ISLAMABAD: The 12 volumes of The Personal Chronicles of Pakistan written by Ikram Sehgal, noted defence analyst and chairman of the Pathfinder Group, was launched on Saturday at a simple yet impressive ceremony in Karachi.
Diplomats, writers, intellectuals and other guests who attended the launch of the books moderated by Huma Baqai, Associate Professor of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, showered praise on the author for his work.
Speaking via a video link from the UAE, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the Minister for Culture, Youth, and Social Development of the UAE, said that book clearly signifies what “we all know about Sehgal’s dedication, commitment and his outstanding contribution to public discourse”.
Sirajuddin Aziz, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Habib Bank AG Zurich, said that Sehgal’s books would prove to be a wonderful read for historians, and researchers to take research from them in order to be able to write something of their own.
Dr Frederick Starr, the president American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, said that Sehgal is not a polemicist but a true educator who deserves to be recognized, adding the 12 volumes of Ikram Sehgal’s collected essays are worth celebrating.
Dr Marc H Seigel, president and CEO of M Seigal Associate LLC, said that he finds it fascinating ‘the chronicles of history of Pakistan, the surrounding areas and the rogue politics spanning over 40 years, very interesting.
“The beauty of the chronicles is that these are written from the perspective of a person who truly loves Pakistan. He [Sehgal] doesn’t write a book that is glowing as he’s very critical regardless who’s in power and who are the political parties […] he gives a fair and honest assessment of Pakistan and geo-political situation of the region”, he added.
Javed Jabbar, former federal minister, said that the “remarkable” collections by Sehgal are unprecedented expression of “simultaneity and consecutively”, as no other writer had managed to produce as many as 12 volumes together at once and the same time.
Jabbar especially mentioned the topics –1) Leave the Army Alone, 2) Converting Garbage into Dreams 1992 to 1994, 3) The Wages of Truth 1995 to 1997, 4) Till Debt do us Apart, 5) Power Play, 6) facet to Nowhere, 7) The Gathering gloom, 8) The Years of Darkness, 9) Merit can be a Disqualifier, 10) A State of Hypocrisy, 11) Light at the end of Tunnel, and 12) Challenging Pakistan’s Destiny – chosen by the author.
He said that there should have been a 13th volume called the “index” as there are so many important names, dates and events in these 12 volumes due to which an index is badly needed.
Referring to his first title – Leave the Army Alone, Jabbar said that the author is not asking for a trouble rather he is asking for a response from the military and the public.
“Leave the Amy Alone…my God! I mean a cynical response? It would be: has the army left civil/political alone? Has it? It’s a valid question but of course that answer to that is: would the civil and political sphere of Pakistan which invited the army to come into the political sphere is something needed a debate,” he exclaimed.
In the same breath, Jabbar continued that this was not in 1958 as it was four years before it, as why did a civil/political cabinet led by the then prime minister Muhammad Ali Bogra asked the serving commander-in-chief of Pakistan Army to become minister of defence.
“Appointing him [sitting army chief] was a terrible mistake […] to ask a serving army officer to take a civil policy responsibility which laid the seed of what eventually happened in 1958,” he lamented.
He said that what happened in 1958 should not have happened, but it was the civil/political sphere which failed to assert its leadership and instead looked up the military for the kind of stability and strength which it itself was not able to produce.
Jabbar also shed light on the military’s business ventures, saying why people tend to assume that the military is a very fixed and static institution.
He said that people’s criticism on the military for establishing defence housing authorities and enterprises and becoming powerful in influencing politics – covertly or overtly – is partly true and partly not.
He said that the army evolves as it is not static, adding this army in 2021 is not the army which existed in 1954, 1958 or in 1997 as it is changing and in many ways for the better.
“When I think of 1977 to 1988…the terrible dark years of Gen Ziaul Haq. I would say they’ve forever changed Pakistan and forever changed the military. I beg to disagree that there are some negative elements that’ve been left behind by Gen Zia’s terrible phase”, he added.
However, he questioned that isn’t it interesting that out of the eight army chiefs – who came after Gen Zia – not a single one opted to follow in his footstep as each of them had been completely different in outlook than what Gen Zia used to be.
“Whether it was Gen Mirza Asalm Baig, Gen Asif Nawaz, Gen Jehangir Karamat, Gen Abdul Waheed Kakar, Gen Pervez Musharraf, Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, Gen Raheel Sharif, and Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa […] these are not shadows of Gen Ziaul Haq”, he maintained.
Jabbar claimed that the army is “capable of producing contemporary thinking and being open to criticism as they are quite open and willing to conduct a candid self-critical appreciation”.
“So perhaps the most important contribution with this massive injection into discourse will constitute is a way to begin to understand the nuances and the reality of the Pakistan armed forces,” he added.
Yves Manville, the Deputy Mission of Mission, Embassy of France in Pakistan, Owen Bennett Jones, a former journalist for BBC, Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Chaudhry, a former foreign minister of Bangladesh, Lt Gen Humayun Aziz, former commander 5 Corp, Borge Brende, the president World Economic Forum and former minister of foreign affairs of Norway, also spoke on the occasion.
Sehgal thanked all the people who made it all possible, saying without the support of his family and friends, publisher and others, he would not have been able to accomplish the gigantic task of printing the 12-volume chronicles.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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