Dr. Ikramul Haq
Tumultuous existence of 78 years of our nationhood has witnessed many upheavals— a journey from crisis to crisis has at its core the struggle for establishing a true democratic polity. The way united opposition (sic) agitated alleged pre-and-post poll rigging in the aftermath of 2018 elections; later played the oft-repeated games, including taking power against the will of voters in 2024 elections, of those who purportedly masterminded it, testifies that inclination to evolve a national consensus for people’s rule is still a distant dream though we are moving towards eighth decade of independence.
Liberation from colonial masters on August 14, 1947 to continuous subjugation in the hands of powerful classes—militro-judicial-civil complex, businessmen-turned-politicians and absentee landowners—is the persistent, real and painful dilemma for nearly 251 million citizens of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The failures on political, economic and social fronts during the decade of democracy (2008-2018) and then experiment of controlled democracy from August 18, 2018 to April 9, 2022, April 10, 2022 to August 9, 2023, and from August 10, 2023 till today (hybrid-plus) once again confirm lack of determination on the part of politicians to act collectively and resolutely to defeat the de facto power—thus the apprehensions of strengthening of ‘garrison state’ have continuously been proving true.
The significant achievements in many areas during the last 78 years have been dampened by the non-existence of national cohesion, rule of law, supremacy of Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and people’s rule where masses can get real benefits of growth and resources.
Despite all odds—indifference and apathy of political leadership, learned helplessness of masses and long military rules—the nation has showed resilience and unshakable faith in electoral process whenever they got a chance. They did it last time on February 8, 2024, by giving unequivocal verdict against the forces of obscurantism and fascism (fooling the masses in the name of national security and/or religion).
Unfortunately, the political elite once again failed to demonstrate the collective responsibility to unite, galvanize and mobilize masses for consolidating democracy and countering forces bent upon “controlling” elected institutions. The free and fair elections as per Constitution leading to a representative, accountable, responsible and open government is the resolve that all citizens should make on 78th Independence Day.
The successive civilian and military governments have failed to end socio-economic disparities, disharmony between the centre and provinces, poverty, apathy towards the less-privileged, militancy, religious and political intolerance—just to mention a few. What makes the situation more bizarre are the endless debates about the real motives for creation of Pakistan, witch-hunting in the name of ideology and role of men in khaki in politics.
Genesis and evolution of Pakistan remains a challenging enigma for historians and political scientists. Voluminous work, produced on the subject since the partition of Subcontinent in 1947, seeks to explain the interplay of two interwoven and interlinked factors behind the turbulent State—religion and militarism.
The political use of ‘religion’ in demanding a separate homeland for Muslims and its later abuse by military establishment with the help of clergy to capture power and establish a ‘Garrison State’ is in a nutshell, the sad story of Pakistan. It is elaborated intensely by political scientist, Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed, in his book, Pakistan: The Garrison State: Origins, Evolution, Consequences 1947-2011.
This work, unlike others, is based on a conceptual and theoretical framework combining the notion of a post-colonial state and Harold Lasswell’s concept of a ‘Garrison State’. In the very first chapter entitled, ‘The Fortress of Islam: A metaphor for a Garrison State’, the author has shown how a State famished at the time of its birth transformed into a nuclear power, though engulfed by multiple crises—political, economic, social, religious, etc.
Dr. Ishtiaq skillfully presents the bizarre twists and turns of events in a straightforward manner. The story of mythical ‘fortress of Islam’ has many bitter lessons. Dr. Ishtiaq has remarkably traced the journey of the Garrison State that started from falling in the laps of United States to armed conflicts with India, from martial laws to birth of Bangladesh, from follies of political leaders to brutal “Islamisation” of Zia and from corruption of elected governments to proliferation of terrorism.
It is an incontrovertible fact that in Pakistan, either directly or indirectly, political power has always been with the army. A handful of generals decide what is in the “best interest” of the country—Balochistan is the case in hand. From economic matrix to foreign policy paradigm they are the real decision makers. This is the real malady of being a Garrison State.
Dr. Ishtiaq has painstakingly traced the roots and causes of this malady in an objective and unbiased way. Unlike many other writers, he has not entered into blame game—fixing responsibility of debacle on a particular institution or a political party or a class. However, in the final analysis, facts show that it is a collective failure in which, no doubt, the ruling classes—controlled by custodians of Garrison State—committed blunder after blunder.
The ruling elites are mainly responsible for the present pathetic state of affairs more than anybody else. For many, it is but logical as what else can one expect from them—any contrary hope would be like living in a Fool’s Paradise.
To overcome this dilemma, Dr. Ishtiaq in the end has reached the correct conclusion: “It is, therefore, imperative that the stakeholders in the Pakistan power equation—especially the military—work out a long-term policy and strategy that can create stability, peace and prosperity within Pakistan as well as help normalize relations with its neighbours—provided they, too, nurture similar aspirations” [p. 470]. No one would disagree with Dr. Ishtiaq. His work holds a hope for Pakistan, provided the forces that matter come out of their self-assumed notions like “custodians of ideological fronts” and “fortress of Islam”.
It is high time that all the stakeholders should initiate a meaningful dialogue for converting the Garrison State into a modern, democratic and egalitarian country that is the only road to salvation. The tragedy of Garrison State is that its de facto rulers and their cronies give a damn to the aspirations of people and have done nothing worthwhile for the less-privileged. This lamentable attitude of the beneficiaries of the Garrison State amounts to a suicidal path.
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Dr. Ikramul Haq, Advocate Supreme Court, Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), member Advisory Board and Visiting Senior Fellow of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), holds LLD in tax laws. He was full-time journalist from 1979 to 1984 with Viewpoint and Dawn. He also served Civil Services of Pakistan from 1984 to 1996.