pakistan.

2/ he will not hold any command position for one year.

3/ He will not wear his badges during this period.”

 

The file is lying in the strongroom of the Cabinet Division in Islamabad along with piles of other files as well as the various inquiries held regarding the murders of first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and Dr Khan Sahib, Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, Agartala Conspiracy Case and Justice Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report on the fall of

The file is lying in the strongroom of the Cabinet Division in Islamabad along with piles of other files as well as the various inquiries held regarding the murders of first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and Dr Khan Sahib, Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, Agartala Conspiracy Case and Justice Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report on the fall of Dacca.

 

The Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case has since been declassified and published a couple of years ago. Justice Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report’s some parts have also been declassified and made public some months ago, though it would have been appropriate if the entire report was published to let the people know the whole truth.

 

The inquiry report on the Ojhri Camp fire accident in 1988, which cost Muhammad Khan Junejo his prime ministership, is also another secret file lying in the Cabinet Division.

 

Some years back, there was a move to declassify the inquiries into the murder of Liaquat Ali Khan and Dr Khan Sahib but this did not materialize because some of the characters said to be involved or mentioned in the reports were still alive and the publication of these inquiry reports would be a source of embarrassment to them.

 

Dawn, 29/12/ 2001 (in letter’s section).