The Mirage of Power AN ENQUIRY INTO THE BHUTTO YEARS 1971-1977 BY MUBASHIR HASAN Reproduced By: Sani H. Panhwar Member Sindh Council PPP. CONTENTS About the Author .. .. .. .. .. .. i Preface .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ii Acknowledgements .. .. .. .. .. v 1. The Dramatic Takeover .. .. .. .. .. 1 2. State of the Nation .. .. .. .. .. .. 14 3. Meeting the Challenges (1) .. .. .. .. 22 4. Meeting the Challenges (2) .. .. .. .. 43 5. Restructuring the Economy (1) .. .. .. .. 64 6. Restructuring the Economy (2) .. .. .. .. 85 7. Accords and Discords .. .. .. .. 100 8. All Not Well .. .. .. .. .. .. 120 9. Feeling Free .. .. .. .. .. .. 148 10. The Year of Change .. .. .. .. .. 167 11. All Power to the Establishment .. .. .. .. 187 12. The Losing Battle .. .. .. .. .. .. 199 13. The Battle Lost .. .. .. .. .. .. 209 14. The Economic Legacy .. .. .. .. .. 222 Appendices .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 261 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Mubashir Hasan is a well known figure in both academic and political circles in Pakistan. A Ph.D. in civil engineering, he served as an irrigation engineer and taught at the engineering university at Lahore. The author's formal entry into politics took place in 1967 when the founding convention of the Pakistan Peoples' Party was held at his residence. He was elected a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1970 and served as Finance Minister in the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Cabinet from 1971-1974. In 1975, he was elected Secretary General of the PPP. Following the promulgation of martial law in 1977, the author was jailed for his political beliefs. Dr. Hasan has written three books, numerous articles, and has spoken extensively on social, economic and political subjects: 2001, Birds of the Indus, (Mubashir Hasan, Tom J. Roberts) 2000, The Mirage of Power, 1989, An Enquiry into the Bhutto Years, 1986, National unity: what is to be done?, (Mubashir Hasan, I. A. Rahman, A. H. Kardar) 1977, United front for people's democracy 1976, Pakistan's illiterate leaders 1967, A Declaration of Unity of People 1954, On the general education of an engineer Presently, Dr. Mubashir Hasan is actively engaged in human rights causes, and the promotion of peace and disarmament in South Asia. He is a founder member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy, and is also President, Pakistan Peoples' Party (Shaheed Bhutto) or the province of the Punjab. i PREFACE In the aftermath of the India-Pakistan war of 1965, many Pakistanis became anxious about the future of their country. A group of about a dozen men and women in their thirties and early forties met in Lahore to consider what role they could play in improving the social and economic conditions of their environment. They were educated in the humanities, one was a poet, one a lawyer, another a principal of a girls' college, two were architects, and two engineers. Every month, we met to discuss a paper specially prepared on subjects such as education, economy, agriculture, industry, youth and other topics. When we first started the group meetings, politics was not on our minds. However, at the end of every discussion, we came to the conclusion that the major steps needed to improve the deteriorating social and economic conditions were political in nature. We ended up by drafting what we thought was a revolutionary manifesto which we called A Declaration of the Unity of the People. By then it was late summer of 1967, and in that very period, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announced his intention to found a new political party. There was great excitement in the city of Lahore that its hero was founding a political party of his own. Bhutto had served as Foreign Minister under Ayub Khan until a year earlier. The people of Lahore held him in tremendous affection for his stand on Kashmir and his dissent with President Ayub Khan on questions of foreign policy. I had met Bhutto briefly, once to deliver an invitation for a speaking engagement in Lahore and again, in February 1967, when I arranged a ladder for his escape from the second storey window of the YMCA hall, where, after delivering a brilliant speech, he was trapped in the midst of frenzied admirers. On learning of Bhutto's decision to found a new political party, our group decided to find out what he had in mind. I met Bhutto in Larkana and then again in Karachi with his principal political advisor, J A Rahim. Chairs were arranged for the latter meeting on the lawn of Bhutto's residence as the building was not considered safe on account of the fear of listening devices planted by the intelligence agencies of Ayub Khan. The two made a formidable team, Bhutto, articulate and persuasive, and Rahim, highly knowledgeable and astute. Here were two men the like of whMo had not been seen in Pakistani politics for a