History Repeats in Mysterious Ways

The following excerpt is from an article written by Ardeshir Cowasjee in the Dawn newspaper. Cowasjee held Government posts in the Bhutto-era, which brought him in contact with Bhutto. And Zia, after the latter shoved Bhutto aside.

Anyway, I think the following applies pretty damn perfectly to the never-ending Mush situation our country faces.

THE date, Aug 25, 1977; the place, General Headquarters, Rawalpindi; the man in the high chair, President Gen Ziaul Haq, jet black hair heavily pomaded, mascara surrounding his eyes, moustache bristling, confidence oozing from every pore.

Sitting on the opposite side of the table, next to me, was the soft-spoken mild-mannered and ever faithful Gen K.M. Arif, taking notes, gathering up each pearl of wisdom as it gently dropped from the all-powerful lips.

“Mr Kovasji,” as was his interpretation of my name, “what can you do for the ports of Pakistan and its shipping in 70 days?” he asked. “General,” I replied, “what is so sacrosanct about the figure 70? After all, it took Phineas Fogg 80 days to circumnavigate the earth in a balloon. Why only 70?”

Came the answer, pat, convincing, “I have promised the people that I will march back to my barracks in 90 days, 20 days have since passed, so that leaves 70.” I countered, “No, General, you will do nothing of the sort. You will stay on, and on, for as long as you can.” Far from being annoyed, he laughed, “And on what do you base this premise of yours?” History, was my answer and I asked him if he had ever read Captain Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart’s brief but exceedingly wise book Why Don’t We Learn from History? (first published in 1944). One chapter that I particularly recommended to him is entitled ‘Pattern of Dictatorship’. Zia made a note of the book’s title, I subsequently sent him a copy, and he had it reprinted by the Services Book Club (later, in 1986, his editors chopped and chipped — but it did not change history).

Now, a quote from the relevant chapter: “We learn from history that self-made despotic rulers follow a standard pattern… They claim they want absolute power for only a short time (but ‘find’ subsequently that the time to relinquish it never comes)…

“On gaining power: They soon begin to rid themselves of their chief helpers, ‘discovering’ that those who brought about the new order have suddenly become traitors to it. They suppress criticism on one pretext or another and punish anyone who mentions facts which, however true, are unfavourable to their policy. They enlist religion on their side, if possible, or, if its leaders are not compliant, foster a new kind of religion subservient to their ends. They spend public money lavishly on material works... They manipulate the currency to make the economic position of the state appear better than it is in reality...” and so it goes, to the perfect pattern.

Sounds familiar?

'nuff said.

(Source: http://dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20080127.htm)