THIS IS MY STORY—45
MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE ERA OF AYUB KHAN TO THE TIMES OF IMRAN KHAN.
GHULAM AKBAR
Conspiracy Takes Roots
The 1962 non-party elections resulted in the emergence of factions— some led by influential persons and the others formed on the basis of provincial loyalties. There was also the usual host of landowning independents. An in the first session of the new Assembly held in June 1962, the new Constitution was duly ratified. Within a month Ayub Khan assented to a bill permitting the formation of political parties. By September 1962 the Muslim League (Convention) had been organized as the official government party. Earlier in August it had been announced by some veteran Muslim League members that a council of the party would meet on September 29. To pre-empt them, arrangements were made for a meeting of the Muslim League at Karachi (about which I have written earlier). It was September 4, 1962. I was at that time getting entrenched in my marketing job. I had attended that convention in Habib ur Rahman Chapta’s company as mentioned earlier. It was in that Convention that the old war horse and schemer Chaudhry Khaliq ur zaman was somehow elected as the Chief Organiser of the party which subsequently came to be known as Convention Muslim League. In reaction, the ‘other’ Muslim Leaguers later held their council meeting which led to the formation of the Council Muslim League.
Muslim League (Convention) was created for the purpose of becoming Ayub Khan’s party. It comprised ministers, assembly members, and other followers of the government, including a number of sycophants wishing to acknowledge their loyalty to the general. This in my opinion has been the dark side of all dictatorships. Even the best get infiltrated by and with opportunists, agents of vested interests and masters of the art of sycophancy. Till that point of time I think General Ayub Khan’s image in the public esteem was largely positive. It was the politicization of his authoritarian style that led to a gradual decline in Ayub Khan’s popularity. I too by then had lost much of my enthusiasm for the Messiah role of the all-powerful dictator.
The conventionists had 78 members in the Assembly and held the majority. In November 1962, the opposition elected Ayub Khan’s brother Sardar Bahadur Khan, as its leader. His deputies were Masih ur Rahman from the Eastern wing, and Khan Bux Marri from the Western. Interestingly, of the 60 members in the opposition, 55 were from East Pakistan (comprising over 70 percent of the representatives of the Eastern Wing).
After appointing himself President in 1958, Ayub Khan had chosen General Musa as his successor as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. This choice was largely motivated by Ayub Khan’s belief that General Musa posed no threat to him. Musa had risen from the ranks as a soldier, and possessed completely unambitious and submissive nature.
I have a feeling that if Ayub Khan had taken some more time in transferring the base of his power from the Military to the conventional politicians, his achievements would have been far greater than are credited to him. By creating the Convention Muslim League, Ayub Khan committed himself to sharing some power with that very class (politicians) which he in his earlier days of power had held responsible for all the ailments prevailing in the society.
