The period between 1966 and 1972 proved to be, probably, the most turbulent and trying period in the history of Pakistan. Ayub Khan's last three years at the helm of affairs proved absolutely frustrating as the political agitation under Mujib-ur-Rehman's Awami League grew by the day.

Acknowledging the fact that he would not be able to steer the country through these difficult times, Ayub handed over reins of the government to Yahya Khan so that he 'should fulfill his constitutional responsibilities.' Just like his predecessor, Yahya too lacked the political acumen and insight of a statesman and because of this East Pakistan metamorphosed into Bangladesh. Subsequently, Z.A. Bhutto, a civilian, was made the Chief Martial Law Administrator and the president of Pakistan as Yahya faced the threat of a bloody coup.

An account of these years by someone who had been as close to these three presidents as an aide would surely be a riveting read. Arshad Sami Khan served them for a record six years as an ADC. During his years at the presidency he kept a close eye on the important events.

Coming from the pen of an ADC who had been an apple of not only one, but the eyes of three presidents, the book is bound to reveal many hitherto unseen aspects of the lives of these heads of state. Three Presidents and an Aide Life, Power and Politics gives an intimate account of the politics of those turbulent times.

The book is divided into six chapters. The first three chapters deal with Sami Khan's tenure of three years with Ayub Khan.

In the fourth chapter, he elaborately narrates the political scenario and milieu at the presidency before and after the debacle of East Pakistan; Yahya's failed attempts to bridge the gulf between popularly elected Bhutto and equally popularly elected Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Besides this, a whole chapter is dedicated to, as Sami puts it, the 'teenager in Yahya.'

The jovial side of Yahya Khan's personality provided the media and his opponents (including Z.A. Bhutto) with much needed juicy details which were subsequently used to defame him and putting the complete blame of East Pakistan fiasco on his shoulders.

 With Bhutto, Sami was able to continue only for some months during 1972 and therefore the last chapter deals with him.Born in 1942, Arshad Sami Khan joined the Pakistan Air Force in 1959 and passed out in 1961. Sami was declared the best pilot during his training. He fought the war of 1965 from the cockpit of his fighter aircraft and flew the highest number of flying hours and combat missions — 61 hours and 15 minutes.

During these missions, he shot, damaged and destroyed many Indian tanks and was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurrat for his exceptional courage and devotion. During the early '70s, he went to the Gulf where he was one of the founding members of the Khaleej Times. He served the paper as General Manager for a decade. Sami also held senior appointments such as federal secretary and served as an ambassador of Pakistan in various counties across the globe.

Being a good ADC, Sami was not only well versed with the personal likes and dislikes and work ethic of those whom he served, he was also well acquainted with their peculiarities and idiosyncrasies.

He writes about a couple of weaknesses of Ayub Khan, whom he served for three long years. First, that Ayub had an extremely soft spot for his children who exploited this leeway and sought undue favours thereby undermining his government. His second weakness, which proved awfully lethal to the country, was that he would not tolerate anyone becoming popular among the masses lest he might grow powerful enough to topple his government. This made Ayub dispense with his old friend and the honest governor of West Pakistan, Malik Amir Muhammad Khan, the Nawab of Kalabagh. It was the same with his sharp-minded, shrewd and ambitious foreign minister, Z.A. Bhutto, whom he fired as Bhutto seemed to have gathered substantial respect and popularity at home and abroad.
During the war of 1971, when fighting started along the borders of West Pakistan, Yahya and his close associates were initially thrilled by the advances made by the Pakistan Army. Yahya was unable to see through the haze around him for long and instead of his using his rationale to develop effective military strategies, fell for the prediction of Jean Dixon, an astrologer.

According to her Yahya would continue ruling for more than a decade. Such was his lust for power that he refused to acknowledge the results of the free and fair elections. His obtuse-mindedness proved the last nail in the coffin of a united Pakistan.

The book is sprinkled with anecdotes which told in Sami's original style, keep the narrative fresh and the reader glued. When in March 1967 Ayub Khan visited East Pakistan, the governer of the province Monem Khan insisted on translating the president's speech into Bangla. During the hour long impromptu speech of Ayub Khan, Monem Khan literally slept on the stage while his private secretary took notes.

When the president finished his speech, the private secretary placed the notes on the rostrum. Monem Khan translated Ayub's one-hour speech in two hours with Quranic verses added to it. He also sang verses of Tagore, Ghalib and Iqbal.

Later Ayub asked about the translation, saying that he did not take that long nor did he quote any poet. To this Monem replied that the masses did not gather to hear lectures, they only came for entertainment; they needed some distraction especially during the monsoons when they had nothing to do.

In March 1972 Bhutto surreptitiously dismissed the Chief of Army Staff, General Gul Hassan, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Rahim Khan, in a very bizarre manner.

He invited the chiefs of the armed forces along with other officials of his government to a working lunch. The ADCs accompanying the senior officers sat in Sami's office as Bhutto had barred them from leaving the office or using a telephone. In his office, Sami sat glued to the radio. At 1300 hrs the newscaster announced that both the chief of army staff and the chief of air staff had resigned and that the president had accepted their resignations. In the fraction of a second before the detailed news, the ADC to the chief of naval staff shouted, 'I didn't hear anything about my chief. Did I miss something?'

The book also tells us about Pakistani leadership's dependence on the West, especially the USA. Both Ayub and Yahya were foxed by the cunning and hypocrite leaders of the USA in connivance with our enemy, India. Interestingly, our subsequent governments did not learn anything from history and continued licking the boots of the Western masters. Musharraf's blind and irrational support for the destined-to-be-doomed 'war on terror' is a case in point.

While writing about Yahya, Sami sets the record straight and tells us about his 'debauchery'. In fact, it were Yahya's opponents who made mountains out of mole hills by distorting the events and their details.

Apparently, the book leaves the impression that Sami was impressed by Ayub's hunting skills, his moral and ethical codes; Yahya's ability to rock the dance floor despite his bulky build and Bhutto's taste for exquisite suits tailored in the West. But he does not let his admiration of their personal traits cloud his judgment of them as statesmen, which remains utterly rational and logical.

The last few pages are written about Benazir Bhutto, to whom Sami has dedicated the book. He served as chief of protocol during her first prime ministership. Just like her father, Benazir also held her intellectual abilities to be superior to those of others around her, which cut her off the ground realities.

Although the book is extremely interesting and highly readable, it is full of mistakes and errors. In the fourth chapter of his book, Sami writes that it was the government of Liaquat Ali Khan (while Mr Jinnah was still alive) which declared Urdu to be the sole national language of Pakistan, whereas history tells us it was Mr Jinnah who, in Dacca, pronounced Urdu to be the only language of Pakistan.

In this narrative of 280 pages, one finds a large number of grammatical mistakes, which one surely does not expect of someone as well read as Arshad Sami Khan. Some of these errors are, of course, due to the negligence of the proofreaders. Having said that the book is, as the cliché goes, a riveting read.

Three Presidents and an Aide Life, power and politics

By Ambassador Arshad Sami Khan
Pentagon Press, India

Available with
Mr Books, Islamabad

ISBN 978-81-8274-343-4
302. Rs595