Engr'slog#5.0 // Compulsions of Power

"Tragedy is that intellectuals aspiring to gain certain benefits, keep quiet and do not point out mistakes of the rulers".

General Mirza Aslam Beg headed Pakistan Army as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) from 17th Aug 1977 to 16 Aug 1991, after General Zia-ul-Haq. He is the first army chief who was trained at Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul.

In this book, author* after extensive interviews with General Mirza Aslam Beg (for ease of reading, abbreviation MAB will be used through out the blog post) has presented his life and career history in quiet an elaborative manner. From his participation in Pakistan Movement as part of student's federation, migration from India to Pakistan in 1948, to joining Pakistan Army. Various stages of his life, and progressions made by MAB within Army and after retirement, are also discussed in this book.

The title of this book is named upon the words of General Zia-ul-Haq as recalled by General Mirza Aslam Beg (MAB), which were 

"Office of authority has certain limitations and compulsions". 

A message seems to be hidden in these words, that our rulers despite being in power become so helpless that they put national dignity at stake as seen in various events of Pakistan's history:

• General Muhammad Ayub Khan was helpless when he handed over power to General Yahya Khan instead of handing it over to the Speaker of National Assembly as envisaged in the constitution.
• General Yahya Khan was helpless when he postponed NA session sine die after convening it on 3rd March 1971 at Dacca.
• General Zia-ul-Haq was helpless when he signed death warrant of ZA Bhutto inspite of his promises.
• General Pervez Musharraf collaborated with foreign powers to invade brotherly Afghanistan under compulsion.

Some fascinating highlights of the book are summarized below:

Fall of Dacca

MAB discusses the conditions and facts that led to separation of East Pakistan in 1971. Sharing his own experience, he mentions that once peace was established after initial turmoil in 1971, GOC asked him to prepare an analytical report to be presented to General Niazi at HQ Eastern Command. Crux of the report, being presented to HQ, was that army had fulfilled their responsibilities and now is the time that civil administration should take over. Civil institutions should start functioning and political process be initiated. However, General Niazi did not like it. According to MAB, its the human psychology that when in power, one gets intoxicated. He cannot think of parting with power. Result was that General Niazi retaliated and hot words were exchanged between General Niazi and GOC General Shaukat. Next day GOC was changed however MAB, who came under wrath, was kept at his position.

New GOC being careful, as he had seen the fate of previous GOC, passed order that daily situation report (SITREP) must be approved from him before sending to HQ. GOC then used to make amends in SITREP in such a way that even worst situation would look good. MAB seeing this, retaliated and as a result was then transferred to Transit Camp, Rawalpindi as officer on special duty (OSD) and later to War Course which was considered as dump posting in those days.

Hanging of ZA Bhutto

MAB was assigned command of 14th Division as Major General in 1978, which made him part of high military hierarchy. During this time, case of ex-prime minister ZA Bhutto was in last stages and Supreme Court (SC) had awarded him death sentence in 1979.

General Zia-ul-Haq asked Corps Commanders to assess likely reaction of men in uniform if Bhutto was hanged. All except MAB said that reaction will be very mild and will be controlled easily; according to MAB, he expressed his opinion as:

"Hanging Bhutto will be a very wrong decision. It will have very grave consequences. It will create political aberrations which will be difficult to sort out. 

It will be better that Bhutto should be sent to exile. Yasir Arafat of Palestine, Shah Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Colonel Qaddafi of Libya and rulers of UAE are willing to accept him."

Although no heed was paid to MAB's comments and General Zia proceeded with his decision, which later appeared as the darkest day in Pakistan's history. According to MAB, his opinion proved right when he read article by diplomat SM Qureshi, who wrote: "Two years after hanging Bhutto, I was sent to meet Yasir Arafat. He told me that General Zia had promised while sitting in Masjid-e-Haram, in the presence of King Khalid, that he would not hang Bhutto. He did not keep his word".

General Zia's New Political Concept-1985

General Zia-ul-Haq had ruled the country for nine years, and in 1985 he decided to revive the political system. MAB and General Hameed Gul were asked to analyze political situation and make recommendations on how and when to revive the political system. According to MAB, report was submitted with recommendations as:

"Time has come to hold transparent and fair elections and transfer power to elected representatives. People will remember you with good words".

To this report General Zia replied: "You want my throat to be strangled?". "You are right but seat of power has its own compulsions. It is difficult to make such decision".

Modernization Program for Pakistan Army and Self-Reliance

As Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) and later as COAS, MAB concentrated on modernizing Pakistan Army with explicit mission: 

"Reorganize the army in such a way that it should attain capabilities of effectively dealing with internal and external threats beyond 2000".

To achieve this mission, various steps were taken including establishment of Air Defense Division. Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery were separated and every strike force got a dedicated Air Defense Division. War strategy which was previously based on defensive strategy was changed to aggressive strategy. Imparting higher education to officers was also added to the program.

Strategy formulation was easy, according to MAB, however difficulty arose when need for buying modern weapons and equipment arose. USA was contacted but they were interested in selling old weapons, and were not willing to sell modern technology. Same was the attitude of European countries. At last, China proved to be a reliable friend and provided her utmost support.

In 1988, experiments were conducted to manufacture "Al Khalid" tank which outweighed capabilities of American tank M1A1. Similarly, 90% self-reliance was achieved in production of high tech weapons and military equipment.

