Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within

718 Pages·2008·21.62 MB·English

by  Shuja Nawaz

Crossed Swords

Also by the author:
Journeys (1998)

NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE*

Crossed Swords

Pakistan, its Army, and the
Wars Within

S h u ja N a w a z

OXFORD

U N IV E R S IT Y PRESS

OXFORD
U N IV ERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6 d p
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First published 2008

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ISBN 978-0-19-547697-2

This edition in Oxford Pakistan Paperbacks 2008

Typeset in Minion Pro
Printed in Pakistan by
Kagzi Printers, Karachi.

Published by

Ameena Saiyid, Oxford University Press
No. 38, Sector 15, Korangi Industrial Area, PO Box 8214
Karachi-74900, Pakistan.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of a very special group of persons
who did not live long enough to read it:

my father, Raja Abdul Ghafoor Khan and my mother, Khawar;

my uncle, Brigadier Mohammad Zaman Khan, and his wife, Surraiya
(nee Sarwar)—my surrogate parents, with whom I spent my early life;

my father-in-law, Lt. Col. J.D. Malik;

and my brother, General Asif Nawaz,

Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, 1991-3, a Soldiers’ Soldier.

It is offered with love and thanks to my constant sources of
inspiration and joy

my wife
SEEMA

and our daughters
ZAYNAB, AMNA, and ZAHRA

C o n ten ts

List of Photographs
ix

List of Acronyms
X

Preface and Acknowledgements
XV

Dramatis Personae
xxi

Introduction: From 786 to the Age of Terror
xxvii

1. In History Bound
1

2. A Difficult Birth
27

3. The First Kashmir War
42

4. The Legacy of Conflict: Chaos and Ambitions
76

5. Courting Uncle Sam
92

6. Things Fall Apart
122

7. The First Coup
139

8. Martial Law and the Search for Legitimacy
170

9. Wars and Consequences
192

10. September 1965 and Ayub’s Fall
219

11. Untied Pakistan: How to Break Up a Country
249

12. Wars and Consequences Redux
282

13. Bhutto Rules
320

14. Guardians of the Faith
359

15. The Troika’s Musical Chairs
411

16. Systemic Failures: The Wars Within
465

17. The Liberal Autocrat
506

18. Today and Tomorrow
567

Appendices:

1. Timeline: Key Events—Pakistan and Its Army
587

2. Primary Sources
595

3. Investigation into the Death of General Asif Nawaz
599

Select Bibliography

Index

608

620

L i s t o f P h
o
t
o
g
r
a
p h
s

Army Chiefs of Pakistan

1. General Sir Frank Messervy
2. General Sir Douglas Gracey
3. Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan

4. General Mohammad Musa
5. General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan
6. Lt. Gen. Gul Hassan Khan

7. General Tikka Khan
8. General Mohammad Ziaul Haq

9. General Mirza Aslam Beg
10. General Asif Nawaz
11. General Abdul Waheed
12. General Jehangir Karamat

13. General Pervez Musharraf
14. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani

L i s t o
f A
c
r
o
n y m
s

ACR
ADB

ADC
AFRC
AIG

ASF
AZO

BCCI
BD

BJP
BNR&R

BSF
Centcom

CEO

CGS
CIA
CID

C-in-C

CJCS
CMLA

CTBT
CTBTO

CO

COAS
COS

CPC
CRO
CRS

CSP

CSS
DCC
DCM

DGISI
DG ISPR

Annual Confidential Report
Asian Development Bank

Aide-de-Camp
Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee
Afghan Interim Government

Airport Security Force
A1 Zulfikar Organization
Bank for Commerce and Credit International

Basic Democrats
Bharatiya Janata Party
Bureau of National Research and Reconstruction

Border Security Officer

Central Command
Chief Executive Officer
Chief of General Staff
Central Intelligence Agency
Criminal Investigation Department

Commander-in-Chief
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff

Chief Martial Law Administrator
Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization

