This is an article I wrote for Global Affairs an international e-magazine. The intended audience were people who are unaware of the background to the current situation in Pakistan. This article was published in English and Spanish on February 2, 2008.
Pakistan came into existence on August 14, 1947 when Muslims of the British ruled Indian sub-continent rallied behind Quaid-e-Azam (1) Mohammad Ali Jinnah to create a separate homeland.
Pakistan was constitutionally named the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with majority of the population being Muslim; however, specific provisions were made in the constitution to ensure protection of rights of minorities in the country. Urdu is the national language and the current estimated population is 165 million, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are the major cities.
Pakistan occupies a position of great geo-strategic importance, bordered by Iran on the west, Afghanistan on the northwest, China on the northeast, India on the east, and the Arabian Sea on the south. The total land area is estimated at 803,940 square kilometers.
Since their creation Pakistan and India failed to develop a healthy relationship and developed a major dispute over Kashmir, which was an independent princely State at the time of partition and as per division understanding States with Muslim majority were to become a part of Pakistan but the then King of Kashmir decided to join India although as per the 1940 census 94% of Kashmir's population was Muslim. The government took the matter to the UN and it was decided that the people of Kashmir have a right of self determination and therefore, a plebiscite must be held. The countries went to war in 1948, 1965 and 1971 but the matter still stands unresolved. The two countries now have armies equipped with Nuclear weapons.
Pakistan's foreign policy has therefore, been dominated by problems with India as well as by efforts to maximize its own external support, its relationship with the West, particularly the United States, was of major importance which saw Pakistan playing an active role in the region during the Cold War era. Pakistan has also developed a strong bond with China and over a period of 60 years this friendship has stood the test of time.
Another important aspect of Pakistan's foreign policy has been its relationship with the Islamic countries which has seen Pakistan taking on an important position in the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). Pakistan has had particularly strong bonds with the Middle Eastern Islamic countries.
In the post 9/11 era Pakistan's President Musharraf modified his foreign policy and became an important ally of USA in the war on terror which first led to the fall of Taliban regime in Afghanistan and then removal of Saddam Hussein from Iraq. Although this has made Pakistan a target for Anti-American forces but Pakistan has stayed firm with its commitment with the war on terror. This has also decreased the tension between India and Pakistan to some extent because in a certain way the civilized world now has a common enemy.
A highlight of Pakistan's history has been its struggle with democracy and the country has been ruled by the military for most parts of its existence. The country was ruled by General Zia-ul-Haq from 1979-1987 until his death in a plane crash. A brief run of democratic governments then followed with Ms. Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan People Party and Mr. Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League both getting two opportunities as elected Prime Ministers and all four governments were sacked on charges of widespread corruption. The current President General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf took over in a peaceful military coup in 1999 and the elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was exiled for 8 years, the then leader of the opposition Ms. Bhutto imposed an exile on herself till her return in October 2007.
The Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf held a referendum in 2002 and based on the controversial results took charge of the President's office in 2002 for five years and then organized elections in the country in which the two former Prime Minister were not allowed to participate and resulted in a democratic government which lacked independence and the decisions were still made in the Army Chief / President's office.
The country faced unrest in March 2007 when General Musharraf tried to force the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to resign from his office and on his refusal his powers were suspended and a complaint was filed against him in the Supreme Judicial Council (2). These actions were resisted by the organizations of lawyers and human rights activists of the country. Later the Supreme Judicial Council reinstated the Chief Justice and all charges laid down by the Government were thrown out in July 2007.
In October 2007 Ms. Bhutto was allowed back into the country as part of an understanding with the Musharraf regime. A National Reconciliation Ordinance was imposed clearing Ms. Bhutto and her husband of all corruption charges and in return Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) supported General Musharraf in the Presidential elections. General Musharraf was elected as President for another five years while he still held office of the Army Chief. Ms. Bhutto's return took the momentum away from the lawyers' movement which was proving to be a strong opponent for Musharraf. The Supreme Court intervened and stopped the Election Commission of Pakistan from officially announcing the results.
The country at this time was facing strong resistance from militants in the North Western Frontier Province. General Musharraf imposed Emergency in the country in November 2007 suspending civil rights, all news channels were taken off air and the Chief Justice was this time forced to retire. All the remaining judges were asked to renew oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) and those who refused were also sacked. General Musharraf explained his actions as an effort to ensure focus on the war against extremist elements. However, there was widespread unrest in the country and the international community against General Musharraf strategy.
Despite being an ally in the war on terror President Musharraf was under pressure to leave his position as the Army Chief. He then had to announce general elections, his plan to retire from the Army and removal of Emergency imposed by him. The country was once again on its path to democracy with the new Supreme Court (chosen by General Musharraf) allowing the Election Commission of Pakistan to officially declare the results of the Presidential Elections. General Pervez Musharraf then stepped down from his position as Army chief and took oath as a civilian President. A caretaker government had been setup to organize Elections in the country on January 8, 2008. The exiled former Prime Minister Mr. Sharif was finally allowed back into the country to lead his party. The state of Emergency was then removed.
But on December 27, 2007 Ms. Bhutto was assassinated by an unidentified gun man who then blew himself up killing another 40 after an election rally in Rawalpindi. Within hours of her death angry mobs took to the streets and violence claimed more lives across the country. During the protest many banks, malls and industrial establishments were looted and government and private property of billion of Rupees was destroyed.
Ms. Bhutto was branded as a martyr despite her record as a corrupt politician and following her final 'will' her unpopular rather infamous husband Asif Zardari and her 19 year old son, an irresponsible partying student of a British university were made co-chairmen of her PPP. No elections were held in her party to choose a new leader and her will naming her husband as the next chairman was blindly followed highlighting the fact that she did not believe in democracy in her own party. Her husband Mr. Zardari chose to make his son co-chairman of the party. It is important to note that constitution of Pakistan requires a person to be 25 years of age to contest elections for a public office and 35 years of age to become Prime Minister of the country. So it was obvious that Ms. Bhutto's son who has no political standing whatsoever was only been named co-chairman of the party to keep the leadership role within the family.
Her sad violent death somewhat over wrote her legacy of corruption, power seeking politics and conspiracies with that of a 'struggle for democracy'. The media world wide portrayed her as some hero who stood for democracy. Events of her death and the violence that followed brought a lot of negative attention to Pakistan and caused embarrassment to Pakistanis across the globe.
As order has now been restored to some extent the police has recovered some of the looted property from localities densely populated by Ms. Bhutto's supporters. Elections have been postponed till February 18, 2008. Ms. Bhutto's PPP candidates are campaigning elections as the victims of a tragedy and trying to take maximum political advantage of what was a very sad event. There is a general feeling that her party would do well in the elections. Opponents of President Musharraf are alleging that state will influence election results through rigging. Nobody now seems to care about the fact that the Judiciary has been destroyed by the Musharraf regime and the Judges are not allowed to make a ruling against the government and the military.
Elections are still at some distance and all well wishers of Pakistan would be keeping their fingers crossed. The real hope lies with the people of Pakistan who have emerged stronger from every disaster. Corrupt politicians and Army may slow the process down but the brave people of Pakistan will eventually achieve their objective of an Independent Democratic Pakistan.