long time. I was impressed and more than satisfied with the anti-imperialist character of the party they had in mind and its programme to nationalize banks, basic industry and energy resources. On their part, Bhutto and Rahim agreed with the contents of the manifesto ii prepared by our group. Bhutto and Rahim invited the group to join them in founding the new party and I promised to consult my colleagues in Lahore. Bhutto founded his party at a convention in Lahore held on 30 November and 1 December 1967. The convention was held in a tent in the lawns of my house and the party was named the Pakistan People's Party. The mood of the country was against President Ayub Khan and his government rapidly weakened Within a year of the founding of the party, large-scale street protests started in West Pakistan as well as in East Pakistan. Bhutto's popularity as a leader of the masses in West Pakistan and that of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the eastern province, soared with each passing day. Feeling seriously threatened, Ayub Khan resorted to suppressive measures Bhutto was arrested on 13 November 1968 while he was staying with me in Lahore. I was also arrested, and for both of us, this was our first ever arrest and detention. The government took even harsher measures in East Pakistan by detaining a large number of political leaders and activists Nothing worked in favor of President Ayub Khan. Early, in 1969, he called a Round Table Conference of all political leaders to find a way out of his political difficulties. Bhutto, in West Pakistan and Maulana Bhashani, the leader of the pro-China leftist party in East Pakistan, declined to attend. The conference failed and soon afterwards, Ayub Khan relinquished the Presidency, handing over the country to General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, the army chief who abrogated the constitution and clamped Martial Law on 25 March 1969. Later, Yahya Khan decided to hold general elections to the constituent assembly, which took place in December 1970. The election results came as a surprise. Mujibur Rahman won 151 of the 153 contested seats in East Pakistan and Bhutto's three-year-old Pakistan People's Party won 81 out of a total of 131 seats in West Pakistan. The newly elected assembly never met. The Martial Law government used brute force to suppress political dissent in East Pakistan. A civil war ensued which ultimately developed into the India-Pakistan war of December 1971. The Pakistan army surrendered in East Pakistan to an Indian general and in West Pakistan General Yahya Khan handed over power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 20 December 1971. It is from that point in time that this book starts. The account is personal and somewhat one-sided, coming from a person who was closely associated with Bhutto, first as a member of the Pakistan People's Party, and then as a minister of his government and later as secretary general of the party. Bhutto worked hard against heavy odds and within a few years established a constitutional government, rehabilitated the economy, and made a name for himself in the Islamic world. Placing reliance on the strength of his votes among the people, he acquired more and more power for himself to govern the country. Unable, or unwilling to organize his political party among the members of the lower middle class and share iii power with it, he decided to make the traditional civil and military, establishment his power base. Less than six years after coming to power, while appearing politically omnipotent, Bhutto was at his weakest. The civil and military establishment that he had built as his sheet anchor overthrew his government and executed him. It was Pakistan's darkest hour. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a debt of gratitude to many friends and colleagues who encouraged and helped in the completion of this book. Dr Zeenat Hussain persevered over the years in monitoring its progress. Without her frequently exhorting me, the manuscript would not have been ready for the press. Rafi Raza, a close associate of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and a friend and colleague of this writer, was most generous in giving his time to read the manuscript and discuss some of the major issues. Ghulam Mustafa Khar, another close colleague of Bhutto, greatly helped in discussing and clarifying the background of some events and policies. Mazhar Ali and SA Durrani, the associates who were privy to all that passed through my ministry, were kind enough to read the manuscript and give their suggestions. Dr Ghulam Hussain, Mumtaz Ahmad Khan Kahloon, Mian Mohammad Aslam, ministers and advisers of the Government in the Punjab and active party workers were most helpful in explaining the background of some of the important events. Qamarul Islam and M S Jillani also read parts of the manuscript and made valuable suggestions.