Adil Najam
This post continues our series on the events of 1971. The previous three parts of the series can be read here, here, here and here.
It has always surprised me that in all our discussions of the traumas of 1971 the name of Gen. Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan much less frequently than it perhaps should given his role. He presided over the beginnings of a military campaign against what were (then) his own people, what escalated into a full-fledged civil war, eventually an international war, and finally the breakup of the country.
Indeed the complexities were great, there were many other individuals involved, and the roots of all that happened went much further and deeper than just the events of 1971. Yet, Gen. Yahya Khan was in command – of military as well as civilian operations – in those moments of ignominy. But still, for some reason his mentions tend to be fleeting. Although never flattering, there is a sense that we want to move away from the topic of Gen. Yahya Khan as soon as we can; possibly to get to that perennial favorite topic: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
In watching this video (from July 31, 1971) this thought struck me again. I realized that at least I had never before seen a recording of him speaking at length. This particularly interview was particularly disturbing also for its content. The arrogance that he was known for and the sense that he as indeed out of touch with what was happening in the country are all too evidently on display:
“If a Head of State is out of touch with any part of his country, I don’t think he has any damn right to remain Head of the State… the moment I find I am out of touch – out of touch with my people – I shall quit… I know East Pakistan more than East Pakistanis know themselves… I am not out of touch. I know exactly hat is happening.”
Equally disturbing is the bit where towards the end he rants about Ireland. This is more disturbing because this is a commentary not only on 1971 but on today. It is all too often that when confronted with evidence of problems within our own polity and society our gut instinct is to (a) highlight how “we are not alone in doing whatever is being condemned” and (b) to argue that since others do it too, therefore it must not really be that bad!
Such discourse has always disturbed me because on the one hand it holds ourselves to the lowest possible standards and on the other hand it it comes across as a sign of being in denial. I hope readers will hear this part of the video (at the end) with care and think hard about how we ourselves sound exactly the same when we make similar arguments about denial!
I disagree, Yahya Khan gets criticised disproportionately, unlike Ayub he was part of a cabal/politburo of generals. The regime consisted of many factions ranging from Islam pasand to pro ZAB. If you read Ayub Khan’s diaries you will note that Yahya’s generals were actively supporting one party over another..and there were definite attempts to create a Kings Party led by Qayyum Khan allied with other pro establishment party’s
Yahya at a personal level actually served with distinction in the military before he took over..he was a deeply flawed person, who was not personally corrupt but power obsessed believing he had some divine right to rule. I’ve always argued that while financial corruption damages country’s in the sense of impoverishing them ..it does not destroy them..the corruption of power destroys nations.
However consider this from the interview, he is right when he says the majority of the general populace felt relieved when the Army took action because fundamentally they didn’t want to be ruled by the Bengalis (I say this not out of agreement with that but as a statement of fact)..
people like Asghar khan and party’s like the NAP condemned the action but were largely ignored by the people.
I cant believe how similar this guy sounds like Musharraf. Army needs to undergo some sort of reformation until such people stop climbing all the way up.
Watching this video makes ones head fall in shame. The arrogance, the tone and just how out of touch this man really was with everything around him. Ashamed indeed.
Bloody Hell its So chilling!!! Why does this guy sound so much like Musharraf?
Arrogance — and ignorance — personified!