WAITING FOR ALLAH PAKISTAN’S STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY CHRISTINA LAMB Reproduced By Sani H. Panhwar Member Sindh Council, PPP CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 MAPS .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 CHRONOLOGY .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 INTRODUCTION .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7 1. INVENTINGA COUNTRY .. .. .. .. .. 18 2. GANGSTERSINBANGLES’ COMETO ISLAMABAD .. 33 Benazir Bhutto’s inheritance 3. TICKETSTO THEMASKEDBALL .. .. .. .. 44 Democracy—Pakistan style 4. THESUPERPATRONAGEROADSHOW .. .. .. 56 Feudalpolitics 5. A SUBCONTINENTALDYNASTY .. .. .. .. 69 The White Queen andthe Evil Dictator 6. ‘BUTMINISTER ...’ .. .. .. .. .. .. 85 Whorules Pakistan? 7. SINDH-LANDOF ROBINHOODSANDWARRIOR SAINTS 103 8. DIAL-A-KALASIINIKOV .. .. .. .. .. 120 Of ethnic violence andidentityproblems in Karachi andHyderabad 9. PROPHETSANDLOSSES .. .. .. .. .. 144 The immoral economy 10. THEGREATGAMEREVISITED .. .. .. .. .. 163 Of bloodfeuds andtribal wars 11. ‘RESISTANCETOURS LTD’ .. .. .. .. .. 179 Afghanistan —the war on the borders 12. SQUANDERINGVICTORY .. .. .. .. .. 199 Fightingtothe lastAfghan for adeadman’s dream 13. INTHENAMEOF THECRESCENT .. .. .. .. 223 India—the dragon on the doorstep 14. THEEMPIRESTRIKESBACK .. .. .. .. .. 238 GLOSSARY .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 256 SELECTBIBLIOGRAPHY .. .. .. .. .. .. 258 An Elusive Dawn Thistrembling light,thisnightbittendawn Thisis not the Dawn we waitedfor so long Thisis not the Dawn whose birthwassired By so many lives,so muchblood Generationsago we startedour confident march, Our hopeswere young,our goalwithinreach After allthere must be some limit To the confusing constellationofstars Inthe vast forest ofthesky Eventhe lazy languidwaves Must reachat last theirappointedshore Andso we wistfully prayed For aconsummate endto our painfulsearch. FAIZ AHMED FAIZ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout the length and breadth of Pakistan there are many people for whose help I am grateful and because of whom I have an enduring affection for the country —so many that it isnot possible tomentionthemall. The Arbab family, Naseem and Sehyr Saigol, Kamal Azfar, Arif Nizami, the late Brigadier Salik,NajamSethiandNusrat Javedwere allofparticular help. Not least among those to whom I owe thanks are the many Afghan mujaheddin with whom I travelled into war zones and late into the night discussed the region’spast andfuture. Hamid Karzay, Hamid and Ishaq Gailani and Asim Nasser-Zia were particular friends, as was Commander Abdul Haq, with whom I shared a fondness for ice- cream. Sir Nicholas Barrington, the British High Commissioner in Islamabad, also deserves a special mention for his help in trying to stop the Interior Ministry deporting me. Thanks are owed to my colleagues at the Financial Times for their support, in particular to Robin Pauley and Jurek Martin for encouraging me to give up a perfectly decent jobat CentralTVto go out andlive inPakistan. Professor Akbar Ahmed at Cambridge University has been an invaluable friend andsounding board. My editor,JonRiley,haspatiently guidedme throughmy first book. Above all, thanks to my parents for putting up with a daughter frequently lost in the wildsandmy endlessbattleswiththe wordprocessor. Waitingfor Allah; Copyright© www.bhutto.org 1 Waitingfor Allah; Copyright© www.bhutto.org 2 Waitingfor Allah; Copyright© www.bhutto.org 3 CHRONOLOGY OF PAKISTAN 1947: Independence from British Rule and formation of Pakistan from Muslim majority provinces of India. War with India over Kashmir, the only Muslimmajority province to stay inIndia. 1948: Death of Jinnah, founder of Pakistan and first head of state. Liaquat Ali Khantakesover asfirst Prime Minister. 1951: Liaquat assassinated in mysterious circumstances. Civil servants become dominant force. 1952: First ethnic riots in the majority province of East Pakistan, at attempts to impose Urdu as the national language and lack of representation for Bengalisincentraladministration. 1953: First religious riots against minority Ahmadi sect. First martial law imposedinLahore. 1954: Pakistan joins SEATO, a US-sponsored military alliance, and US becomes principalmilitary supplier. 1955: Provinces of West Pakistan merged into ‘One Unit’, causing resentment among smaller provinces. 1956: First Constitutionframed. 1958: First military coup under command of General Ayub Khan. Parliament dissolvedandmartiallawimposed. 1962: SecondConstitutionintroducedto installacentralizedpresidentialsystem underwrittenby the military. 1964: Ayub ‘defeats’ Fatima Jinnah, sister of the country’s founder, in Presidentialelection. 1965: Secondwar withIndia overKashmir.Defeat weakensAyub’sposition. 1966: Awami League, main party of East Pakistan, proposes a confederation of the two regions. Waitingfor Allah; Copyright© www.bhutto.org 4 1969: Ayubhandsover to GeneralYahyaKhanafter periodofunrest. 1970: Pakistan’s first free elections. Awami League sweeps East Pakistan and Z. A.Bhutto’sPeople’sParty winsmajority inWest Pakistan. 1971: Army refuses to transfer power to Awami League and sends in troops to East Pakistan. India goes to aid of Bengalis who secede from Pakistan to form Bangladesh. Z. A. Bhutto takes over as Martial Law Administrator of remaining Pakistan. 1972: Bhutto, now Prime Minister, devalues rupee by 131 percent and begins nationalizationcampaign. 1973: Third Constitution introduced, but this time with the support of all political parties. Baluchistan government dismissed and N W FP government resigns in protest. Army sent into Baluchistan to deal with insurrection. 1977: PPP government rigs country’s second parliamentary elections. Army called out to deal with resulting protest movement and martial law declaredincities. General Zia ul-Haq takes over in coup, promising elections within ninety days. Bhutto chargedwithmurder. 1978: Islamicizationprocess beguninattempt to legitimize military rule. 1979: Bhutto executed.Politicalactivity banned. Soviet UnioninvadesAfghanistan. 1980: Afghanrefugeesbeginpouring into Pakistan. USendsPakistan’s internationalisolationbydeclaring support. 1983: Army sent into Sindhto suppressrevolt against military rule. 1984: Benazir Bhutto leavesPakistanfor London. Zia declares himself ‘elected’ President after referendum on Islamicization. 1985: Zia announces Mohammad Khan Junejo Prime Minister of Assembly elected onnon-party basisto formcivilianbuffer for militaryrule. Waitingfor Allah; Copyright© www.bhutto.org 5