Accident of Pakistan-One

On 17th August 1988, after viewing exceptional capabilities of Al-Khalid tank with MAB (COAS) at Bahawalpur, General Zia-ul-Haq returned back to Islamabad but unfortunately it proved to be his last flight as Pakistan-One, C-130 airplane carrying General Zia-ul-Haq and his team of advisors crashed near Bahawalpur. 

Being COAS, leadership came to MAB, who now has a difficult decision to make; whether to take over the power or hand it over to those who deserved it. At that moment MAB reminds words of his father "Hand over the rights to those who deserve it".

Based on the same advice which he himself gave to General Zia-ul-Haq, MAB after consulting with his officers at GHQ called Chairman Senate, Ghulam Ishaq Khan and presented him the unanimous decision, and was asked to take over the responsibilities of the state. Within three hours of death of General Zia, the constitution had been revived, process of transfer of power had started.

Later investigation reports regarding the crash came from PAF and other agencies, unanimously agreed that no chemical elements were found on dead bodies. The fear that some conspiracy was at work had been ruled out and this crash was concluded as an unfortunate technical disaster.

Policy of Glasnost

Realizing the new realities and role of mass communication, policy of "Glasnost" was adopted. It aimed at providing information to media and creating awareness among public about armed forces. ISPR was assigned this task. Various seminars were held which were attended by intellectuals, journalists and retired military officers. Also, many seminars were conducted on three wars fought by Pakistan. Many new aspects came to limelight in those seminars which were not known before, especially bravery and sacrifices made by tribesmen of Pakistan in liberation war of northern areas (1948).

Exercise Zarb-e-Momin

In 1989, Pakistan Army under leadership of MAB, carried its first ever, most extensive and huge exercise named "Zarb-e-Momin" in which 227 units of battalion alongwith 57 Brigade HQs, 11 Division HQs and 4 Corps HQ were established. Approximately 300,000 soldiers participated with 755 tanks, 487 armored vehicles and 188 aircrafts. Military delegations from 23 countries witnessed the exercise as observers.

Politics, National Security Council and Asghar Khan Case

MAB after retirement established a research organization with the name Foundation for Research on International Environment, National Development and Security (FRIENDS) to serve as a think-tank in the country where national, international and regional affairs could be debated, and to make up the deficiency of National Security Council with research essays serving as support and advisory to government. Various seminars were held domestically and also with international countries like China and Turkmenistan.

However, as MAB puts it, tragedy of our country is that we worship the rising sun. Our rulers do not want to listen what is against their sweet will. Since government weak points were openly discussed at FRIENDS forum, that was considered as a threat to rulers and men in power. Sanctions were therefore imposed on FRIENDS resulting in total ban on meetings and publishing articles.

MAB also tried his luck at politics in 1996 by making Awami Qiadat Party but could not result in fruitful alliance. Later he tried his luck second time by making alliance with Azim Tariq of MQM who was making his own political party but this scenario also failed with murder of Azim Tariq.

MAB remains in news in regard to the case against him filed by Air Marshal Asghar Khan that, MAB being former COAS, had distributed 15 crore rupees to various people (mostly politicians) prior to 1990 elections through ISI. MAB in his defense says that this withdrawal and distribution of money is based on notification N-75 issued by the then president, ZA Bhutto directing ISI to provide logistic support in National Elections. MAB considers Naseerullah Babar and Rehman Malik as masterminds of this conspiracy, and wrongfully accusing him of these allegations.

US-Afghan War and Pakistan's blunder

According to MAB, General Musharraf bowed to all conditions put by USA to fight against Afghanistan. After acceptance of all terms, General Musharraf started calling meetings with politicians, technocrats, bureaucrats and media persons, and tried to explain wisdom of his decision to them. MAB rejected his notion by pointing out that Taliban were our allies when were fighting against Russia, and now we are labelling them terrorists just because USA demands it. This is a shameful act and tables will be turned against us because Taliban will not back out and this war will prolong to many years eventually resulting in US withdrawal, leaving Pakistan alone responsible for the mess.

However, none other politicians, intellectuals, ambassadors or scholars raised their voice against this worst decision. As MAB puts it, most of the people worship rising sun, which is our national tragedy.

Later in 2003, MAB describes his meeting with Jalaluddin Haqqani in which MAB requested him to convey his regards to Mullah Umer with his message, to which Mullah Umer later replied as:

"Our traditions do not permit us to act upon the agenda of the occupying force. We have decided to continue the war till complete freedom, We shall not allow any cheating by USA or Pakistan as they did with us after the withdrawal of Russia in 1989. Though Pakistan is collaborating with our enemies in this war, yet we do not consider them as our enemy because security demands and our destination, are identical".

In conclusion, this book is an exciting read into Pakistan's geo-political environment and its long blood-stained history since independence in 1947. The influence of foreign powers, the dilemma and separation of public into religious factions and liberal groups, internal struggles of military establishment with civilian counterparts where both are trying to wear the crown not considering the general public which are collateral damage in every scenario, and lastly the lack of true guidance and direction sums up the entire life in one book as seen, touched, felt and experienced by an intellectual, migrant, patriot and leader; General Mirza Aslam Beg.

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*Author: Colonel (retd.) Ashfaq Hussain

This book is originally written in Urdu language. Readers may find grammatical errors and typos in the English language translated version of the book.