ATP Poll: Who Did the Most Harm to Pakistan?

Adil Najam

Having just completed the poll on who, amongst Pakistan’s recent leaders, did the most good to the country, the obvious followup is to do a second installment of the ATP Poll on “Who Did the Most Harm to Pakistan?”

We had conducted a poll on this question back in August 2009 and repeating the question now will give us a sense of whether our readership’s opinion on this question has shifted in this time.

Please focus on the negative actions these leaders were themselves responsible for, and not as much on things that might have been out of their own control.

The Question: Focusing primarily on what you consider ‘negative’ actions taken by them during their stint(s) in power, who, amongst the following, do you think did the most ‘harm’ to Pakistan?

We ask, as before, that you please respond to the question with the same care with which it has been structured. As we had done in our last poll, we have structured the question carefully to focus only the harm that these leaders might have caused (all leaders do bad things as well as good, some more and some less).

As in the last poll, the current leadership is not included (although we have been conducting separate polls grading them) and only those whose tenure is now behind us are included, from Ayub Khan onwards. As before, for Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif consider the combined impact of two stints they each had in power.

Do also please tell us which of their actions you think had the most harmful and lasting impacts on Pakistan’s well-being as a nation, and why.