Pakistan Military's Role in Governance

A fellows seminar on “Pakistan Military’s Role in Governance” was organised at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) on 24 February 2010. The seminar was chaired by Maj Gen GD Bakshi (Retd). Dr. Shah Alam, Research Fellow, Centre for Land Warfare Studies presented his paper on the subject. The discussants were RSN Singh, Associate Editor, Indian Defence Review and Col Narender Kumar, Senior Fellow, CLAWS.

Opening Remarks

Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch, SM, VSM (Retd), Additional Director CLAWS, put emphasis on the increasing significance of the military in Pakistan. The military, particularly the army is possibly the most powerful institution in the country. It has deep influence over society, polity and economy. It is necessary to see whether the will of the people prevails and change the continuing practice.

Maj Gen GD Bakshi, SM, VSM (Retd)

An in-depth analysis is required to understand the nature of the state of Pakistan. The views of Maulana Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami (1941), the Islamist revival party have considerable influences over Pakistani society, polity and military. Pakistan has also been facing religious extremism, though the extremists are not more than three per cent. However, they still dictate the agenda. They try to play a ‘zero-sum’ game. They try to gain at the cost of Afghanistan and India. The province of Punjab was largely peaceful but the recent past witnessed the rise of religious extremism. Pakistan is an ‘over-militarised’ state such as the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Dr. Shah Alam

There are four pillars of governance in Pakistan – politicians, military, civil bureaucracy, and judiciary. The military has been directly and indirectly involved in the governance of Pakistan since 1947. In Pakistan, the military assumed direct power in October 1958, July 1977 and October 1999. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto tried to contain the influence of the military by creating para-military forces and agencies.
But he relied on the army in maintaining internal security and law and order problems. Even when civilian governments have been in power, the military has influenced major issues. Governance in Pakistan is a complicated balancing act between the elected politicians and the military chiefs. Basically, it is a power-sharing arrangement whereby the military has significant influence over security, defence, foreign policy, and domestic issues. The military in Pakistan has repeatedly demonstrated that it can and will influence the nature and direction of political change without necessarily assuming power. The post-Zia period witnessed such developments and elected civilian governments were dismissed in August 1990, April 1993 and November 1996. The military sets the national security agenda and controls nuclear development programme. It influences Indo-Pakistan relations including Kashmir. The military looks at Afghanistan as a ‘Strategic Depth’ – confronts with civilian governments and dismisses them. The military plays the role as mediator in confrontation among political leaders, parties and state institutions – if such confrontations are likely to threaten the political order and stability. The military played an important role in defusing political crises in the post-Zia period. It played a crucial role in averting political crisis in March 2009 when the current government and the opposition confronted each other. With the Pakistan military, it has been seen that when their interests are threatened or perceived to be threatened, the military intervenes. The military has become the pivot in the power structure of Pakistan. The significance of the military will continue to remain in Pakistan.

RSN Singh

The survival of the newly created state was at stake in 1947. The role of Pakistan Army expanded because of security problems. Civil bureaucracy also played a major role in strengthening the military and extended its cooperation. Thus, Pakistan’s civil bureaucracy is also responsible for democratic failure in the country. The Muslim League was not in a position to control West Pakistan since other parties already existed in the regions such as the Republican Party. Bhutto tried to minimise the impact of the Army but failed. Nawaz Sharif was protégée of Zia-ul Haq like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was that of Ayub Khan. The judiciary was manipulated and tempered by both civilian and military rulers. The Military and intelligence combine in Pakistan will not allow civilian governments to change their policies even slightly. The role of military expanded due to the failure of political leadership. Politicians use military for political purposes.

Col Narender Kumar

Pakistan was created because of complexity of developments. Chaudhary Rahmat Ali coined the idea of forming Pakistan in the 1930s. Rahmat Ali viewed a broader and larger Pakistan. Pakistan was created with India’s partition in 1947. Liaqat Ali Khan’s assassination was also a factor in political instability of Pakistan. Political uncertainty continued due to various reasons. The early death of top political leaders created political vacuum. Engagement and disengagement among the political parties strengthened anti-democratic forces. In Pakistan, democratic institutions were not allowed to function. Democratic forces must be strengthened. It is a fact that destiny of Pakistan is shaped by landlords, religious preachers and the Army. The Soviet invasion over Afghanistan strengthened religious groups and increased their activities. In this period, religious groups and organisations proliferated. The Afghan war increased the importance of Pakistan military. Free flow of funds and arms from the US and the West strengthened the Pakistan military. The resources in Pakistan are not equally distributed. As a result all regions are not equally developed. There are a large number of people in Pakistan who are illiterate.

Discussion

India must engage Pakistan. Direct engagement with Pakistan is required since South Asia needs peace and stability. The notion of ‘Two-Nations Theory’ failed in 1971 with the creation of Bangladesh. India should deal with Pakistan and does not think who is at the helm of affairs in Islamabad. In the process of engagement, perhaps something will come out. Pakistani society is diverse and it does not carry a monolithic character as many believe. Monolithic perception about Pakistan society is incorrect. Islam is pluralistic and believes in pluralism. Pakistan has been facing numerous challenges. India has also been facing several challenges like – terrorism, insurgency, education, illiteracy, health and inequality. Pakistan military subverted institutions on numerous occasions. Zia made overtures several times to India. Civilian government of Nawaz Sharif made overtures towards Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Religious parties have never secured a majority in Pakistan and have got only few seats. Relations between India and Pakistan should be based on give and take. India should deal with Pakistan. There are jehadi groups in Pakistan that want to jeopardise peace talks between the two countries.

(Report prepared by Dr Shah Alam, Research Fellow, CLAWS)