Cowasjee Articles

'How They Fell'

6th June 1995

APART from Jinnah, all those who have headed our governments have either been shot, shot out, blown up, sacked, or forced to resign. All, of course, legally and correctly achieved.

Founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah: August 1947 to September 1948. A true westernised oriental gentleman. He knew the limitations of the people he led and decided that they needed a country in which to survive and prosper. He fulfilled his mission. In the words of his biographer Stanley Wolpert. "Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammed Ali Jinnah did all three."

He lived long enough to be able to prophesy that each successive government of Pakistan will be worse than the preceding one. As Governor General of Pakistan he died an unhappy man.

Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan: September 1948 to October 1951. It was not until Jinnah's death that he came into his own. He tried to run a good government, could not succeed, and was assassinated by his political rivals.

Prime Minister Khwaja Nazimuddin: October 1951 to April 1953. A nobleman descendant of Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka. Gentleman- sportsman, a Cambridge tennis Blue. Angry with the British, he renounced his knighthood in 1946. Was governor-general when Liaquat was shot. He stepped down to head the government in an attempt to stabilise it.

A lover and breeder of birds, he kept in the grounds of his house a flock of Rhode Island Reds. One night his prolific pet rooster, Senapati, was taken ill. The entire prime-ministerial household was awoken and several cars dispatched to find a vet. A newsman accused the PM of caring more for his fowl than his people. Khwaja pleaded with him: Write whatever you want about me but spare Senapati. Khwaja, an innocent honest soul, was totally taken by surprise when he and his cabinet were dismissed by the wily Governor-General, Ghulam Mohammed.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Bogra: April 1953 to August 1955. A descendant of the Nawab of Bogra. When summoned home to become our prime minister he was ambassador in the United States. A cultured man, he did some good. But when he asserted himself he was dismissed by G-G Ghulam Mohammed.

Prime Minister Chaudhri Mohammed Ali: August 1955 to September 1956. A good humoured, wise, friendly efficient bureaucrat. Close to President Iskander Mirza. A good administrator, but no politician, he felt obliged to resign when he could no longer keep up with the machinations between the various political parties and the eclipse of the Muslim League.

Prime Minister Husseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy: September 1956 to October 1957. An able lawyer, a seasoned politician and true prime ministerial material. Could not get on with the master race, the Punjabis, and when Iskandar Mirza and his Republican Party began challenging the authority of Suhrawardy's Awami League in the Assembly, Mirza gave him the choice of dismissal or resignation. Suhrawardy chose to resign.

Prime minister Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar: October 1957 to December 1957. A Gujerati-speaking Bombay lawyer, a member of Jinnah's cabinet. A Muslim Leaguer, he again had problems with Mirza, Noon and the Republicans and before he could be shot out he resigned.

Prime Minister Feroze Khan Noon: December 1957 to October 1958. On October 7, 1958, he received from President Iskandar Mirza a 'Dear John' letter: "After very careful searching of the heart I have come to the conclusion that the country cannot be saved unless I take full responsibility and take over the administration... I have decided to abrogate the Constitution, take over all powers, dissolve the Assemblies... By the time you get this letter, martial law will come into operation." Goodnight Noon.

President Major-General Iskander Mirza: October 7 1958 to October 27 1958: Ruled for 20 days under the iron fist of General Ayub Khan and was then deposed and dispatched into permanent exile. He died a poor man.

President Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan: October 1958 to March 1969: The people were fired, they wanted a stable government. Ayub and his martial law were accepted. Business prospered, industry flourished, foreign relations improved under a most personable President. But in the end, the three 'S's got the better of him-sickness, sons, and sycophants. The young man he raised and called his 'fifth' son challenged him after Tashkent and then betrayed him. Ayub 'fell' and handed over the country to the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army.

President General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan: March 1969 to December 1971. A good soldier, once a quick decision-maker, a jolly man to be around, a good friend and an amusing raconteur, before the bottle got the better of him. So far, he is responsible for having held the most free and fair of our general elections. Naturally the majority of the population being in East Pakistan, it was East Pakistan's most popular party that emerged the winner. This was unacceptance to the minority of the population, so East Pakistan had to be jettisoned. Yahya, duped by the leader of the minority party, 'the fifth son', was apportioned the entire blame and was forced to step down.

President then Prime Minister and the first ever civilian Martial Law Administrator Zulfikar Ali Bhutto:

December 1971 to July 1977. We all know what he did. It does not bear repeating. We all know how he ended.

President General Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq: July 1977 to March 1985. ZAB's chosen favourite general. He staged a coup, declared martial law, and hanged the man who made him. He tried an experiment with democracy and in March 1985 created his own.

Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo: March 1985 to May 1988. A relatively honest man, he tried to assert himself, was effective enough for Zia to feel threatened. He was dismissed and dissolved.

President General Mahammed Zia-ul-Haq: May 1988 to August 1988. Reborn Zia ruled again until blown up in the skies over his own country

President Ghulam Ishaq Khan: August 1988 to December 1988. As Chairman of the Senate, took over, immediately announced elections and handed over to the daughter of his erstwhile boss.

Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto: December 1988 to August 1990. We all know what she did. Ousted for 'corruption and incompetence' by GIK.

Caretaker Prime Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi: August 1990 to November 1990. GIK allowed him to achieve the ambition of his life and appointed him head of government until elections could be held in the 90-day period constitutionally stipulated. The insignificant achievement during his short tenure was the giving away of 30 plots of land not his to give, and initiating references against Benazir.

Prime minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif: November 1990 to April 1993. The first merchant and ironmonger to head a government of Pakistan. His financial and commercial reforms and policies were good and are still being followed. With a two- thirds majority in parliament, he got uppity and challenged the real force, GIK. He was dismissed and the National Assembly was dissolved. He appealed to the Supreme Court.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Balakh Sher Mazari: April 1993 to May 1993. His main achievement was to hold the first ever meeting of the Environmental Protection Council. He did not have time to do anything else as the Supreme Court held that Nawaz's dismissal was unconstitutional. He was annulled.

Prime Minister Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif: May 1993 to July 1993. A terrible turbulent time for the Mian. He got into all sorts of scrapes (he even lost his appetite). And it was his shenanigans in his home province of the Punjab that brought him down for a second time and he was effectively dismissed.

Caretaker Prime Minister Moeen Qureshi: July 1993 to October 1993. He came in with our high hopes. He was reputed to be Mr Clean. Mr Financial Wizard, the saviour of our slumping economy, the cleaner-up of our corruption A disappointment. But he achieved the purpose for which he had been placed. He held elections.

Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto: October 1993 to? I refer her to her father's speech to the people of Karachi in September 1971: "Brothers, as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, an individual, I am nothing. You are my power and my strength. No government in the world can solve its problems without the cooperation and support of its people. No problem can be solved through oppression, through bullets, through force... What happened in East Pakistan can happen in West Pakistan as well..."

Every force except one that can effect a change for the better has been corrupted. His stick, like the cry of the anguished, makes no sound. None of our leaders who have fallen ever knew or believed the day before they fell that the next day would be their last.

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