There Is No Denying The Fact
That Pakistan Suffered From Leadership Crisis After The Untimely Death Of
Quaid-E-Azam In September 1948. All Those Who Held The Reins Of Power After
Quaid And Liaquat Ali Khan Were Selfish, Power Hungry, Morally Weak And
Pro-American. With Feet Of Clay, They Failed To Build Pakistan As A Modern,
Progressive Islamic Welfare State As Envisioned By The Founder Leader. However,
It Is Also A Fact That Other Than Sheikh Mujibur Rahman And Some Baloch
Nationalist Leaders, No Leader Hobnobbed With Adversaries Of Pakistan And
Compromised Security Of Pakistan. Hegemonic Ambitions Of Arch Enemy Were Kept In
Check.
When Indian Forces Illegally Intervened In Kashmir In October 1947,
Cash-Strapped Pakistan Had Nominal Forces Available To Counter The Threat.
Quaid-E-Azam Unhesitatingly Ordered The Army To Confront The Indian Threat And
Thus Saved One-Thirds Kashmir. But For Nehru’s Pleading For A Ceasefire And UN
Intervention, Pakistan Could Have Pushed Out The Intruders.
Field Marshal Ayub Khan Was Pro-American And Had Unwisely Given Badaber Airbase
To US Military, But He Was Profoundly Admired And Respected By The Americans
Because Of His Imposing Personality, Graceful Demeanor And All-Round
Achievements He Made For The Uplift Of The Country. American Assistance Helped
Him In Executing His Grand Reform Programs, Building Two Dams, Irrigation Canals
And Infrastructure And In Improving The Economy And Force Modernization. But
When He Noticed That The US As An Ally Was Drifting Toward India And Disturbing
Regional Military Balance By Providing Arms To India At A Massive Scale, He
Appraised Washington Of Pakistan’s Security Concerns. When The US Paid No Heed
To His Entreaties And Also Took Little Interest In Resolving Kashmir Dispute, He
Altered Pakistan’s Foreign Policy By Getting Closer To China And Opening Up With
Soviet Union. This Tilt Proved Highly Beneficial For Pakistan In The Long Run.
His Book ‘Friends Not Masters’ Explains The Depth Of His Frustration Over The US
Duplicity.
When Nehru Spurned Ayub’s Offer Of Joint Defence And Refused To Honor His Pledge
Of Granting Right Of Self-Determination To The Kashmiris And Settle Kashmir
Dispute Which Was Lingering Since 1948, It Was Feared By The Policy Makers That
Given The Quantum Of Arms Received By India From USA, West And Soviet Bloc, She
Would Soon Be In A Position To Tilt The Equilibrium Overwhelmingly In Her Favor,
Thereby Tempting Her To Further Her Expansionist Ambitions Against Pakistan.
Ayub Khan Gave A Go-Ahead Signal To The Plan Conceived By Maj Gen Akhtar Ali
Malik And Seconded By Foreign Minister ZA Bhutto To Launch Clandestine Operation
Gibraltar In Occupied Kashmir By Irregular Forces Together With Commandos In
August 1965 To Revitalize Kashmir Cause.
Operation Gibraltar Failed To Achieve Its Ends Because Of Lack Of Preparations
And Support From The Kashmiris. Unannounced Infiltration Of The Irregulars And
Air-Landing Of Commandos Had Taken The Kashmiris By Surprise. The Informers
Disclosed Their Hideouts To Indian Security Forces Which Converted The Venture
Into A Fiasco. Conversely, Operation Grand Slam Brought Akhnur Within The
Grasping Reach Of Invading Forces. But For Ill-Timed Change Of Command Which
Caused An Avoidable 24 Hour Pause In Operation And Modification Of Plan By The
New Commander Maj Gen Yahya Khan, Akhnur Would Have Fallen Like A Ripe Apple And
Occupied Jammu & Kashmir Surgically Cut From India.
In Order To Save Kashmir And To Teach A Lesson To Pakistan, Indian Military
Heavily Superior In Men And Material Launched An Undeclared War In The Wee Hours
Of 6 September 1965. Lahore Was Struck From Three Directions By Forces Of Maj
Gen Niranjan Prasad. The Invaders Were So Sure Of Their Victory That Indian COAS
Gen Chowdhury Had Arrogantly Stated That He Would Have A Peg Of Whisky In
Gymkhana Club Lahore That Evening. When Pak Forces Struck Back, Gen Prasad Ran
Away And Was Later Found Hiding In A Freshly Irrigated Sugar Cane Field In
Disheveled Condition. (1965 War – Inside Story, By R.D. Pradhan).
