On 27 October 1958 when Ayub Khan, the first Desi Sipah-e-Salar, took control of the country I was barely over five years old but, the memory of those dark days is etched in my mind. My late father Nazir Ahmed Malik and maternal uncle Dr Salim Wahid Salim, both workers of the freedom movement were taken aback.
While my old man continued to struggle with his business, Dr Salim the progressive writer and poet, decided on direct intervention. The situation was tense, very few dared to stand up. While there were heated discussions in teashops (Pak Tea House, Coffee House, Cheney’s Lunch Home, Nagina Bakery, Lords, Shezan and so on) street protests were limited. With excessive use of coercive state apparatus, it was clear that resistance carried serious consequences. Hamid Nizami was bold with his Nawai Waqt newspaper, poet Habib Jalib was also defiant but it was Dr Salim who decided on direct action. He decided to go on hunger strike. It was a one-man crusade for freedom, democracy and rule of law.
In 1959, Dr Salim organized a hunger strike camp opposite the main gate of the Civil Secretariat. He had three demands: Return of the Army to the barracks, Investigation into the murder of the Prime Minister (PM), Withdrawal of intelligence monitoring of activists. The strike continued for 12 days, but no one seemed interested in negotiating with him.
His vital signs started to slowly diminish. The family was seriously concerned. Everyday we walked to the camp to spend time with him. There was no electronic media, and only the newspapers covered the event. My mother wanted to save his life at all costs, so she kept pressurizing my father to intervene.
Being a man of action my old man organized fake negotiations with the striker who was close to death. A retired bureaucrat was requested to negotiate on behalf of the government. Under the watchful eyes of the press, Dr Salim was assured sympathetic consideration of his demands.
The will of the people has to prevail through free and fair elections which has been denied by those who belong to the barracks. The tyrannical state apparatus needs major overhaul for nation building to start.
The strike ended, a life was saved but Pakistan lost track, tyranny survived and has continued since then. Till today the nation has the same demands. In 1959 only one elected PM was affected, in 2023 there are four (Liaquat Ali, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Imran Khan). Intelligence operations continue unabated, those who should be in the barracks are found in the corridors of power while the nation continues to sink
For his defiance Dr Salim had to pay a heavy price. His movements were closely monitored by the agencies. The entire family fell on hard times, his wife with his two sons migrated back to Aligarh to stay with her parents. With his failing medical practice, Dr Sahib decided to try his luck in London. He landed a job with the BBC Urdu service.
Only after a few months on the assignment he was let go. Cornered, with no source of income, he approached the Pakistan High Commission where he was told that he was under surveillance with no chance of settling down. Finally he was deported back to his motherland. Dejected and bruised, he had to put his life back together. He kept his intellectual crusade but was financially hurt. Finally my mother had to organize a family fund to keep him going. Most of his work was published after his death including the poetic translation of the epic Omer Khayyam from Persian to Urdu. His two sons, now deceased (Khalid Salim, Muslim Salim) grew up in Bhopal. Muslim emerged as a renowned poet whose writings have been included in the standard text of Urdu language, both in Pakistan and India.
The first two Presidents of the new land (Iskander Mirza, Ayub Khan) both graduates of the famous Royal Military Academy Sandhurs,t changed the course of the nation. Those who resisted the stampede were made to suffer, Dr Salim was not alone in this crusade for democracy and rule of law.
The dungeons of the Lahore Fort were activated to torture those who dared to defy the tryanny. Hassan Nisar, a Marxist activist was tortured to death. When his mother came to retrieve his dead body, it was badly mutilated and beyond recognition.
Khan Qayyum Khan, the leading Muslim League leader of his times, was also captured and kept in the Fort for a week. He decided to seek truce with the dictator and went home. Ayub Khan’s EBDO (Elected Bodies Disqualification Order) knocked out the entire political leadership of the country.
Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy challenged his disqualification in the Martial Law Tribunal and was exonerated by his strong defence, but had to leave the country for his safety. A few years later he was found dead in a Beirut Hotel. With the prevailing political vacuum, Mother of the Nation Mohtrama Fatima Jinnah decided to challenge the dictator in the presidential elections in 1965. She was declared a traitor, and had to face vicious character assassination. Finally she too was removed from the arena in 1967.
The tyrannical state created by repeated Martial Law regimes continues to derail our freedom struggle. Those who defy tyranny are made to suffer. On 14 August 2023 the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will be 50 years old but there is not much to celebrate.
The document has been mutilated several times and remains un-implemented. There are around 20 clauses ensuring human rights but not one of them has been discussed, debated or implemented. The Victorian Acts prevail after over 75 years of so-called freedom.
Preventive detention is the order of the day. Even popular leaders like Imran Khan are not safe. There is a round-the- clock vigil to protect the former PM from fabricated cases. The courts are now awake after a long slumber and remain the only hope of relief for the masses and their genuine leadership.
The will of the people has to prevail through free and fair elections which has been denied by those who belong to the barracks. The tyrannical state apparatus needs major overhaul for nation building to start.
