Bhutto, Yahya and Tikka Khan
One Civilian, Two Army Men
Jagdeesh Ahuja

After the 1965 Pakistan-India war, Pakistan’s then Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto revolted against his ‘Daddy’, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, and raised the banner of Pakistani chauvinism by shouting the fanatical slogan of “fighting India for a thousand years even if we have to eat grass.” In this way, he became the favourite of Generals frustrated with Ayub Khan’s long rule and of left-leaning intellectuals in Punjab. In 1967, a group of socialist intellectuals, including J A Rahim and Hanif Ramay, gathered at Dr Mubashir Hassan’s house at Lahore and laid the foundations of the Pakistan People’s Party under Bhutto’s leadership. From Sindh, Bhutto also received the support of pirs and the feudal elite, including Makhdum Talib-ul-Maula, the custodian of the Nolakha Sarwari shrine. He was also joined by selfless leaders like Mairaj Muhammad Khan. General Gul Hassan and other Generals likewise entered into collusion with him.
In 1968, a movement was launched against President Ayub Khan, and on March 26, 1969, Ayub Khan resigned and handed over power to the Army Commander-in-Chief, Yahya Khan. General Yahya Khan dismantled the One Unit system in West Pakistan and restored the provincial status of Sindh, Punjab, North West FrontierProvince (NWFP) and Balochistan. In 1970, he committed the ‘mistake’ of holding Pakistan’s first ever genuinely democratic elections. Under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Awami League, with its Six-Point Programme for provincial autonomy, became the most popular party in East Pakistan. In West Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s People’s Party rose as the most popular party in Sindh and Punjab with the slogan “Roti, Kapra aur Makaan” (Bread, Clothing and Shelter). However, in Balochistan and NWFP, the People’s Party failed to make headway against the National Awami Party (NAP), led by Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Sardar Khair Bakhsh Marri and Khan Abdul Wali Khan. When the first general elections were held on December 7, 1970, the Awami League won 160 out of 300 general seats in the National Assembly, while the People’s Party secured only 81 seats. To form a government, 151 seats were required – meaning the Awami League had a clear simple majority. Yet Zulfikar Ali Bhutto raised the slogan: “Idhar ham, udhar tum!” (We rule here, you rule there!).
In the provincial elections of West Pakistan as well, NAP and Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) emerged victorious in Balochistan and NWFP, while the People’s Party obtained a majority only in Sindh and Punjab. Thus, in three out of five provinces – East Pakistan, Balochistan and NWFP – the Awami League, NAP, and their allies emerged victorious. Nevertheless, under the leadership of Bhutto and Yahya, the People’s Party and the Rawalpindi establishment began searching for ways to deny power to the Awami League.
Yahya Khan convened a session of the National Assembly in Dhaka on March 3, 1971. However, Bhutto threatened that anyone from West Pakistan who attended the session would have their legs broken. Such was the ‘Leader of the Masses’ of West Pakistan.
Subsequently, a Bhutto-Yahya meeting took place in Larkana, and the announcement was made to postpone the National Assembly session. With this announcement, the Bengali people became convinced that power would never be transferred to their elected representatives, and thus rebellion began. In fact, this announcement marked the beginning of the Bangladesh independence movement. In East Pakistan, the Awami League effectively established its own rule.
Meanwhile Punjab’s military leadership, the People’s Party and right-wing parties had already colluded to deny power to the Awami League and had finalised full plans for military action. This was strongly opposed by the then Governor of East Pakistan, Lieutenant General Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, who refused to conduct a military operation against the Bengali population. Then emerged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s favoured General and the People’s Party’s chosen man – General Tikka Khan – who took command of East Pakistan and arrived in Dhaka with the mission of the mass slaughter of the Bengalis. On March 25, 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto personally oversaw the launch of Operation Searchlight in Dhaka and, upon arriving at Karachi Airport, declared: “Thank God, Pakistan has been saved.”
Eight months and twenty days after this announcement, on December 16, 1971, the Pakistani Army, under General Niazi, surrendered in Dhaka to the Indian Army Eastern Command Chief, General Aurora. Ninety thousand Pakistani soldiers became prisoners of war in Indian jails. Pakistan’s Prime Minister and ‘Leader of the Masses’ Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, secured their release through the Simla Agreement, formally recognised Bangladesh, freed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and handed him the government of Bangladesh – thus completing the agenda of “Idhar ham, udhar tum”(We rule here, you rule there).
After completing the Bangladesh mission, Bhutto removed his benefactor General Gul Hassan and appointed his favourite General – the Butcher of Bengal, General Tikka Khan – as Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army, assigning him the mission of military operations in Balochistan. After the ‘traitorous’ Bengalis and ‘traitor’ Mujib, it was now the turn of the ‘traitorous’ Baloch and their leaders – Sardar Ataullah Mengal and Sardar Khair Bakhsh Marri.
Today, it is the same Bhutto, the same People’s Party, the same Pakistan Army, the same General Tikka Khan, and the same mission of ‘saving Pakistan’. The mission continues; only the characters change with time, while the institutions remain the same. Today, under the leadership of Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the People’s Party stands alongside the Pakistan Army led by Field Marshal Asim Munir, with a new character added to the script – Maryam Nawaz of the Pakistan Muslim League (N). What remains to be seen is what becomes of the country and what logical conclusion this ‘mission to save Pakistan’ ultimately reaches.
Operation ‘Fitna-al-Khawarij’ is being carried out with full force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In Sindh and Punjab, following the failure of the proposed new canal projects, a campaign for new provinces is gaining momentum. After the late Musharraf, now a lifelong Field Marshal and the Chairman of the People’s Party are waving their fists in the air – may God protect us.
Preparations and planning for Basant are also underway in Lahore; no one knows whose kite string will cut whose head!