[ad_1]
As always, Pakistan’s vehicle is stuck in the gear of instability. Elections were held on February 8 under the shadow of the army. Now the results are in front of everyone. No party has majority. After the ban on Imran Khan’s party Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), independent candidates supported by the party have created history by winning the maximum number of seats. This is the first time that independent candidates have won in such large numbers. Despite no party getting majority, both Imran’s PTI and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) have claimed to form the government.
This time the fight for power is between two former prime ministers. Imran Khan, who was once the army’s ‘favourite boy’, has now become an eyesore for them. Imran’s party was banned and he was prevented from contesting the elections. This was the reason why his party’s candidates were forced to contest elections as independents.
This time the Pakistani Army had bet on Nawaz Sharif. Last year, as soon as its layout was ready, Nawaz Sharif was hurriedly called back to Pakistan from London. All the corruption charges against him were quashed and the electoral ban on him was also lifted.
In this way, it is the Pakistan Army that decides who is to be placed in power and who is to be ousted? In such a situation, it is natural to think that where did the army get so much power in democratic Pakistan? How did the stature of the Pakistani Army increase so much that it even entered politics? And most importantly, how is the Pakistan Army, which came into existence as a separate country in 1947, so different from the Indian Army that it is so deeply entrenched in politics?
It is said about Pakistan that army and power are two sides of a coin. This is the reason why a glimpse of power is visible in the army and the army in power. There has been no election in Pakistan which was not held under the shadow of the army.
Why are there differences between the armies of India and Pakistan?
After India got independence from British rule, Pakistan emerged on the world map. Pakistan’s very existence, completely separate from secular India, was a religion. This was the period when the armies of both the countries were also expanding. America’s Yale University professor and author Steven Wilkinson has said in his book ‘Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy since Independence’ that when the interim government was formed in India for the first time after independence, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru took control of the Indian Army. The reins were handed over to the control of the democratic government. In this direction, first of all the post of Commander in Chief in the army was abolished. This post was in existence during the British rule. But former PM Nehru abolished it, calling it unnecessary.
Let us tell you that in the army, the Commander in Chief has outright power. The post of Commander in Chief still exists in the Pakistan Army, which is considered the center of power.
Wilkinson further writes in his book that Nehru had said at that time that for the modernization of the army, the three armies, Army, Navy and Air Force, should have equal importance. For this reason, separate Chiefs of Army Staff were appointed for the three armies. Not only this, to avoid any possibility of any kind of coup, these three armies were kept under the control of the Defense Minister, who works under the cabinet of the elected government.
Why did there not be a coup in India?
Democracy in Pakistan was weak from the beginning, the reason for which was the army. There have been three coups so far in the history of Pakistan. By 1958, when democracy was expanding in India after independence, the first coup had taken place in Pakistan. The first democratic elections were held in Pakistan in 1970 whereas the first elections were held in India in 1952.
In fact, the army gets the opportunity to carry out a coup in a situation when there is great instability in the country, political divisions are at their peak and democratic institutions are weak. Such a situation never arose in India. Even during the Emergency, the army remained separate from politics.
‘Politics in the army is like poison’
In 1946, Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief of the Indian Army, had told Nehru that the Indian Army knew that their job was only to work under the policies of the Government of India. At the same time, General KM Cariappa, the first Commander in Chief of independent India, had said in a letter to the army that politics in the army is like poison. One should stay away from this.
How did the army dominate power?
In the year 1953, there were riots in Lahore against Ahmadiyya Muslims. The government of Pakistan could not control these riots, due to which the army had to take charge to restore law and order and thus martial law was imposed in Pakistan for the first time.
However, by doing this, law and order was restored in the country but the army had already tasted power. It is said that at that time the army had won the trust of the people by doing many types of work ranging from building roads to strengthening the communication network.
The people of Pakistan now started placing more expectations from the army than from the government. Due to which, for the second time in 1958, there was a coup in the neighboring country and martial law was imposed across the country. After the imposition of martial law, a large section of Pakistan became very happy and started saying ‘Mashallah… now there is Mashallah (martial law) in Pakistan…’ This was the same period when the army came to dominate Pakistani power. Was. This phase of coups did not stop here, after this the army overthrew the government in the country in 1977 and 1999 also.
Pakistani people trust army more than Supreme Court
The same situation remains the same even today. Recently, a survey by Voice of America revealed that the people of Pakistan trust the army more than the Supreme Court. In the survey, the army was declared the most trustworthy institution with a rating of 74 percent. This survey was conducted in January this year. The people involved in this survey had given 50 percent rating to political parties.
The army carried out coups thrice
In the 75-year history of Pakistan, no Prime Minister has been able to complete a tenure of 5 years. The first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan remained in office for 4 years and 2 months. Liaquat is so far the only Prime Minister who has held this post for the longest period. He was assassinated in Rawalpindi on 16 October 1951. Army has played a big role in the politics of Pakistan. The army has ruled there for about 35 years. The army has overthrown the elected government thrice.
– For the first time: For the first time in Pakistan, the government of Firoz Khan Noon was overthrown. Firoz Khan was Prime Minister from 16 December 1957 to 7 October 1958. The then Army Chief Ayub Khan overthrew his government and imposed martial law.
– Second time: After the war of 1971, a new constitution of Pakistan was made in 1973. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became Prime Minister on 14 August, but was overthrown by the Army in 1977. General Zia ul-Haq put Bhutto in jail. Bhutto was sentenced to death in a murder case. Bhutto was hanged on 4 April 1979.
– Third time: On October 12, 1999, the then Chief of the Pakistani Army, General Pervez Musharraf overthrew the government of Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz Sharif was put in jail. Musharraf became the President of Pakistan. Musharraf remained on this till August 2008. Musharraf was later found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Musharraf passed away last year.
[ad_2]
www.aajtak.in
