BACKGROUND
In the mid-1950s, Pakistan was like Hobbes’s State of Nature. The Political situation was deteriorating day by day. So on October 7 1958, President Gen Sikender Mirza imposed Martial Law and appointed Gen Muhammad Ayub Khan as the CMLA.
PREFACE
On October 7, 1958, Sikandar Mirza staged a coup d’etat. He issued a proclamation abolishing the 1956 constitution and unposed Martial law. The people of Pakistan welcomed the revolution of 1958, and they heaved a sigh of relief as the martial law regime restored direction and ordered the situation in the Country.
DISSOLUTION OF ASSEMBLIES
According to the proclamation, the Central and National assemblies were dissolved, and the first martial law dismissed was enforced in the Country.
OUSTER OF SIKENDER MIRZA
After some time, Gen Ayub Khan deposed Sikandar Mirza and assumed office as the second President of Pakistan.
CAUSES OF MARTIAL LAW
Pakistan represents an example of how a political-military could slowly be drawn into the political field due to the failure of political institutions and politicians, low political mobilization, and external factors. The leading causes of martial law in Pakistan are the following;
- The Demise of Quaid-e-Azam
- Provincialism
- Extreme Political Instability
- Factionalism
- Failure of political leadership
- Interference of Head of State
- Role of Judiciary
- Homogeneity of Pakistan army
- Absence of an Independent Election System
1. DEMISE OF QUAID-E-AZAM
The first year of Independence was marked by heavy dependence on the dramatic personality of Finale. He was Governor-General and President of the Constituent Assembly. However, he died in 1988, leaving behind an enduring political vacuum. With Liaquat’s death, the fate of Parliamentary Democracy began to end. The Bureaucratic elites did not take long to convert the office of the Governor-General into an instrument of bureaucratic intervention.
2. PROVINCIALISM
The geographical separation of East and West Pakistan produced administrative, physical, social, economic, and political problems. Distance made communication irregular and expensive. Misunderstandings arose quickly and were difficult to dispel. Since the capital was in the West Wing, East Pakistan felt neglected. Differences in languages and cultures were obstacles in the way of national integration.
3. EXTREME POLITICAL INSTABILITY
The decline of civilian institutions in Pakistan was set in motion primarily as a result of the severe crisis of political leadership within a couple of years of Independence. After Quaid-e-Azam Liaquat Ali Khan’s assassination resulted in the conversion of the office of the Governor General into an instrument of bureaucratic intervention.
Bureaucratic intervention, preemption, and opposition among the political leaders made the parliament and cabinet government a sham. The facade of parliamentary politics persisted, but in reality, the focus of power had shifted to the bureaucratic and military institutions.
4. FACTIONALISM
Research about the ascent of the army in Pakistan typically focuses on the political system’s vacuum due to the Muslim League’s disintegration after partition and the decay of political institutions in general.
5. FAILURE OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
After the death of Jinnah, his political successors failed to create consensus Politics. The second-line leadership could not translate the political achievements of Jinnah into a vibrant, moderate, and forward-looking democratic polity.
The situation was not much different at the provincial level, where other political parties and leaders engaged in the power struggle, violating the parliamentary norms.
6. INTERFERENCE OF HEADS OF STATE
In a parliamentary democracy, the head of state has no room for political manoeuvring. The office of the head of state is nominal and non-partisan. In violation of well-established parliamentary theory, Ghulam Muhammad and Iskander Mirza violated this norm and actively manoeuvred politics notwithstanding legal tradition and the dreadful consequences of their actions.
7. ROLE OF JUDICIARY
All the democratic constitutions of the world provide a list of the people’s fundamental rights, which are recognized and guaranteed by the superior judiciary. Unfortunately, the higher court in Pakistan did not play this Pakistan’s inception and became subservient to the executive.
8. HOMOGENEITY OF THE PAKISTAN ARMY
The military’s strength in Pakistan is also a result of its strong ethnic and regional cohesion. Only three Army Chiefs in Pakistan’s history came from outside the Punjab and NWFP. This ethnic imbalance has enhanced the military’s efficacy in politics.
9. ABSENCE OF INDEPENDENT ELECTION SYSTEM
Another factor that facilitated the army’s rise to power in Pakistan was that the Country had no democratic elections for eleven years after Independence, and democratic values had scarcely struck roots.
FINAL REMARKS
Iskender Mirza proclaimed the first Martial law in Pakistan. Iskender Mirza became President, and he made Ayub Khan CMLA; soon, Ayub Khan ousted Iskender Mirza and declared himself as President of the administration of the raging corruption.
He ultimately decided to resign in March 1969. This ended a relatively stable country. Ayub Khan’s Government introduced significant reforms in the entire government structure and cleansed the progressive era in history.
REFERENCES
- Notes by Waqar Ahmad Cheema
