Adil Najam
Back in August of 2006 one of the first ATP Polls we did was to ask our readers which recent leader they thought did the most good for Pakistan? We had structured the question carefully to focus on the good that these leaders did (all leaders do bad things as well as good, some more and some less). It is time to ask the same question again.
In 2006 we had not included Gen. Musharraf since he was still in power. This time including Gen. Musharraf but not Asif Zardari, who is in power now. So, what do you think?
Please do take the question serious and answer it in the spirit asked:
The Question: Focussing primarily on whatever ‘positives’ might have been achieved during their stint(s) in power, who, amongst the following, did the most ‘good’ for Pakistan?
Let me repeat the explanatory paragraph I had included in introducing the question the first time:
The key word is ‘achieved.’ We always have plenty of discussions about what leaders have and are doing wrong, but nearly never talk about what they did right. Interestingly, even when we are trying to make a case for someone, we tend to make it by explaining what is wrong with everyone else. After all, if everyone else is bad (and worse) then our guy must be good, at least in ccomparison and by default. The logic makes a perverse sort of sense but tends to take our political conversations towards confrontations (since they are based on ‘attacking’ the other rather than on ’supporting’ our own). So, here is an experiment to see if we are capable of talking differently about such things.
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 what you think they did that was most important and lasting to Pakistan’s well-being as a nation. Again, we focus on achievement here not because the ‘bad’ that they did was not important (in each case it was) but to discipline our conversation towards thinking of things that, maybe, we should be doing more of.
Nawaz Sharif for motorwayr — andnuclar test —
Z A bhtto for iniating the nucelar program
Zia ul Haq — for trying to eradicate the obsenity that had eruputed in Z A bhuttos time.
and Liaqat ALi Khan
There are many reasons why I do not like Ayub Khan, specially because he set the stage for other military coups, but since you are asking us only to focus on the positives and not the negatives, I think in balance he did the most good, at least in terms of economic development and infrastructure.
While this forum should be open to all, I think surveys like this should be restricted only to Pakistani readers. Indians like Aamir Ali are typical in telling us Pakistanis that ” Pakistanis don
Nawaz Sharif did his best…. Motorway…. nuclear test.. Power light projects (thats why there was not load shading after his Gov end..)
I think he think about Future of Pakistan
@Aamir Ali,
I think you better stick with countering @Razia about conspiracy-theories.
PPP a ‘feudal’ party?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Peoples_Part y
I think not entirely true. This is the topmost creme of the leadership and I can see a fair amount of non-feudal in there. Even Zardari is not a traditional ‘feudal’ unless you think all monied people in Pakistan are ‘feudal’?
And what about the ‘Urban Feudals’ like MQM? Or the Khaki feudals? Or the Trader Feudals of Central Punjab as represented by PMLN? Or the religious feudals like Jamaat e Islami? Feudalism is a state of mind above all.
PPP–in its Election Manifesto of 1970-71 expressely asked for a -Socialist- economy. It was not cheating the people of Pakistan. The people gave that mandate of ‘nationalization’. Rightly or wrongly.
As to PPP’s achievement, I am not into copying/pasting habit. There is much I can do about that to counter the vicious Jamaati-origin propaganda.
But, unless you live in a complete state of denial and hatred, you should be able to see that Pakistan actually lost thousands of square miles of W.Pakistani land to India in an open military contest; and tens of thousands of POWs in the war of 1971. ZAB not only managed to get the land back but also all the POWs–all without any express concession on Kashmir to India. Pakistani morale was at a rock-bottom on 1st January 1972. But by 1st January 1977 Pakistan was once again a ‘respected’ nation on world-stage. Compare that with the ‘one-phone-call-from-Powell-general Musharaf’.
There is a lot I can say about the ZAB years. My knowledge has come from some re-evaluations of the ‘established truths’–coming from the opposite end.
Perhaps you too can revisit your received wisdom? It would do you good.