Commanding Officer
Chief of Army Staff

Chief of Staff
Chemical Plant Complex
Commonwealth Relations Office

Congressional Research Service

Civil Service of Pakistan
Central Superior Services
Defence Committee of the Cabinet

Deputy Chief of Mission
Director General Inter Services Intelligence Directorate

Director General Inter Services Public Relations

LIST OF ACRONYMS
XI

DGMO
Director General Military Operations

DHA
Defence Housing Authority

DIB
Director Intelligence Bureau

DMO
Director Military Operations

DPD
Defence Production Division

EBDO
Elective Bodies Disqualification Ordinance

FATA
Federally Administered Tribal Areas

FC
Frontier Corps

FCNA
Force Commander Northern Areas

FCR
Frontier Crime Regulation

FDI
Foreign Direct Investment

FDO
Fysscish Dynamisch Onderzoek

FIA
Federal Investigating Agency

FSF
Federal Security Force

GDP
Gross Domestic Product

GHQ
General Headquarters

GOC
General Officer Commanding

GSO
General Staff Officer

IAEA
International Atomic Energy Agency

IAF
Indian Air Force

IB
Intelligence Bureau

ICS
Indian Civil Service

IG
Inspector General

IISS
International Institute for Strategic Studies

IJI/IDA
Islami Jamhoori Ittehad/Islamic Democratic Alliance

IJT
Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba

IMA
Indian Military Academy

IMF
International Monetary Fund

INA
Indian National Army

ISI
Inter Services Intelligence Directorate

ISPR
Inter Services Public Relations

JCS
Joint Chiefs of Staff

JCO
Junior Commissioned Officer

JCSC
Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

xii
LIST OF ACRONYMS

JUI
JUP
KANUPP

KC
KCO
KESC
KRL

LFO
LOC

MAAG
MGO
MI
MLA
MMA/UAF

MO

MQM/RFG

Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Islam

Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Pakistan
Karachi Nuclear Power Plant
King’s Commission

King’s Commission Officer
Karachi Electric Supply Corporation
Khan Research Laboratories

Legal Framework Order
Line of Control

Military Assistance Advisory Group
Master General Ordnance

Military Intelligence
Martial Law Administrator

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal /United Action Front
Military Operations Directorate

Muhajir Qaumi Mahaz; Muttahida Qaumi Movement/
Refugee National Front

MRD
NAB
NAP

NCO
NDC
NEFA

NLC
NLI
NPT

NSC
NWFP

OIC

OSS
PAEC
PAF

PCO

PDA

Movement for the Restoration of Democracy
National Accountability Bureau
National Awami Party

Non-Commissioned Officer
National Defence College
North East Frontier Agency

National Logistics Cell
Northern Light Infantry

Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
National Security Council
North West Frontier Province

Organization of the Islamic Conference

Office of Strategic Services
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
Pakistan Air Force

Provisional Constitution Order

Pakistan Democratic Alliance

LIST OF ACRONYMS
xiii

PDP
PEMRA
PI A

PINSTECH
PM
PMA
PML

PNA
PNE

PNG
POW
PPP

PRODA
PTV

QMG
RAW

RPAF

RSS
SAC

SEATO
SSG
UAE

UNCIP

US MAAG
USUN
VCGS

VCO

VCOAS
WAPDA

WASAG

Pakistan Democratic Party
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority
Pakistan International Airlines

Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Technology
Prime Minister
Pakistan Military Academy
Pakistan Muslim League

Pakistan National Alliance
Peaceful Nuclear Explosion
Pakistan National Guard
Prisoner of War

Pakistan Peoples’ Party

Public and Representative Offices (Disqualification) Act
Pakistan Television

Quartermaster General
Research and Analysis Wing
Royal Pakistan Air Force

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Strategic Air Command

The South-East Asia Treaty Organization
Special Services Group
United Arab Emirates

United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan

United States Military Assistance Advisory Group
US Mission to the UN

Vice Chief of General Staff

Viceroys Commissioned Officer
Vice Chief of Army Staff

Water and Power Development Authority
Washington Special Actions Group