Remembering the Presidential Election of 1965

As another military ruler in our country’s history heads towards a “presidential election”, it would not be out of place for us to dwell upon the events of the first such presidential election, the result of which, if allowed its logical course, would have landed us a different Pakistan than we see today. Still it went a long way in bringing down a dictator.

Ayub Khan had – by the help of Punjab’s foremost legal eagle Manzur Qadir- in his own words given the country a presidential constitution in 1962 which essentially envisaged the election of 80 000 electors known as “Basic Democrats” who in turn were to elect the president. It was this constitution that had prompted the great Habib Jalib to famously declare “Is dastoor ko , subhe be-noor ko mein nahin janta mein nahin manta”. Yet even this very skewed form of elective spartanism seemed vulnerable to people’s power, which had come to wrest in one frail old woman.
It was on 16th September 1964 that the Combined Opposition Parties (“COP”), which included such diverse and politically influential figures as Khawaja Nazimuddin and Mumtaz Daultana of the Council Muslim League, Mujeeb ur Rahman of Awami League, Red Maulana Bhashani of National Awami Party, Maulana Maududi of Jamaat-e-Islami and Wali Khan, political heir of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the leader of National Awami Party, decided to field unanimously Ms. Fatima Jinnah, the sister of Quaid-e-Azam Mahomed Ali Jinnah. Since the Quaid’s passing, Fatima Jinnah had lived a tortured existence seeing the mockery that the civil-military bureaucracy had made of the country that her brother had brought to life. She had done well to keep her brother’s memory alive by reminding Pakistanis on every Eid, Independence Day and Jinnah’s Birthday of the vision that had been so brutally betrayed. Her cold and aloof personality did not win her many admirers in the successive governments, but it was her constant criticism of the government in every broadcast allowed to her that won her enemies far exceeding her fair share. Now that some of those who had been at the bitter end of that criticism were in the COP, it was surprising to say the least. But most of all her reclusive lifestyle made her an unlikely candidate.

Yet the august gathering of Pakistan’s secular and religious leaders alike, including those who had bitterly opposed Jinnah and his Pakistan movement, now put their faith in her- primarily because she represented the memory of the ideal that Jinnah had envisaged. And in those last years of her life, Fatima Jinnah made a gallant attempt to rescue her brother’s country from those who now controlled it. So what if she failed- in her failure she towered above others who succeeded. For a brief moment the country was united with one aim: the ushering in of a truly democratic Pakistan. There was opposition ofcourse. Ayub Khan got the Ulema to give a fatwa against women running for presidential office. The fatwa was widely rejected by the public. Pir of Dewal Sharif – who had claimed that Pakistan faced divine anger for putting up a woman as a presidential candidate- had to eat up his words publicly. No less a scholar than Maulana Maududi – the bastion of revivalist orthodoxy- explained that a woman as the head of state was undesirable but not forbidden. Had there been no manipulation, Pakistan could have easily become the first country in Asia to elect a female head of state. But that is where Ayub’s regime stepped in along with the genius in Ayub’s cabinet and Pakistan’s foremost soldier of fortune Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The talented Mr. Bhutto – the greatest gift and curse alike that Ayub bestowed on Pakistan- was the most interesting member of Ayub Khan’s regime. Born into feudal aristocracy, Bhutto was groomed by Sir Shahnawaz to grow up as a politician. Bhutto was never an ideological politician though he might have been sincere in his patriotism which was found in abundance. If Pakistan produced a politician truly cut from the cloth of Machiavelli’s Prince it was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Unfortunately for Bhutto, his executioner was the only soldier truly cut from the same cloth. But in 1965 that was still a while to go. Recognizing his many talents, Fatima Jinnah, who happened to be his neighbor, appealed to him to ditch the regime and join the people’s movement. But so firmly entrenched in his position was he that Bhutto instead became arguably the architect of the first election fraud in Pakistan’s history. And he did so apparently with some help from Maulana Bhashani. Herbert Feldman recounted in his book “Crisis to Crisis” that a certain Shaikh Karamatullah of Tasnim-e-Islami quoted Mahmoodul Haq Usmani, the General Secretary of Wali Khan’s NAP that a handsome amount was paid to Maulana Bhashani and his party by Ayub government through Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to ensure Fatima Jinnah’s defeat. Later on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became one of the two major beneficiaries of what Fatima Jinnah had started.

The government manipulated the press to its advantage as best as it could. In December 1964, Abdul Ghaffar Khan aka Bacha Khan was denied the US visa in London forcing him to go to Kabul just a few weeks before the election. The government party jumped at the opportunity. Ghaffar Khan’s record against the Pakistan Movement and his association with the Afghan royal government which continued to be cold – if not outright hostile- towards Pakistan was brought up to cast aspersions on the patriotic credentials of Fatima Jinnah.

The polls happened on January 2, 1965. Fatima Jinnah polled 28, 345 votes to Ayub Khan’s 49 647 BD votes. The two unknown candidates K M Kamal and M. Bashir Ahmed secured the remaining. A direct election would have – in the view of many commentators- carried the election for Fatima Jinnah. Ayub Khan called this a clear mandate in favor of his policies. This, however, was to prove to be the beginning of the end for his regime. Two days later, his son Gauhar Ayub Khan personally led his army of Pathan brigands firing in the air and wreaking havoc on Karachi. Stopping outside Fatima Jinnah’s house, they resorted to the vilest abuse against the sister of the Quaid-e-Azam whose only crime was evidently an attempt to restore Pakistan to its people.
This resulted in widespread disaffectation with the regime, which was temporarily masked by the 65 war – cleverly provoked by Ayub Khan and his hencemen, leading amongst them ofcourse Bhutto. But the war that was supposed to rescue Ayub Khan’s regime from growing unpopularity, actually helped build Bhutto as a national leader. The young Machiavellian ditched the regime and founded his own party and the rest is history. Fatima Jinnah was found dead in her bedroom two years later. Some have alleged that she was actually murdered.

When General Musharraf came into power through a coup in 1999, he was a voracious reader of history. His 8 years in power seems to have dimmed his enthusiasm for reading altogether. Today he is also seeking election in uniform. Ayub did so after 7 years and won but could not complete his term. His own B-Team captain led the movement in the street chanting “Ayub Kuta hai hai”. Today Musharraf looks to Benazir Bhutto to rescue him from his spot between devil and the deep blue sea. He forgets what her father did to Ayub. As Asghar Khan would say: We never learn from History.