Not Only Lahore Offensive Was Effectively Blunted, Our Fierce Counter Offensive
Launched From Kasur Reached Outskirts Of Amritsar Without Much Opposition. Gen
Harbakhsh Singh Reveals That Not Only Gen Chowdhury Played A Very Small Role In
The Entire War, He Was So Nervous As To Be On The Verge Of Losing Half Of Punjab
To Pakistan, Including The City Of Amritsar. He Adds That Chowdhury Panicked So
Badly That He Ordered Him To Withdraw To A New Defensive Line Behind River Beas,
Thereby Conceding Half Of Punjab To Pakistan. Harbakhsh Refused To Comply And
Saved The Day For India. Indian Armored Division Was Grounded In The Biggest
Tank Battle At Chawinda In Sialkot Sector. Although Indian Air Force Had 5:1 Air
Superiority Over PAF, Pakistani Pilots Were Unrivaled In Air-To-Air Combat. They
Severely Battered Indian Airpower.
When Indian Main Offensive Was Identified In Ravi-Chenab, Amritsar Offensive Was
Called Off And 1 Armored Division Was Speedily Shifted From Kasur Sector To
Sialkot Sector To Join Up With 6 Armored Division. Once The Link Up Took Place
By 21 September, Pak Army Gained Superiority Of Strategic Orientation Over
Indian Military In Ravi-Chenab Corridor. Our Counter Offensive Force Was Well
Poised To Launch Maneuver Of Exploitation Towards Samba-Kathua. Pak Navy Did Its
Bit By Successfully Striking India’s Dwarka Port. People Of Pakistan Imbued With
Animal Spirits Stood Behind The Armed Forces Like A Solid Rock And Lustily
Cheered Every Act Of Theirs.
The Situation Became So Precarious For India That She Hastened To Agree To The
UN Proposal To Ceasefire On September 22nd To Negotiate Peace Treaty At
Tashkent. Had USA Not Abruptly Stopped Supply Of Vitally Needed Ammunition And
Military Spares, Pakistan Could Have Won The War. 17-Day High Intensity War Was
A Classic Case Of Unity, Courage And Fortitude Of A Nation Pitched Against A
Vastly Superior Adversary That Had Vowed To Decimate Pak Forces And Undo
Pakistan. Redoubtable PAF Pilots Flying F-104 Earned World Fame And World Media
Paid Rich Tributes To Pak Armed Forces. In Those Happy Days There Was A Common
Perception In Pakistan That One Pakistani Was Equivalent To Ten Indians.
When Gen Yahya Took Over In March 1969 And Came Up Against Indian Supported
Insurgency In East Pakistan Seeking Separation, He Took Military Action Against
The Rebels To Save Pakistan From Splitting. He Opted For The Military Option
After All His Efforts To Find A Political Solution Failed Because Of
Uncompromising Mujib And Power Hungry ZA Bhutto. An Aerobridge Was Made And Two
Infantry Divisions Airlifted From West To East Pakistan Via Colombo To Beef Up
Marooned 14 Division. Direct Air Route Had Been Purposely Blocked By India In
January 1971 Following RAW Fabricated Ganga Plane Hijacking Incident. The
Military Crushed The Province Wide Rebellion, Re-Established Writ Of The State
In Record Time Of Less Than Two Months And Put The Derailed Machinery Back On
The Rail. General Amnesty For All Those Who Had Fled To India Was Announced But
India Least Desirous Of Peaceful And Stable Conditions Blocked Return Of
Refugees And Awami League Leaders And Kept Feeding The Civil War.
When India Found That Mukti Bahini Would Not Be Able To Defeat Pak Army, Ten
Time’s Superior Indian Army Backed By Air And Naval Power And Soviet Union
Invaded East Pakistan On 21 November 1971 And Made Penetrations At 23 Different
Points Without Declaring War. Pak Forces Deployed In Penny Packets All Along The
Border Were Pinned Down And Their Rearward Routes Blocked. When The Situation On
Eastern Front Became Precarious, Yahya Activated The Western Front On 3 December
With Pre-Emptive Airstrikes On Indian Airbases And Launched Offensives In
Several Sectors To Relieve Pressure On Eastern Wing. Strategic Reserves Were
Also Ordered To Undertake The Counteroffensive. Had The US Played Its Role As An
Ally, Or ZA Bhutto Behaved More Maturely, Or Bengalis Not Collaborated With
Indian Military, India Couldn’t Have Broken The Eastern Limb Of Pakistan.
Notwithstanding Serious Flaws In Our War Strategy And The Tragic Outcome, It
Cannot Be Said That The Armed Forces At Any Stage Got Overawed And Were Hesitant
To Fight And Die Despite Being Denied A Level Playing Field.
