THIS is with reference to the article ‘Martial law by other means’ (Jan 17) which has tried to put the whole blame on Gen Ayub Khan for stabbing Pakistan’s nascent democracy in the back. One may not agree with the contention. Historians will consider that equal responsibility lies on a pliant Federal Court headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Munir, which promptly validated the imposition of martial law, putting in place a mechanism to validate martial laws.

Looking back, one finds that in 1956, the Bengali leadership under Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy compromised on the principle of ‘one man, one vote’ based on the Basic Principle Committee report, which envisaged allocation of seats in the House of People on the basis of population, to preserve the unity of the country.

Here one finds the real cause or fears within the leadership in West Pakistan related to continued Bengali domination in united Pakistan. Although the Bengali leadership had accepted the principle of parity between the two wings just to preserve the unity of the country, there were apprehensions among the West Pakistani leadership that if elections were held under the 1956 constitution, chances of West Pakistan continuing to rule the country would be remote.

The same fears surfaced again in 1969 when Gen Ayub transferred powers to Gen Yahya Khan instead of the Bengali Speaker of the National Assembly, Abdul Jabbar Khan, in total violation of his own constitution of 1962. How Z.A. Bhutto, with the help of some army generals, sabotaged the assembly’s opening session is a dark chapter in the country’s history.

Abid Mahmud Ansari
Islamabad

(2)

THIS refers to the article ‘Martial law by other means’ (Jan 17). The writer’s views on military interventions in Pakistan are well known and have been expressed at many a forum. What he wrote in the said article was half-truth. Civilian bureaucracy and inept politicians had equally contributed to the failure of democracy in Pakistan from 1948 to 1958 when there was a game of musical chairs going on in the corridors of power.

Mirza Talib Hassan
Islamabad

(3)

THE ghost of the so-called doctrine of necessity, coined by Justice Muhammad Munir in 1954 to facilitate the arbitrary dissolution of the constituent Assembly, has haunted the country over the years, with the judiciary often facilitating the establishment. Having said that, there have been some honourable exceptions, like Justice Kiyani, Justice Coroneleus, Justice Dorab Patel and others. History will look back and recall that some of the facilitating judges tried to be more faithful to the establishment than the establishment itself.

Syed Safdar Hussain
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2021