I had written this article appearing in paras at the end some years ago in time of Lal Masjid debacle during Musharraf era. Therefore, I suggest that this edited version be read contextual to corresponding time and events. Several years have gone by since, and in the interregnum, Pakistan underwent catastrophic descent in moral, intellectual, spiritual, economic and diplomatic milieu, apropos after-shocks of devastating NRO. Our national malaise is to judge history through propaganda prism rather than invasive research to see through the thick smoke screen on delinquencies of titans at national and institutional levels who held the destiny of the nation and at the next level future and effectiveness of institutions. There are multifarious reasons for these serious lapses, intentional and some out of sheer ignorance. Why and how Quaid’s Pakistan was truncated is an enigma wrapped in mystery, where the whole sole blame has been placed on Gen. Yahya Khan for strategic failure, though tactical failure absolutely justifiably on the vulgar and incompetent Gen. Niazi, for tactical failure. I have hardly come across any brave heart with power of the quill to look deeper in to the root cause of why and from whence the majority populace, with maximum contribution in supporting Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his struggle that created Pakistan, was driven against the wall with insults and abuse, neglect and rough riding till their self-esteem could bear the callous mishandling by the ruler of the time. The subterranean rumbles went unheeded by the arrogant ruler and his pompous Punjabi bureaucracy till the pent-up lava sprouted in a terrible chapter of history. It all started post elections when Gen. President Ayub Khan versus a frail, insolvent and check-mated through state coercive apparatus Ms. Fatima Jinnah shook the palace columns in Rawalpindi. This was followed by 1965 war when Eastern wing was left to mercy of one depleted fighter squadron and a fractional army to face the juggernaut of 9 IAF squadrons and equal number of Indian divisions. The balloon finally burst, but the hand that pricked it remained masked. It is therefore, intended by this scribe to limit the article to that era. Fast forward, yet another army take-over, but this time owing to a mega-corrupt party in power and its uncouth and half literate head honcho and kingpin (never a leader), acted most stupidly along with another joker in that pack heading PIA, to high jack own airline to sack the serving army chief and appoint an obtuse toady, as the chief of one of the best and battle tested armies in the world. Rest is yet another story where lessons of history were ignored and it came back with a vengeance to sledge-hammer the over confident President. His eon had good augury until against the neon warning sign of history he repeated the same blunder, albeit with the notorious NRO, brokered by the surreptitious enemies with charade of well-wisher friends, USA and UK, in the hope to perpetuate hold on power.

The most debilitating impact of NRO was simply stated legitimizing horrendous corruption of politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists, which has become Pakistan’s nemesis. After easing out Musharraf who had outlived his usefulness to the objectives of USA & its allies to play second fiddle and compromise Pakistan’s nuclear capability, they supplanted a puppet with heavy criminal record as the powerful all-in-one President to further Western doctrine with Pakistan as the epicenter. A highly disreputable agent provocateur was placed in Washington DC as heavily bankrolled ambassador to keep Asif Zardari secure in his saddle, out of jail and work overtime to provoke American administration to undermine, sap insidiously, the armed forces of Pakistan and its nuclear deterrent. At home he placed another corrupt politician as Prime minister. Pack was decked against Pakistan’s sovereignty and integrity. Resultantly, grave misfortunes came home to roost over next 30 further years of despair during history’s debilitating plutocracy supplanted by oligarchs with crossed swords under a sham Democracy. The dictators ZAB and Zia ul Haq controversial era is precluded not being within the scope of this article. The western global strategic interests embroiled Pakistan in multi-pronged threats to Pakistan’s sovereignty. The older generation and politically subverted reader will be inclined to say, ‘we know it all, so what’s new in the rhetoric. Indeed, what I am resurrecting is not addressed to the fuddy-duddies, sand model, paper exercise specialists, whose sense of military strategy is limited to staff solutions, captives to delusions they call “Look at the bigger picture”, euphemism for command failures. This brief travelogue through history will likely be pooh-poohed by the modern pretenders to be Aristotle & Socrates and their political thug-dons, the notorious status quo pillagers, political brokers, including those felons who have been convicted, arraigned or caught for corruption as well as their saviors in the judiciary. Admittedly, this narrative will not be digested by feeble and decomposed minds of the political mass under varying clown masks of PDM plus and minus, the politicized and compromised bureaucrats and those business houses, banks and industrialists patronized by the corrupt rulers who together exploited and made hay during the era where law had ceased to be a deterrent force and corruption legalized by the highest court albeit the cursed NRO.