‘The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics’ by Ayesha Jalal is a welcome addition to the corpus of books on the country’s history. The book, in the words of the author, is written in simple and amenable language in keeping with the demand for “narrative history”.

The book, which offers new insights into the Partition of the subcontinent on the basis of the Two-Nation Theory, the struggle for nation-building, the emergence of military dominance, alienation of East Pakistan and subsequent dismemberment of the country, and instability due to civil-military imbalance, was launched at the carnival of ideas. The audience listened to a conversation on the predominant theme and idea behind the work between Ayesha Jalal and Khaled Ahmed with rapt attention at a session at Alhamra’s Hall No 1.

Reflecting on the Two-Nation Theory, Ms Jalal recalled that it was an ideologically-driven concept which became disputable. She said the partition of Punjab and Bengal meant that a large number of Muslims were left behind. “More than six and a half decades since its establishment, Pakistan has yet to reconcile its self-proclaimed Islamic identity with imperatives of a modern nation-state,” she said.

She also said there was a need to understand regional specificities before the Partition. The leaders committed many mistakes once the country came into being and even the Quaid-i-Azam failed to realise the implications of seeking Urdu’s status as a national language during a visit to East Pakistan, she said.

Historian Ayesha Jalal and Khaled Ahmed at a session covering launch of a book. — White Star

She reiterated many people held the belief that Pakistan would not stay for long and how Mountbatten had said “as far as Pakistan is concerned, we have put up a tent…it will collapse.”

Khaled Ahmed sought her views about the role of the military which is one of the key issues highlighted in the book. She said ideology was put to all kinds of uses and there was dominance of a single institution. “Many people consider Ayub era to be the best in the country’s history but the fact is that it was then that the seeds of many tragedies were sown,” she said. And it was none other than military under the command of Yahya Khan which was primarily responsible for the East Pakistan debacle.

“Bhutto too had a role in the tragedy but it was mainly the military which made decisions,” she said. As for the role of India, she said there’s a law of unintended consequences but mostly it’s a question of choices.

Ms Jalal, the professor of history at Tufts University and author of 12 books, was also asked to comment on the Zia era. Calling it a watershed moment, she talked about how greenbacks matched by Saudi money flowed in to fight against the Soviets. “It all changed Pakistan”.

Then there was return of democracy until Gen Pervez Musharraf assumed power and he, like his predecessors, continued what she called “schizophrenic policy”. The biggest mistake Musharraf did was trying to be a politician and he brought ruin to the country by going back on his promises.

A question-answer session followed and the author concluded by declaring the civil-military imbalance a bane of the country. “Pakistan has taught ideology and not history and it is high time we focused on history and learnt it without biases,” she stressed.

‘Bangladesh’ history

At another session titled ‘An interview with Bangladeshi history’, the discussion turned out to be a battle of wits as Salil Tripathi, author of ‘The Colonel Who Would Not Repent’, deliberated on various aspects of the separation of East Pakistan and the role of the military.

Also on the panel were Hina Jilani, who recalled how her father was incarcerated for writing a letter to Yahya Khan, and Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi, a Bangladeshi writer and poet. Taimur Rahman moderated the discussion.

Tripathi explained how he thought of writing a book on the subject and its significance for “those who have curiosity to know what their elders felt and how they were related to dismemberment of the country.” His reference to the atrocities committed by the West Pakistan soldiers against their own people was nothing short of an indictment.

As Siddiqi gave her account of horrendous war crimes, including rape of women by the army in East Pakistan, there were rumblings of discontent and a man in the audience finally stood up shouting “this is nonsense; Indian propaganda.” He was hooted down by some people, with one of them quipping: “We should apologise to the people of Bangladesh.”

The uneasiness lingered with some pointed questions at the end about the role of Mukti Bahini and the treatment of Biharis. The panelists were unanimous that violence by any one was reprehensible but the state certainly had greater responsibility.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2015

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