Abstract
Pakistan’s enduring intra-regional cultural attributes and fragile civic institutions have too often been jolted by major demographic developments, a politico-economic system lacking legitimacy, and authoritarian or quasidemocratic regimes bolstering themselves through centrist state structures. Despite shared historical and cultural traditions, economic interdependence and ecological integration, the problem of Pakistan’s governability remains undiminished. In a symbiotic relationship, civil society which even in its embryonic form was weak and fragmented, has simply remained an appendage to the powerful state structure. Accountability, a decent educational system, egalitarian economic policies to help the havenots and minorities, a non-partisan judiciary, a vigilant press, participation by women — all those necessary requirements of a vibrant civil society — have suffered from constant erosion. Such a dichotomous relationship has negatively affected the moral and cross-ethnic coherence in the country, otherwise embodied in the humane and folk traditions of the society. The process of national integration was ill-planned, officious and injudicious, with centripetal and centrifugal forces battling within the very corpus of the state which, true to its proto-colonial character, either chose to adopt the role of an indifferent observer or turned partisan.
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Notes
Rupert Emerson, From Empire to Nation, Cambridge, Mass. 1960, p. 94.
Clifford Geertz, ‘The Integrative Revolution’, in Old Societies and New States, New York, 1963, p. 109.
For more on this subject, see David Easton, A Systems Analysis of Political Life, New York, 1965;
and John H. Kautsky (ed.), Political Change in Underdeveloped Countries: Nationalism and Communism, New York, 1962.
See, Home Affairs Division, Population Census of Pakistan, 1961, vol. 1, part IV.
Jahan’s timely book appeared when Bangladesh had already come into being, largely validating her theses. But more recent studies point to a number of ‘immediate’ factors as well, though dwelling on such themes and counter-arguments might not be relevant to the present study. See Rounaq Jahan, Pakistan: Failure in National Integration, New York, 1972.
For a more recent study, see Richard Sisson and Leo E. Rose, War and Secession. Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh, Berkeley, 1990. 10.
For additional information on Baloch history, see, A. W. Hughes, The Country of Baluchistan: Its Geography, Topography, Ethnology and History, London, 1877;
Raj Bahadur H. Ram, Sandeman in Baluchistan, Calcutta, 1916;
Charles Masson, Narratives of Various Journeys in Baluchistan, Afghanistan and the Punjab, 3 vols. Karachi, 1974;
Mohammad Sardar Khan Baluch, History ofBaluch Race and Baluchistan, Lahore, 1976;
Sylvia A. Matheson, The Tigers of Baluchistan, Karachi, 1975;
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For a rather alarmist study on this subject, see Selig S. Harrison, In Afghanistan’s Shadow: Baluch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations, New York, 1981.
For more on this, see Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Tarikh-i-Mastung, Kalat, 1979.
For a good historical analysis from a nationalist viewpoint, see Inayatullah Baloch, The Problem of ‘Greater Baluchistan:’ A Study of Baluch Nationalism, Stuttgart, 1987.
For a detailed Balochi perspective, see Mir Khuda Bakhsh Marri, Searchlight on the Baluchis and Baluchistan, Karachi, 1974.
For an interesting thesis, see Imran Ali, Punjab Under Imperialism, London, 1989.
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For a first-hand account of these families, see L. H. Griffin and C. F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab, 2 vols, Lahore, 1940;
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See Ian Talbot, ‘The Growth of the Muslim League in the Punjab’, Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, XX (1), 1982, pp. 5–24.
Apart from political expediency, many Punjabi intellectuals in recent years have felt that the province has surrendered much of its culture and history. There are serious efforts to promote Punjabi as a medium of instruction along with idealisation of past Punjabi heroes. See for example Hanif Ramay, Punjab Ka Siyasi Muqqidamma, Lahore, 1987.
For more on Sindh, see H. T. Lambrick, Sind: A General Introduction, Hyderabad, 1975 (2nd ed);
M. A. Khuro, A Story of the Sufferings of Sind: A Case for the Separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency, Karachi, 1930;
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See G. M. Syed, Struggle for a new Sind (1937–1947), Karachi, 1949.
For more on this, see Stephen A. Rittenberg, Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Pakhtuns. The Independence Movement in India’s North-West Frontier Province, Durham, 1988;
also, Erland Jansson, India, Pakistan or Pakhtunistan? The Nationalist Movement in the North-West Frontier Province 1937–47, Stockholm, 1981.
This view is rejected by a number of authors who feel that the Muhajir dominance is a myth, concocted to suit certain nefarious claims. See Mushtaqur Rahman, Land and Life in Sindh, Pakistan, Lahore, 1993;
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See Shahid Javed Burki, ‘Economic Policy After Zia ul-Haq’, in Charles H. Kennedy (ed.), Pakistan 1992, Boulder, 1993.