After Taking Over Power On December 20, 1971, The First Step Which ZA Bhutto
Took Was To Get Pakistan Out Of SEATO, CENTO And Commonwealth That Had Proved
Counterproductive. He Forged Close Relations With Muslim World And Reoriented
Pakistan’s Identity With Southwest Asia. Holding Of Islamic Summit In Islamabad
In 1974 Was The Manifestation Of This Linkage. When India Carried Out Nuclear
Explosion At Pokhran In August 1974 And Revealed Her Sinister Intention Against
Truncated Pakistan, ZA Bhutto Wasted No Time In Laying The Foundation Of Nuclear
Program And Established Uranium Enrichment Plant At KRL Under Dr. AQ Khan. Libya
Under Qaddafi Was In The Forefront To Fund The Program. Bhutto Didn’t Relent
Despite Being Warned Personally By Henry Kissinger That He Will Be Made A
Horrible Example. Bhutto Deflated Afghan President Dawood’s Belligerence After
He Gained The Support Of Afghan Islamists.
Gen Ziaul Haq Has Several Feathers In His Cap. He Stood Up Against Soviet
Aggression In Afghanistan At His Own. When The US And The West Decided To Back
Up Afghan Jihad In June 1981, CIA Was Kept At A Distance. The ISI Coordinated
The Entire Jihad Single-Handed And Took It To Its Logical End. Soviet Forces
Could Not Have Been Pushed Out Of Afghanistan Without Pakistan’s Whole-Hearted
Support. Miraculous Victory Raised The Stature Of Pakistan Sky-High. He Also
Zealously Pursued Nuclear Program And Weaponized It In 1984 By Conducting Cold
Tests Despite Immense Western Pressure And Threats Of Indo-Israeli Aerial
Strikes To Destroy So-Called Islamic Bomb.
PM Benazir Bhutto And PM Nawaz Sharif During Their Respective Stints Together
With Presidents Ghulam Ishaq And Leghari Continued With The Nuclear And Missile
Development Programs Despite Harsh US Sanctions. Pak Army Always Maintained
Aggressive Posture Against Indian Forces Despite Being On Lower Heights Along
The Line Of Control (Loc) In Kashmir And In Siachin And Had An Upper Edge. All
Belligerent Acts Were Promptly And Forcefully Responded. The Frontier Corps Also
Countered Intrusions By Afghans On The Western Border Aggressively. PAF Defended
Pakistan’s Airspace Effectively While Coastal Belt And Maritime Interests Were
Robustly Safeguarded By Navy.
Nawaz Backed By Gen Karamat Withstood US And Western Pressure And Went Ahead
With Nuclear Tests In Response To India’s Nuclear Blackmail In May 1998.
Pakistan Became The Sole Nuclear Power In Islamic World And Seventh In The World
And It Earned Respect Of All Including India. Kargil Conflict Which Was
Triggered By Gen Musharraf In The Summer Of 1999 As A Consequence To Capture Of
Large Number Of Heights And 300 Sq Km Of Indian Held Territory In Kashmir
Brought The Indian Military Might On Its Knees. India’s Shattered Prestige Was
Salvaged By US Led G-8 Countries And Its Defeat Converted Into Victory On The
Media Plane.
Gen Musharraf Maintained Forceful Stance Towards India After He Took Over As
Head Of State And Put Up An Impressive Show During The Ten-Month Military
Standoff In 2002. His Governance And Economic Policies Were Also Sound. However,
He Is Criticized For Capitulating To American Pressure And Accepting All The
Seven Demands. His Detractors Say His Easy Capitulation Emboldened Washington To
Such An Extent That Thereon It Started Taking Pakistan For Granted. During His
Eight-Year Rule, The CIA And FBI For The First Time Penetrated Into Each And
Every Department Of Pakistan Including Media. The US Officials Started Behaving
Like Viceroys And Micro-Managed Pakistan’s Domestic Affairs. Shaukat Aziz As
Finance Minister And Then As PM Was US Man. Under The Nauseating Mantra Of ‘Do
More’, Pakistan Kept Submitting To Each And Every Demand, As If It Was The 51st
State Of USA.
The US Apologists In Pakistan Still Maintain That By Teaming Up With USA,
Musharraf Saved Pakistan And Its Strategic Assets From Destruction. They Termed
The US Support And Alliance As Life Saving Oxygen Without Which Pakistan
Wouldn’t Have Survived. Notwithstanding Overly Pro-US Policies, None Can Deny
That Lots Of Development Works Took Place During Musharraf’s Tenure And GDP Rose
To 7%. All Economic Indicators Were In Positive And Public Sector Corporations
Were In Profit. Nuclear And Missile Development Work Continued At A High Pace.
