The proposed referendum was an unexpected move by Bhutto as it had never come up at any stage of the talks. General Ziaul Haq’s repeated assurances led Bhutto to believe that the army would support him in every step he took — perhaps he forgot history’s lesson. Bhutto used to discuss the situation with the army chief every now and then without consulting other commanders.

The developments during the past few weeks were disturbing for the army commanders. With three cities under martial law, the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) leadership detained and the three-hour detention of Pir Pagara on May 15, made the situation uglier. Amid hope of talks, Bhutto’s offer for a referendum appeared a move to hold on to power at any cost and drew the attention of army commanders, who were supposed to stay neutral. But it was perhaps Bhutto’s mistake of often calling Gen Zia to the Prime Minister House for frequent consultations that exposed ongoing political moves to the army.

After a few meetings, Gen Zia, who once would not dare to even smoke in Bhutto’s presence, would attend the meetings at the PM House and drive straight to the General Headquarters (GHQ) where he would brief the waiting commanders on his discussions with Bhutto.

Bhutto had complete faith in Gen Zia as he had promoted him by superseding eight senior generals. But in one of the meetings Bhutto had to change his opinion about Gen Zia. During this meeting the COAS told Bhutto that he will support him till the end but added that Bhutto should also consult other military officers so that the option of army action should not arise. To Bhutto this was a weakness which reduced his confidence in the General.

In this backdrop, the May 16 Bhutto-Gen Zia meeting was very important. When Zia briefed the other generals about this meeting, there were telling indications as to what the army was thinking. The meeting was attended by corps commanders and director military intelligence, and every participating general shared his view about the crisis. The meeting got scant coverage, but it is thanks to the efforts of journalist Azhar Suhail that a record of the details survives. This record was later corroborated by Gen (retired) Faiz Ali Chishti.

The situation in Sindh and Punjab consumed most of the discussion as the cities under martial law fell in these provinces. Gen Jahanzeb, the corps commander of Sindh, appeared more concerned as he spoke of the situation in the province. He was of the opinion that the situation had worsened to such an extent that the people were not prepared to stop expressing their hatred for the government. He said that this was not just the thinking of nine leaders but a reaction to the misdeeds of the past five years. Rejecting the referendum proposal he said: ‘if the general elections could be rigged how could the referendum be fair?’ Drawing a brief background he said that the people still had regard for the army and if the same institution was used to maintain peace and order, the present regard for the armed forces would ultimately vanish.

He affirmed that “the army had refused to obey the officers’ instructions to act against the people … making it imperative for us to intervene and force the belligerent groups to reach an accord of peaceful coexistence, else the situation might go out of control.” He termed the Sindh situation uncontrollable.

General Jahanzeb’s portrayal was not different from the other commanders’. General Iqbal of Lahore painted almost the same picture and said that he had asked his subordinates not to fire at the people but warned that the overall situation might push the men into desperate action.

Although the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa commander Gen Sawar Khan was not too worried about his province, he was clear in his belief that new elections were the only way out. Gen Faiz Ali Chishti, the future executor of the coup, was adamant that if the present prime minister continued he would introduce a presidential form of government which would intensify the PNA movement. He claimed that the people wanted the army to come forward and ensure holding of fresh elections. The Mangla corps commander Gen Ghulam Hassan and Multan commander General Ghulam Mohammad also held similar opinions and emphasised the need of holding fresh elections and the army’s role in securing a solution.

Summing up, Gen Zia refrained from giving a long comment but firmly said that the army was not a third party in the PNA-govt struggle and the future design was much deeper than the PNA had outlined.

Next week: Sardar Qayyum is assigned the task to bring the PNA back to the talks table shaikhaziz38@gmail.com