For more on this see Gustav F. Papanek, Pakistan’s Development: Social Goals and Private Incentives, Cambridge, 1967.
For instance see Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations, 3 vols., New York, 1968.
For further details see Omar Noman, Pakistan: A Political and Economic History Since 1947, London, 1990.
For a useful critical study see Ayesha Jalal, The State of Martial Rule: The Origins of Pakistan’s Political Economy of Defence, Cambridge, 1990.
For further details see Government of the Punjab, Report of the Court of Inquiry Constituted under the Punjab Act II of 1954 to Enquire into the Punjab Disturbances of 1953 (also known as Justice Munir Report), Lahore, 1954.
To some authors, the role of the judiciary in Pakistan has been rather assertive. See Paula R. Newberg, Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan, Cambridge, 1995.
For a recent study of the early years of Pakistan, see A. Yunas Samad, ‘South Asian Muslim Politics, 1937–1958’, D. Phil, dissertation, University of Oxford, 1991.
Mohammad Ayub Khan, Friends Not Masters: A Political Biography, New York, 1967, p. 206, and quoted in The Pakistan Times, 29 March 1959.
For a contemporary official record, see Altaf Gauhar, Twenty Years of Pakistan, Lahore, 1968.
‘From the beginning bureaucracy got a substantial share in the power structure at the higher level, and monopolized it at the lower levels. Aziz Ahmad and Fida Hasan, two senior civil servants, even held the assignments of Deputy CMLA and Deputy MLA of West Pakistan respectively. Civil servants composed the civilian advisory council of the CMLA and the advisory committees of the provincial governors, enjoying powers previously exercised by cabinets. When cabinets were appointed, the powers of the civil servants were not curtailed. They received their share even in the cabinets. Ayub Khan’s first eleven-member cabinet had three Lieutenant-Generals and three civil servants who held key portfolios’ M. Rafique Afzal, Political Parties in Pakistan 1958–1969, vol. II, Islamabad, 1986, p. 3.
Noman, Pakistan: A Political and Economic History, pp. 101–11. Also, Anwar H. Syed, The Discourse and Politics of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, London, 1992.
For a very useful study, see Shahid Javed Burki, Pakistan Under Bhutto, 1971–77, London, 1988 (2nd edn)
For details, see Begum Shaista Suhrawardy IkramuUah, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy: A Biography, Karachi, 1991.
Maleeha Lodhi, ‘Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan’s Democracy’, Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, VI, Spring 1983, p. 29.
For an early note, see Charles J. Adams, ‘The Ideology of Mawlana Mawdudui’, in Donald E. Smith (ed.), South Asian Religions and Politics, Princeton, 1966.
Zafaryab Ahmed, ‘Maudoodi’s Islamic State’, in M. Asghar Khan (ed.), Islam, Politics and the State: The Pakistan Experience, London, 1985, pp. 95–113.
Campus violence involving the IJT cost the lives of 80 students in the years 1982–8 and violence was interpreted as endemic to the student wing of the JI. Despite efforts by the parent body, the militancy could not be stopped. See Zahid Hussain, ‘The Campus Mafias’, The Herald (Karachi), October 1988, p. 52.
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, ‘Students, Islam, and Politics: Islami Jami’al-i- Tulaba in Pakistan’, Middle East Journal, XXXXVI (1), 1992, p. 75.
For a detailed analysis of the constitutional history of Pakistan, see G. W. Choudhury, Constitutional Developments in Pakistan, London, 1969.
Kamal Azfar, ‘Constitutional Dilemmas in Pakistan’, in Shahid Javed Burki and Craig Baxter (eds), Pakistan Under the Military. Eleven Years of Zia ul-Haq, Boulder/Oxford, 1991.
Lawrence Ziring, ‘Public Policy Dilemmas and Pakistan’s Nationality Problems. The Legacy of Zia ul-Haq’, Asian Survey, XXVIII (8), 1988, pp. 795–812.
For further details on contemporary political issues, see Rasul B. Rais, ‘Pakistan in 1988’, Asian Survey, XXXI (2), 1990, pp. 199–206.
Lawrence Ziring, ‘Pakistan in 1990: Fall of Benazir Bhutto’, Asian Survey, XXXI (2), February 1991, p. 121.
Pakistanis felt a deep sense of betrayal due to the constant irresponsible behaviour by politicians in the wake of a consolidated elitism in the country. The leadership had been avoiding the basic issues facing the country. ‘Hope has given way to apprehension’ wrote a scholar on the contemporary state of demoralisation among his countrymen. Rais A. Khan, ‘Pakistan in 1992’, Asian Survey, XXXIII (2), February 1993, pp. 129–40.
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© 1997 Iftikhar H. Malik
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Malik, I.H. (1997). Dilemma of Political Culture, National Integration and Constitutionalism. In: State and Civil Society in Pakistan. St Antony’s Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230376298_2
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