Iskander Mirza: Pakistan’s First Elected President’s Memoirs from Exile
Compiled and edited by Syed Khawar Mehdi
Lightstone Publishers
ISBN: 978-969-716-258-1
332pp.

Compared with the scoundrels who later governed Pakistan as heads of state, Iskander Mirza had fewer reasons to be sorry for his conduct as a ruler. Of course, he was the first head of state to commit the sacrilege of abrogating the constitution he had pledged allegiance to and declaring martial law, but he was lucky, for he was ousted 20 days later. This spared him the crimes his successors committed during longer tenures.

Mirza was a gentleman and didn’t humiliate the prime minister whose government he had overthrown. In fact, he invited Feroz Khan Noon to a reception and told the guests, who included Pakistani and foreign journalists, that he felt sorry for dismissing the government of a gentleman. Compare this with what subsequent presidents, including those with ‘Islamic’ credentials, did with their prime ministers and their families.

The book under review gives the reader Mirza’s version of history and seeks to challenge the litany of allegations focusing on his character assassination. There were many people in the corridor of power who never missed an opportunity to denigrate Mirza but, according to the book, the man behind this drive was none other than the person Mirza had appointed as his prime minister and Chief Martial Law Administrator — Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

Mirza never got the chance to give his version to the people of Pakistan. In exile in London, he was urged by friends to write his memoirs, but bad health prevented this. He died in November 1969. More regretfully, President Gen Yahya Khan didn’t allow his body to be buried in Pakistan.

The book portrays Ayub as a bad guy and says he was reprimanded by the Quaid-i- Azam for involvement in politics when he was a brigadier. The reprimand was in Jinnah’s handwriting, and the document is there in the archives of the cabinet division. According to Syed Khawar Mehdi, who compiled and edited the book under review, the incident was suppressed.

The memoirs of Pakistan’s fourth governor general and first president, who died in exile, seek to present his version of history and challenge the litany of allegations focusing on his character assassination

Pakistan’s fourth governor-general and first president (1956-58), Mirza served his country while in uniform and later as a bureaucrat and politician, one of his major achievements being the priceless acquisition of Gwadar from Oman, with full support from Prime Minister Noon. Today, Gwadar is a thorn in the flesh of many countries hostile to Pakistan. The book carries the picture of the letter Mirza wrote to British authorities, saying Gwadar must be handed over to Pakistan if Britain wanted his country to remain in the Commonwealth.

In 1943, Mirza had a meeting with Jinnah, who was deeply frustrated by the absence of a Muslim League ministry in Muslim majority provinces in western India. Jinnah wondered whether Mirza could help. A bureaucrat in service of the colonial power, Mirza was Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar and had his limitations.

However, a Muslim League ministry did indeed come into being for reasons neither Jinnah nor Mirza could visualise; instead, the governor of the erstwhile North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Sir George Cunningham, had his own reasons to have a Muslim League ministry in the province.

The issue was the Quit India Movement, with all Congress ministers having resigned. This tended to create an impression that there could be no political government without the Congress. The British government was keen to remove this impression. Sir George believed that, given the sensitive nature of the NWFP’s geographical location and the Afghan government’s irredentist claims, it was essential to have a political government in the province.

Mirza enjoyed the governor’s confidence and the two worked together to see a Muslim League minister in office, though Mirza didn’t like the man who was to head the ministry. Jinnah was happy, but Mirza is honest enough in his memoir not to claim credit for the Muslim League’s success in a province where the Congress and the Red Shirts (aka Khudai Khidmatgar) were Jinnah’s deadly foes.

Mirza gives the right quotes that portray Jinnah the way he was. Once, Mirza remarked that tributes should be showered on Muslim Leaguers, because they “brought in Pakistan.” The Quaid replied: “Who told you the Muslim League brought in Pakistan? I brought in Pakistan — with my stenographer.”

Similarly, when Mountbatten wrote to Jinnah inviting him to lunch to meet H.R.H. Shah Mahmood of Afghanistan, Jinnah replied: “If His Royal Highness wishes to see me, he can come to my home.”

Mirza criticises the Quaid for his refusal and says Shah Mahmood became hostile towards Pakistan at a critical moment, when it would have been possible to settle all differences with Afghanistan in a friendly manner — “all because the Quaid-i-Azam allowed his pride to run away with him.”

The book adequately highlights the holocaust that followed Independence, the chaos in the division of assets, and Pakistan’s honesty in fulfilling its obligations. For instance, the Kashmir issue was about to turn into a military conflict until Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan allowed 10 Tempest planes to be given to India because he had promised to Indian deputy prime minister Sardar Patel that Pakistan would honour its commitments.

If held back, the planes would have been of invaluable help in the Kashmir war that soon followed. Mirza says his aim had been to exchange them for 20 Churchill tanks, which were part of Pakistan’s Partition assets.

The book records for history the seamy side of politics, the intrigues and shifting political loyalties and, finally, his election as governor-general (he was the only candidate). Dawn commented at the time that he was “a strong man” and that he was above party politics.

As head of state, he declared martial law and abrogated the constitution on Oct 7, 1958, and was ousted 20 days later. He had a fuller life. The positions he held ranged from being defence secretary and governor of East Pakistan to being the head of state. In those positions he tried to serve Pakistan but, as is inevitable in politics, made many mistakes and earned many enemies.

The reviewer is Dawn’s External Ombudsman

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, October 22nd, 2023