Ayub’s mistakes

This refers to the letter ‘Ayub’s time’ (August 26) by Professor Engr Abdul Jabbar. Ayub Khan made six blunders, the ripples of which are still being felt and will continue to cast its shadow on the nation. One, he shifted the capital from Karachi to Islamabad which disenchanted the East Pakistanis. The Bengalis had no issue with Karachi being the capital city as it was the birth place as well as the resting place of the founder of Pakistan. Besides, enormous funds were diverted towards West Pakistan for building the new capital, which could have been spent on more pressing needs such as the recurrent floods in the eastern wing. Ultimately, the Bengalis lost trust in West Pakistani leadership which culminated in the events of 1971.

Two, as a military leader, he misjudged India would not cross the international border in 1965 and the conflict would remain confined to Kashmir. The 1965 war put an enormous burden on the economy of the country. Three, his alleged win in the 1964 election against Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was contrived through a faked Basic Democracies system. Four, he accused Mujibur Rehman of treason in the Agartala conspiracy case but did not take action. Five, dedicating 1958-68 as the decade of development was ill-advised; rather it was a decade of political, social and moral decadence. Sixth, he became tainted after his family’s adventure into the world of business. Ayub Khan had absolute power. He could not win the hearts of the Bengalis nor tolerated genuine dissent. In the end, he became the victim of his own weaknesses.

A Majeed

Karachi