Zia’s Legacy
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN
If a list of the most despicable personalities is compiled today, Zia-ul-Haq, the former Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), would clinch the top position in Pakistan.
After him and trailing way behind, a tight contest would be held between the current and the prior leadership of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP): Mullah Fazlullah, BaitullahMehsud and HakeemullahMehsud.
In Punjab though, the hatred for Altaf Hussein, the leader of MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM), runs so deep that he may surpass both the former Martial Law administrator and the leaders of the terrorist organization-combined together. But that is not the point. The point is how come a former Chief of the Army Staff be aligned with the established enemies of the state, people who have killed hundreds of innocent civilians in the name of Islam.
Simply put, anyone who sets aside the constitution for personal benefits declares a war against the state and its people. Zia ulHaq did that. In addition, he also introduced and approved the violent version of religion in the society, a version that still haunts us today in the form of fundamentalism, sectarianism and jihadism. So the difference between the two of them- the leadership of TTP and the former COAS-is that of strategy not that of objective. If the former detonates the bombs, the latter provides them the resources.
Zia supporters on the other hand, as few still hang around, argue that although he manipulated the religious emotions, but those emotions already existed before he seized control. He did not create today’s Pakistan, instead he just advanced those ideas that he thought were shared by most Pakistanis. So singling him out is not fair. The whole society needs to take the blame.
For example, Ahmedis, after clashes with Sunnis in early seventies, had constitutionally been declared as non-Muslims. Did he vote for that amendment or participate in any way to influence the parliamentarians? Of course not. He did not exist anywhere in the picture then.
Similarly, he did not ignite the movement to remove Zulifqar Ali Bhutto when the allegations of rigging surfaced after the 1977 elections. On the contrary, it was Zulifqar Ali Bhutto who used to unnecessary power to crush the opposition. Once he rose to power though, Zia ulHaq entrusted the same emotions of implementing the Shariat law that was promised by the PNA (Pakistan National Alliance) to gain popularity and establish his rule. Anyone else would have done the same in his place.
Furthermore, throughout his career as a dictator, he kept the clerics close to himself both as a matter of strategy and principle. It helped him tremendously to strengthen his image as a sincere ruler creating a facade of piety and simplicity around him. People who claimed to know him personally always talked about his commitment to Islam, his punctuality in offering prayers, his inspiration to seek guidance from the life of the Prophet (PBUH) and his devotion to the Creator. They always seem to be impressed: How could a person in his position only fear God and no one else; only worry about His approval and no one else; only appear concerned about His commands and no one else? they would ask.
And yes, let me admit that Zia maintained a reasonable popularity throughout his career too, way more that General Musharraf when he was forced to step down and then resign. Some of them, I saw bursting into tears when they heard the news of the plane crash on August 17th, grieved as if they had lost a sincere friend, worried that the corrupt politicians would takeover the country once again.
But we should never be fooled by appearances, nor should we let the outer core of piety, sincerity and honesty cloud our judgement. His personal attributes notwithstanding, we must realize the society took a U turn from modernization to ritualization because of him and his team of propagandists: the clerics. It was because of him that we are struggling to wriggle ourselves out of the deep mud of sectarianism, extremism and religious bigotry. It was because of him that we still have a confused and irreconcilable concept of the state and religion. And it was because of him that we are stuck in a war that we supposedly had won three decades ago.
Having said that, as a nation we have evolved to love our Army Chiefs, not hate them, a fact that has ingrained in our genes. It is therefore expected that all the COASs fall in the list of the most respectable Pakistanis, not in the category of the most vicious ones. As the nation looks forward to greet the upcoming Chief, how can he be included in the former? In order to build his own legacy of integrity and respect, he has to eradicate the legacy of Zia. And the best way of doing that now is to ensure the safety of religious minorities, taking swift action against the banned sectarian organizations, launching a long overdue operation against them, removing the undisclosed protection that they enjoy today. In today’s Pakistan, there has to be no place for Zia anymore; no place for his ideology, his tactics or his mean spirited religious bigotry.
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