India–Pak Conflict: 5 ways how military overshadows and fails democracy in Pakistan
India–Pak Tensions: A petition was filed in a Pakistani court on Friday, 9 May, for the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan due to the fear of a drone attack on the prison where he is kept, amidst esclating tensions with India after the deadly Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf was quoted as saying in a PTI report that the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur approached the Islamabad High Court for the release of the party founder.
Khan, 72, been incarcerated in Adiala Jail of Rawalpindi. He was arrested in May 2023 soon after he lost the vote of confidence as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
On Thursday evening, while India was intercepting Pakistan’s missile and drone attack on military stations in north and cities in west, #ReleaseImranKhan was trending on social media. Many took to social media and slammed country’s army chief, General Asim Munir, for his ‘selfish motto’ against India.
Friday’s attack on India by Pakistan and the counter-offensive by India came a day after India destroyed nine terror camps in Pakistan andPakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK). The strike by India, coinedOperation Sindoor, came two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack inJammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed on 22 April escalating tensions between the two countries.
Pakistan is a democracy but it is more known for its tryst with military rule. Here are 5 reasons how military overshadows and fails democracy in Pakistan.
1- No Prime Minister Ever Completed Five Terms
Of the 20 Prime Ministers that the country had, no one has ever completed the five-year term. Shehbaz Sharif, the incumbent has been the Prime Minister of Pakistan since March 2024.
Imran Khan was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 22 when the cricketer-turned-politician lost a no-confidence vote and he was ousted from office.
A year later, on 9 May 2023, Khan was arrested from inside the Islamabad High Court by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the charges of corruption in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust, which he owns alongside his wife, Bushra Bibi.
2- The Democracy of Dictatorship
Ever since it was formed in 1947, Pakistan has been ruled by military dictators for approximately 25 years. The country had a military ruler as the head of state after the coup three times – in 1958 to 1971 in 1977 to 1988, and 1999 to 2008.
General Ayub Khan, General Zia ul Haq and General Pervez Musharaff are the three dictators who ruled Pakistan for about 25 years.
The Pakistan’s tryst with dictators has been written about in the country and beyond. One of the most vocal Pakistani poet during General Ayub Khan’s tenure between 1958 and 1977 was Habib Jalib.
I Said to Him
Among other works Jalib is known for his powerful satire “Mein ne us se yeh kaha” (I said this to him) which became one of his most refered to verses from the dictatorship era. The poem is reminds the dictator (Ayub Khan in this case) how only he can salvage Pakistan, how only he can take it from night to day.
Jalib died in 1993. And about 35 years after Jalib’s death, the memories of dictatorship seem fresh.
3- Weakness of Civilian Governments
Experts said military’s involvement in Pakistan’s political landscape has manifested in various forms, including orchestrating coups, toppling civilian governments, and exercising indirect control over feeble administrations. They military intervention in Pakistan’s political landscape is often attributed to the perceived weakness of civilian institutions, they said.
“These interventions often transpired through collaboration with other influential actors, including the judiciary, civil bureaucracy, allied politicians, religious leaders, and elements within the corporate sector, collectively known as “the establishment,” read an February 2024 essay by Sania Muneer and Saroj Kumar Aryal on ‘Observer Research Foundation’ – a global think tank.
Sania is a postdoctoral fellow at SOAS University of London while Saroj is an Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw, Poland.
The last elections held on 8 February in Pakistan were controversial amid allegations of rigging, and Shehbaz Sharif was again elected as prime minister with the
Pakistan is a democracy but it is more known for its tryst with military rule.
4- Pak Army’s Economic Interests
Among other troubles, Pakistan’s economy currently faces host of challenges, including high levels of debt, recurring fiscal and current account deficits, low productivity, and a difficult business environment.
The country’s foreign reserves, for example, declined by more than $150 millions in the first week of March this year, according to Pakistan’s central bank. From ₹3.06 trillion (US$11 billion) at the begining of of General Pervez Musharraf’s regime in 1999, Pakistan’s debt had surged to ₹62.5 trillion (US$220 billion) by the end of Imran Khan’s government in 2022.
Political instability and poor governance further exacerbate these issues, leading to a balance of payments crisis and a high cost of living, according to experts.
Former Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had reportedly expressed his inability to fight with India during a meeting with a group of 20-25 journalists some time in 2021.
“General Bajwa explained to us that the Pakistan army had no money and fuel to operate tanks if it wants to fight a war with India,” a journalist, who was part of one of the off-the record briefings by the former Army Chief in 2021, told this reported in 2023.
“Pakistan’s early economic growth could be attributed to the fact that “the Pakistani military government has shown a great deal of initiative in economic management, and the central ministries are run by civilian experts and professionals who have been given considerable autonomy,” the ORF essay reads.
“Indeed, the military’s “omnipresence” in the public and private sectors “ensures an important role for the military in the state and society even if the generals do not directly control the levers of power,” it said.
