Signposts to a Police State: A critical analysis
Bakhtiar Iqbal 2018-02-0183
Zaib-un-Nisa Aziz
SS-102 Section 2
9-11-2014
Signposts to a Police State: A Critical Analysis Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto assumed control of Pakistan in the aftermath of the debacle that was 1971: the State of Pakistan had lost more than half of its population and a major source of revenue to a secessionist movement, its army was humiliated with almost ninety-three thousand prisoners of war in hostile Indian custody, and the economy was in complete turmoil. Bhutto’s rallying cry of ‘Roti, Kapra, Makaan’ had allowed him to win the majority seats in West Pakistan in the elections of 1970, and with the secession of East Pakistan in 1971, the path to the presidency was clear. Certain historians and political analysts have credited Bhutto with pulling Pakistan through the darkest period of its history, but in ‘Signposts to a Police State’, Eqbal Ahmad, argues that Bhutto might have done more damage to Pakistan than good. To support this claim he draws attention towards personality flaws of the man himself which resulted in certain damaging policy decisions. In addition to this, Eqbal also shows how the balance of power within the country was shifting in the military’s favor, partial responsibility of which he places on Bhutto. ‘Signposts to a Police State’ is then a critique of Bhutto’s policies in the period 1972-1974, based on which Eqbal attempts to give a prognosis of the direction in which Pakistan was headed politically. In the beginning of his article, Eqbal points to two issues which threatened Pakistan’s long-term viability as a stable state. The first and more serious of these was the growth of fascism within the government and the second was the growth of separatist sentiments among opposition parties, specifically in the North West Frontier and in Baluchistan. Both these issues had Bhutto as the root cause for despite all claims of socialism and a people’s movement, Bhutto was at his core a feudal with an insatiable thirst for power.
Zaib-un-Nisa Aziz
SS-102 Section 2
9-11-2014
Signposts to a Police State: A Critical Analysis Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto assumed control of Pakistan in the aftermath of the debacle that was 1971: the State of Pakistan had lost more than half of its population and a major source of revenue to a secessionist movement, its army was humiliated with almost ninety-three thousand prisoners of war in hostile Indian custody, and the economy was in complete turmoil. Bhutto’s rallying cry of ‘Roti, Kapra, Makaan’ had allowed him to win the majority seats in West Pakistan in the elections of 1970, and with the secession of East Pakistan in 1971, the path to the presidency was clear. Certain historians and political analysts have credited Bhutto with pulling Pakistan through the darkest period of its history, but in ‘Signposts to a Police State’, Eqbal Ahmad, argues that Bhutto might have done more damage to Pakistan than good. To support this claim he draws attention towards personality flaws of the man himself which resulted in certain damaging policy decisions. In addition to this, Eqbal also shows how the balance of power within the country was shifting in the military’s favor, partial responsibility of which he places on Bhutto. ‘Signposts to a Police State’ is then a critique of Bhutto’s policies in the period 1972-1974, based on which Eqbal attempts to give a prognosis of the direction in which Pakistan was headed politically. In the beginning of his article, Eqbal points to two issues which threatened Pakistan’s long-term viability as a stable state. The first and more serious of these was the growth of fascism within the government and the second was the growth of separatist sentiments among opposition parties, specifically in the North West Frontier and in Baluchistan. Both these issues had Bhutto as the root cause for despite all claims of socialism and a people’s movement, Bhutto was at his core a feudal with an insatiable thirst for power.
Bibliography: Alavi, Hamza. "The State in Post-Colonial Societies: Pakistan and Bangladesh." New Left Review (1972). Web. Ali, Imran. "Historical Impacts on Political Economy in Pakistan." Asian Journal of Management Cases (2004). Web.