Bangladesh Perspective:
An ally or a client state?
M.
Abdul Hafiz
NOTWITHSTANDING a celebratory mood in Pakistan for being
accepted as an ally of the United States in its war on terrorism
a year ago the Pakistanis are now increasingly worried over what
their country has been led upto as a result of doing bidding for
the world's sole superpower.
It
did not take long for their euphoria to turn sour as more and
more prices were extracted from Pakistan, an old American ally,
just for the renewal of that status. The public anxiety in Pakistan
was heightened by a series of weird incidents taking place in
the endgame of US war on terror in Afghanistan, where Pakistan
had to compromise bits of its sovereignty to oblige an overdemanding
Washington.
True, the country, by riding an anti-terrorist bandwagon, could
avert the ire and onslaught of anti-terrorist warriors for its
nexus with the Talibans next door, but at what cost? The self-respecting
Pakistanis have, of late, started asking themselves this bitter
question.
There
was a fresh wave of indignation among them when in September last
Dr Amir Aziz, a highly respectable orthopaedic surgeon of the
country was abducted and on American pointation bundled off to
an unknown destination leaving the family and friends in dread
and darkness. Best known for his services to the poor Amir Aziz
was also providing medicare to the war shattered Afghans particularly
those maimed by dreaded land mines. He apparently continued with
his messianic mission even during the devastating US bombardment.
There
are reports suggesting that he may have treated Mullah Umar and
even possibly Osama Bin Laden during the crucial days of the war
under an ethical impulse of a doctor. Was that his crime to abide
by the professional ethics? Other reports speculate that he may
have provided the al-Qaida bogeyman "bio-chemical weapon
formula", specifically the anthrax. By no stretch of imagination
a link can be found between an orthopaedic surgeon and the nasty
business of bio-chemical weaponry. Even if there is one, Dr. Aziz
could be brought before a court of justice in Pakistan instead
of a bizarre hide and seek about the whole affair around him.
On release of Amir Aziz after a month's mysterious disappearance
it was learnt that he had been in the custody of intelligence
agencies where he was questioned by CIA and FBI officials. This
caused an outrage in Pakistan.
But a legacy of servility and self-denigration is the part of
Pakistan's history whenever it came to the question of America.
In Pakistan, a mysterious predilection for the US can be traced
back to Liaqat Ali Khan, the country's first prime minister who
chose to insult Josef Stalin by withdrawing his earlier acceptance
of the latter's invitation to visit Moscow and instead traveled
to meet Truman.
A
few years later pretending that its political stability and territorial
integrity were threatened by the communists Pakistan received
American military hardware free of cost for ten years till 1965
and hopped on to US-sponsored alliance in Middle East and Southeast
Asia -- the regions to which it did not belong. During the height
of cold war, America's U-2 spyflight for USSR took off from Badaber
airbase near Peshawar. So subservient had the country been to
the US without any respect gained in reciprocity from the other
side!
Pakistan did nothing of any importance without US' permission.
Prior to coup in 1958, President Iskander Mirza and General Ayub
Khan, the then army chief, visited Washington to seek US blessing
for their gameplan by convincing the US authorities that the country's
general election due to be held in early 1959 would destabilize
Pakistan and unleash anti-American forces in the country and that
it needed a period of dictatorship not only for its own good but
also to serve US' interest better. Needless to say that after
hearing two of Pakistan's highest dignitaries the US could not
but go along with their assessment of Pakistan's politics, needs
and interest.
Z A Bhutto drew flakes from American establishment when he opposed
US-endorsed Tashkent Declaration brokered by now defunct USSR
in 1966 and devoted his book, The Myth of Independence, to the
denunciation of Pakistan's subservience to US. But in 1971 when
the generals in Rawalpindi asked Bhutto who was then pleading
Pakistan's case in the UN to return home and take charge of the
government, he first called the White House ostensibly to make
amends and conciliate President Nixon. So mesmerizing was US'
influence even on an anti-US radical like Bhutto.
It is only obvious that after nine/eleven this subservience has
increased manifold amidst the country's political instability,
lack of a legitimate representative government and economic adversity.
Not only Pakistan's officialdom but also opposition politicians
have willy-nilly adopted the view that nothing of any consequence
could happen in Pakistan without American approval. They believe
it as a ground reality that American approval and support are
essential for going forward in Pakistan. Also they seem ready
and willing to accept this denial of dignity and self-imposed
disgrace.
It
was thus not surprising that Ramzi Yousuf was bundled off to USA
without raising a finger by Benazir Bhutto to comply with the
US' desire. The honour for the disposal of Mir Aimal Kansi in
a still more crude manner went to Nawaz Sharif. Kansi was arrested
with the abatement of Pakistan authority and delivered to FBI
officials in violation of laws and constitution of the country,
for his execution in the USA, of course, after a trial there the
fairness of which is only known to the Americans, whereas it was
Pakistan's sovereign right to prosecute Kansi and punish him,
if in the opinion of a competent court there was sufficient evidence
to justify conviction -- an extradition treaty notwithstanding.
It is an irony that Pakistan voluntarily abdicated that right
leaving people in doubts whether they have any constitutional
guarantee for their protection or they are just at the mercy of
foreign handlers.
Now, of course, these questions are irrelevant. In doing bidding
for America Pakistan may have secured a temporary reprieve but
the country is splattered with mini-garrisons of Americans whose
troops move in and out of the country unhindered. When Abu Zubaida,
an important aide of Bin Laden was apprehended in Faisalabad last
summer it was a joint operation of Pakistan police and FBI agents
but the latter took possession of the prey. FBI agents and US'
Special Forces duly assisted by Pakistan military now comb Pakistan's
hitherto forbidden tribal zone in the country's northwest, which
was out of bounds even to Pakistani troops, to hunt down Taliban
remnants. What is worse, it seems now that any citizen of Pakistan,
can be picked up by FBI agents in collusion with Pakistan government
and whisked off to any destination showing a thumb to the country's
judicial system.
There can seldom be an alliance of any consequence between the
unequals. What is however possible for them is to be partners
of convenience in a patron-client relationship. As Pakistan frequently
tampers with its democracy and as a result there is legitimacy
crisis and the credibility gap of its government increases, the
dependency syndrome also intensifies. In this process the "timely
hand over of top al-Qaida suspect Ramzi Bin Al Shibh in late September
last was the latest down payment" of Pakistan "on an
expedient deal that keeps 82nd Airborne at arms length and the
soft loans coming."
The
writer is a Retired Brigadier and a former DG of BIISS.
