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While Z.A. Bhutto and his inner circle were pondering over the possibility of holding mid-term polls, they forgot the role of Asghar Khan, a former air force chief. Many in his team considered Asghar a politician without any direction, which was a wrong assessment.
They forgot that when Bhutto was working for the ouster of Ayub Khan in the late 1960s, Asghar was weighing the options of entering politics after he came to the end of his career in the air force. After retirement from Pakistan Air Force in 1965, Asghar Khan was made president of Pakistan International Airlines, a position he held till 1968.
In 1970, when Yahya Khan was pursuing his heedless approach of settling the East Pakistan issue and Bhutto was preparing to get into the scrimmage, the former commander of the air force entered politics. Very few people could imagine the future of his political flight; a strict disciplinarian, the air fighter expressed his will to undo injustices through politics. Such were his political beliefs that most of the politicians thought that he would probably disappear after a few bouts. Some even called him “a leader in search of followers”. But that wasn’t to be.
While Ayub Khan was trying to solve the East Pakistan issue with his army action plan, Asghar Khan visited Dhaka and on his return announced joining politics. He opposed Ayub Khan’s plan for army action in the eastern wing. He also differed with Yahya Khan on that point and bitterly criticised Bhutto for not allowing Shaikh Mujib to form a government. When Bhutto was in jail during the last days of Ayub Khan, Asghar Khan led the people which Bhutto did not like; perhaps he feared that the vacuum might be filled by Asghar Khan.
He began with forming the Justice Party which later became the forerunner to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Istaqlal. He led his party from Karachi more than his native constituency — Abbottabad. After the takeover by the PPP, Asghar had a hard time establishing himself as a politician but he fought through. Bhutto took him as a centrist secular leader who could not get enough support in the elections, or could pose a potential threat for him. He, therefore, did not consider Asghar Khan while chalking out plans for the possible election.
From the time Bhutto held a meeting with his inner cabinet after celebrating Youm-i-Tashakur on September 15, 1974 after declaring Ahmadis as non-Muslims, he had been thinking about ways to win the polls. He forgot that after taking over the government he had lost contact with the people — his only constituency. He was misled by the sycophants and flatterers into believing that his popularity graph had risen and it would take only a few days of meeting the people before going to the polls.
No doubt the opposition had yet to come up with a unified platform or even organise themselves to contest polls to oust Bhutto, yet the PPP was also in disarray. It had to establish its own credibility. However, when in the beginning of 1976 Bhutto decided on his own to hold snap polls, he forgot that he had come to power by the man in the street. Deviating from his style, and following the drawing-room style he asked the ministers concerned to compile the reports of their achievements during the past five years. This did not meet with the approval of PPP loyalists who wanted to rebuild a credibility bridge with the people through the PPP workers — not through media propaganda. Despite many efforts Bhutto was not prepared to accept the idea; he had been so surrounded by the opportunists that he could hardly think otherwise. The “permit, plot, luring jobs” circle had painted a rosy picture of the party position before Bhutto, convincing him that the party had already won and the holding of elections was a mere formality. Since Bhutto had been away from the people for quite some time, he had no other way to believe — his greatest folly.
Maulana Kausar Niazi, a member of Bhutto’s inner circle and his trusted man, headed the ministry of information and broadcasting — the sharpest weapon any government could have during those days. Despite an unending stream of false reports, Maulana Niazi used to take liberties with Bhutto and tell him some harsh facts no one else would dare to. Before finally deciding to hold mid-term polls, Niazi told him frankly regarding what to do and what not — with partial disagreement. Yet the fact was that the Maulana had to stage the show, not forgetting that new stars like Asghar Khan had risen on the political horizon and the situation was much different from that of 1970.
