Pervez Musharraf and the cult of Evil Pakistani Generals

Kolkata: Just as the villains in James Bond movies conform to a stereotype, so do the Evil Pakistani Generals. The most preferred enemy of the Indian nation, they could well be sincere clones of predecessors and successors.

Quite like Musharraf, most recently invited by the Almighty, they are well versed in military craft with sufficient exposure to global military thinking. Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zia-Ul-Haq were all alumni of the British Indian Army, having felt action in the Second World War.

While Pervez studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies, before sharpening his acumen in the Afghan Civil War and the India conflict of 1965. Inarguably well versed in both thought and action, but invariably in love with intrigue and power.

Ayub Khan pioneered the culture of military coups in 1958, by toppling his mentor Feroz Khan Noon, a pattern faithfully cloned by Zia-Ul-Haq in 1977 when Bhutto was left hanging. Musharraf toppled Nawaz Sharif in no uncertain fashion and only Yahya Khan ascended on perceived merit, albeit in a military hierarchy. A penchant for bloody and entitled accession is a familiar pattern in most narratives, propelled by the linear and not constitutional loyalty of the forces.

As a valuable pastime, they loved needling India and East Pakistan, before the latter bid sayonara. Ayub Khan orchestrated the 1965 India war which was a predictable debacle and then botched up the Dhaka scenario leading to fierce protest. This led to Yahya Khan taking over and conducting elections, but the imminent victory of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was too much for the West Pakistani palate. So, he calmly commissioned the genocide in what is now Bangladesh, the loss of intellectuals comparable only to the First World War. Fed up with martial law, Pakistan once again tried their luck with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

But then, it was time for Operation Fair Play, the cricket lover Zia’s operating brand for the disposal of Bhutto. Modern historians credit him with a serious part in numbing Soviet aggression in the region, but that equally makes him a partial founding father of Obama. He did accelerate the nuclear bomb project, provoking India as per brief and the Hercules crash of 1988 laid to rest more devious gambits. In sum, though, a fine torchbearer of Pakistani military tradition, an expert in troublemaking to hoodwink the underdeveloped masses.

Pervez Musharraf was commissioned to perform in a new world order, with the decomposition of the Soviet and the ascendancy of Islamic dilettantes making Pakistan less important to the USA. With savvy aplomb, he performed the roles of sinner and saint quite like Seeta and Geeta - he authorised the Kargil incursions by the freelancers and then chose to withdraw, incurring the wrath of the world as well as the Pakistan forces in unusual tandem. But he did stay true to the esprit de corps of Evil Pakistani Generals, harassing India with the defining skill set of memorable resumes.

Enough of serious validation, it’s now time for pop culture digressions. As an outcome of most of the above, the Evil Pakistani General is now a well-manicured cinematic statute. Usually brandishing a handlebar moustache, he spews venom from every pore, like General Alcazar of Tintin Comics fame. He refers to our beloved home as ‘ Hindustan’ and every perspiring moment is dedicated to forging conspiracies, both political and nuclear.

Kashmir is the most popular playground, despatching loaded emissaries across the border, a clear performance target. They usually hang out in conspiratorial cohorts, with a vocal tonality that would make Bollywood’s Ajit sound like a screeching moped tyre. Such impressions have been lovably strengthened by Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV, the imported panellists truly acting like fake clowns and not real soldiers. Even the way they get bashed by local loudmouths surrogates the genuine wars, mostly invitations for self-humiliation.

The other valuable digression, slightly more serious, is to understand why India, with way more heterogeneity, intuitively embraced Parliamentary Democracy while Pakistan ( and subsequently Bangladesh), got routinely bullied by the military, in spite of the 1956 constitution professing democracy. Apparently, the single-largest component of the British Indian Army came from undivided Punjab, therefore the Army became the most prominent institution inherited by Jinnah. This also meant that a disproportionate percentage of first-class citizens ( over generations) were from this cadre and thus a centrifugal force in societal dynamics as well. The routine breakdown in civil authority further bolstered the supremacy of the forces and the border imbroglio, on both sides, ensured its nonstop relevance.

India, on the other hand, conscientiously cultivated a culture of civilian authority, with Nehru decreeing that Teen Murti House, the earlier residence of army chefs, became his Prime Ministerial quarters. Making India coup-resistant happened systematically over the decades - Krishna Menon’s virulent attitude which possibly impeded the China War, democratising the ethnic mix of personnel, a structured paramilitary set up and of course, a fully functional civic machinery. Thus the Indian Army General is invariably an agent of peace and composure, a bulldog to external adversaries while being a doting agent of fluid democracy. In spirit, a genuine heir of Western governance and credit is due certainly to how the early decades of independence were managed.

It is worthwhile to note that every neighbour operating from a similar legacy has endured a culture of coups, including Myanmar and Sri Lanka. As constantly cribbing citizens of a fairly successful nation, the responsible autonomy of the armed forces is a privilege that we most definitely underestimate. We surely do our share of emotive rabble-rousing but that is par for the course in every society, what is special is the role they uniquely perform- a nurturing and protecting umbrella whose ambitions are entrenched in core national interests.

On Evil Pakistani Generals, I am keenly awaiting the next eligible candidate. Just as Bond villains have evolved over the decades, the incumbent may well be a tech-savvy geek with a love for cyber warfare. Although I know, for sure, that the winner will not be the game of war but the state of India.