A Pakistani Journey
Islamabad came alive
the other evening during the book launching
of “We Have Learnt Nothing from
History” by Air Marshal (R.) Asghar
Khan. The life of the 84-year old pilot
and politician is a piece of Pakistani
history. It is a key segment of our
57-year national journey. This scribe
along with Foreign Minister, Khurshid
Kasuri and Investment Minister, Hafeez
Sheikh were the three speakers asked
by the Air Marshal to comment on his
book just released by Oxford University
Press.
Sixty years ago while an officer in
the Royal Indian Air Force, Asghar Khan
was keen to go to Indonesia to join
Sukarno’s resistance against Dutch
occupiers. He was only dissuaded by
the Quaid himself who told him that
the battle for Pakistan would be far
more important.
To date, the former Air Chief continues
the battle for decency and democracy.
He may not have had conventional political
success in terms of attainment of political
power but his power has come through
his moral presence in Pakistani polity
and that moral authority has transcended
the influence of many a politician.
In fact, his party has been a veritable
nursery of Pakistani politicians.
In his book, Asghar Khan points to a
familiar phenomenon in that ‘governments
start believing that their interests
are synonymous with the interests of
the country and treat all criticism
and dissent as anti-state’. Asghar
Khan is equally on target on the tawdry
culture of toadyism: ‘The ability
to see through the ‘fog’
of power and not be misled by flatterers
is a quality in leaders that cannot
be overemphasized’.
On integrity, he says: ‘Honesty,
in a wider sense, includes all the actions
of an individual in which he is required
to act correctly and corruption includes
those actions of an individual which
are improper through they may not involve
the use of money’. He castigates
the judiciary and politicians stating:
“During the fifty-six years of
Pakistan’s history, the higher
judiciary, with a few honorable exceptions,
has shown a lack of character and courage
... it became normal for a party in
opposition to establish contact with
the army and intrigue to bring the elected
government down’.
Lashing out at venality, he posits:
‘It cannot be expected that a
government comprising a large number
of corrupt elements who are in politics
to serve their personal interests could
change the destiny of the country’.
Despite all that, Asghar Khan was somehow
unable to connect with mass impulses
and did not ignite the imagination and
passions of people.
Politics is akin to a love affair where
infatuation sometimes is blind, irrational
and impervious of the defects and errors
of the object of desire (Leader). Believing
matters more than knowing. It is a classic
example of emotions trumping logic,
and heat proving more potent than light.
But to the former fighter pilot’s
credit, he never quit the fight and,
in Saint Paul’s parlance, he fought
the good fight.
This scribe publicly expressed reservations
on Asghar Khan’s book chapter
on having 12 provinces for Pakistan.
This overly simplified approach for
redressing provincial inequities could
well usher in the most vicious form
of parochialism. Also, it may sow the
seeds of balkanization à la post-Tito
Yugoslavia.
The book-launching event attracted a
huge turnout, with representation from
a cross-section of civil society: high
ranking military hierarchy, ambassadors,
senior political leaders, western diplomats
and others from academia, media, government
and law. It was good to see the Islamabad
community paying homage to someone who
has fought the battle of Pakistan with
distinction and grace and who was a
contemporary of President Ayub Khan
and one who had met and interacted with
the Quaid.
One would be remiss in not mentioning
the role played by the Air Marshal’s
wife, Amina, who has always been a lady
of poise and grace, and his noble son,
the late and much-lamented Omar Asghar
Khan, who had in his young life left
an impact through his works of commonweal.
Slowly and surely, independent thinking,
doing research, questioning the status
quo and challenging of conventional
wisdom is beginning to flower. This
is what makes Pakistan the Muslim country
with the most promise and potential
where ideas are expressed and discussed
relatively free from fear.
Here, Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s
stance resonates.