First Successful Cruise Missile Test Was Carried Out In 2006 And Work On
Development Of Non-Weaponized And Weaponized Drones Started In His Time.
By The Time Musharraf Left The Scene And Went Into Exile Under US Brokered Deal,
CIA Network Had Got Well-Entrenched In Pakistan And Internal Security Situation
Had Become Tense Thereby Making The Task Of New Security Team That Much
Difficult. Kashmiri Freedom Movement Had Lost Its Impetus As A Consequent To Ban
Imposed On Kashmiri Jihadist Groups In 2002/03, Erection Of Fence Along The Loc
In Kashmir And Stoppage Of Movement Across Loc. The US And UK Installed NRO
Cleansed Puppet Regime In March 2008 Wholly Subservient To Washington’s Wishes
Further Compounded The Security Situation. While Bush Administration Had Done
The Initial Groundwork Of Softening Up Pakistan, Obama Was Required To Execute
The Final Phase Of Destabilizing, Denuclearizing, Enfeebling And Discrediting
Pak Army And Then Balkanizing Pakistan With The Help Of India.
Af-Pak Policy Followed By Kerry-Lugar Bill, Acceleration Of Drone War, Induction
Of Blackwater And Additional 7000 CIA Agents, Expansion Of US Embassy In
Islamabad, Intensification Of Propaganda War Against Army And ISI, Appointment
Of Richard Holbrooke As Special Envoy, Group Attacks In Major Urban Centres,
Raymond Davis Episode Followed By Cross Border Helicopters Attack In Abbottabad,
Alleged ISI’s Linkage With Haqqani Network, Ruthless Attack On Salala Border
Posts, Heating Up Of Western Border, And Stoppage Of CSF Were Steps In That
Direction.
To The Bad Luck Of USA And Its Strategic Partners And To The Good Fortune Of
Pakistan, The Devious Plan Has Run Into Snags And Has Almost Been Grounded Since
The Plotters Have Themselves Got Caught In The Whirlpool Of Afghanistan. The
Whole Edifice Of Intrigue And Deception Built By
Indo-US-Israeli-UK-Germany-Afghanistan Nexus Has Started To Crumble In The Face
Of Taliban Generated Hurricane And Defiance Of Pak Army. Even The Week-Kneed
Government Showed Some Guts By Blocking NATO Supply Lines For Seven Months And
Closing Shamsi Airbase In 2012, And Just Before Quitting Deciding To Hand Over
Gawadar Port To China And Sticking With Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project
Despite US Pressure Of Sanctions. The US Is No More Taking Pakistan For Granted
And Is Belatedly Once Again Recognizing Its Geo-Strategic Significance.
Gen Kayani Has Done Exceptionally Well In Restoring The Bruised Image Of Army
And Keeping It Cohesive And In Thwarting Series Of Home-Made And Foreign-Made
Conspiracies. Although He Has Offered Army’s Shoulder In Support Of Democracy
And Holding Of Free And Fair Elections, People Are So Fed Up Of Sham Democracy
That They Have Started Remembering Gen Musharraf. Pro-Musharraf Lobby Is
Projecting Him As The Right Choice For Caretaker PM For Next Two-Three Years To
Set Things Right. Imran Khan Promising A Change Has Become A Popular Leader.
Even Tahirul Qadri Wanting Electoral Reforms Before Elections Attracted Huge
Crowds.
So Far The Election Commission Has Disappointed The Nation. It Could Not Block
Pre-Poll Rigging, Couldn’t Carryout Delimitation Of Karachi, And Has Failed To
Elicit Requisite Information From Politicians To Ensure Proper Screening Of
Contestants. So Far Consensus On Caretaker PM Has Not Been Achieved And Overall
Security Situation Is Bad. Some Are Cautioning That Elections Will Be Bloody.
Under The Circumstances, Holding Of Free And Fair Elections Seems A Pipedream.
Notwithstanding The Darker Aspects Of The Five-Year Democracy, It Cannot Be
Denied That Punjab Government Under Shahbaz Sharif Maintained Semblance Of Order
And Produced Impressive Results. But For Punjab’s Notable Performance In
Comparison With Other Provinces, Which Has Catapulted The Popularity Graph Of
PML-N, Together With Emergence Of Third Political Force That Have Rejuvenated
Some Hopes In Democracy, The Situation Seems Ripe For Another Round Of Military
Rule, Which The People Would Welcome.