It's been more than fifty years since we lost half the country. The war is still fresh in our minds, and I remember how we felt when our army surrendered without putting up much of a fight. But now the outgoing chief of the army (Gen. Bajwa) says that it was the politicians who were responsible for the debacle.
This is surprising, as the country was under military rule at the time. In fact, the country's downfall began in 1958 when General Ayub Khan seized power and ruled for eleven long years. If he had followed his own 1962 constitution and handed power to the Speaker (an East Pakistani), things would have been different. Instead, he chose to leave the country in the hands of a drunken lout, General Yahya, who spent most of his time on wine, women and song.
If General Yahya had been a competent officer, he would not have listened to Bhutto. The way forward was clear: the Awami League of Shaikh Mujeebur Rahman had won a decisive victory in the 1970 elections and Mujeeb should have been the prime minister. But as Bhutto didn't want to sit in the opposition, but wanted all power for himself, this did not happen. Yahya should have ignored Bhutto and gone ahead with Mujeeb forming the government.
All that is in the past now, but it was the military, not the politicians, who were responsible for the debacle.
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