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Betrayals of Another Kind: Islam, Democracy, and the Army in Pakistan
- GenresPolitics
251 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Faiz Ali Chishti
2 books1 followerFaiz Ali Chishti was a Pakistani Lieutenant General and former Corps commander of X Corps. He was born in Punjab in 1927. He joined the British Indian army in 1946 as an artillery officer and later joined the Pakistani army after partition in 1947. He was from 60 Medium Regiment Artillery in which he was later posted as CO (Commanding Officer).
He was the architect of the 1977 martial law imposed in Pakistan, commanding the Corps of Military Police that held many political prisoners at that time. He wrote the book Betrayals of Another Kind. Islam, Democracy and the Army in Pakistan detailing President Zia-ul-Haq and the 1977 Pakistani military coup.
He was the architect of the 1977 martial law imposed in Pakistan, commanding the Corps of Military Police that held many political prisoners at that time. He wrote the book Betrayals of Another Kind. Islam, Democracy and the Army in Pakistan detailing President Zia-ul-Haq and the 1977 Pakistani military coup.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 11, 2020
Lt.General Faiz Ali Chishti was one of the key plotters of the coup that deposed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977.This book is his account of those events,as well as his impressions of General Zial ul Haq,Pakistan's former military strongman.
It is a rambling book,the general is too full of himself and is full of self justifications.But what makes it worth reading are all the anecdotes about Bhutto and even more so,about Zia.I haven't read anything else about Zia the man,which entertains as much.
He refers to Bhutto throughout the book as "Mr.Bhutto" but directs a lot of criticism at him and his policies.He says that after the coup,he was asked why he did not kill Bhutto on that night and why he installed Zia.
Bhutto had by then called in the army to control civilian protestors.But the soldiers were not deliberately shooting people and it was proving very difficult to control them.Air Marshal Asghar Khan had written an open letter to army officers,not to obey unlawful commands of the civilian government.
He talks about Bhutto's arrogance,his troubles with the army and his cruel treatment of his political opponents.He had even formed a special force (Federal Security Force) to deal with his opponents.
He describes the death of Bhutto.The PPP had alleged that Bhutto was killed by torture,before he was hanged.Chishti refutes that,saying Bhutto was taken to the gallows on a stretcher.He took the last few steps himself and said to the executioner,"Finish it."
Chishti and Zia would soon have a falling out.Chishti is very bitter about how Zia treated him after he retired from the army.The title of the book is a direct reference to Zia.
Zia used to refer to Chishti as "murshid", (mentor).In his descriptions of the strongman,Chishti is rather disdainful and very critical of Zia.Describing their first early meeting,he says that Zia held the kind of appointments not given to the best and brightest.
He alleges that Zia used to visit the houses of PPP leaders to get close to Bhutto,in a bid to become army chief.He had Bhutto especially installed as the Colonel in Chief of the Armoured Corps as part of his plan,even though that title was not meant for a civilian.
He talks about resisting Zia's orders before he became chief.But Zia,the junior most Lt.Gen. surprised everyone by winning the top slot.He calls Zia irresponsible for not writing the performance reports of his officers,for years.
He mocks Zia for letting his handicapped daughter use army uniforms of senior rank.He accuses Zia of earning cheap popularity by distributing cash etc. to the poor.
He describes how Zia once decided to ride a bicycle in downtown Rawalpindi,with his whole entourage.It is an amusing description.
Then,he looks at the air crash that killed Zia.While pointing out a range of suspects who could have done it,he says that the biggest culprit was Zia himself.He had no friends left by then and was aware that he could be killed.
He also talks about the April 10,1988 ammunition depot blasts in Rawalpindi and puts the figure of the dead at 1,000.He says that he had resisted the establishment of the arms depot at Ojri Camp,and it was established only after he had left the army.He is also critical of Gen.Akhtar Abdur Rehman,who was killed with Zia.
He frequently goes into lecture mode,he quotes a lot of media reports.This hinders the smooth flow of the narrative.He is too full of himself.I skimmed a fair bit,but found a good part of the book pretty entertaining too,as a firsthand account of history in the making.
Can be downloaded from :
sanipanhwar.com
It is a rambling book,the general is too full of himself and is full of self justifications.But what makes it worth reading are all the anecdotes about Bhutto and even more so,about Zia.I haven't read anything else about Zia the man,which entertains as much.
He refers to Bhutto throughout the book as "Mr.Bhutto" but directs a lot of criticism at him and his policies.He says that after the coup,he was asked why he did not kill Bhutto on that night and why he installed Zia.
Bhutto had by then called in the army to control civilian protestors.But the soldiers were not deliberately shooting people and it was proving very difficult to control them.Air Marshal Asghar Khan had written an open letter to army officers,not to obey unlawful commands of the civilian government.
He talks about Bhutto's arrogance,his troubles with the army and his cruel treatment of his political opponents.He had even formed a special force (Federal Security Force) to deal with his opponents.
He describes the death of Bhutto.The PPP had alleged that Bhutto was killed by torture,before he was hanged.Chishti refutes that,saying Bhutto was taken to the gallows on a stretcher.He took the last few steps himself and said to the executioner,"Finish it."
Chishti and Zia would soon have a falling out.Chishti is very bitter about how Zia treated him after he retired from the army.The title of the book is a direct reference to Zia.
Zia used to refer to Chishti as "murshid", (mentor).In his descriptions of the strongman,Chishti is rather disdainful and very critical of Zia.Describing their first early meeting,he says that Zia held the kind of appointments not given to the best and brightest.
He alleges that Zia used to visit the houses of PPP leaders to get close to Bhutto,in a bid to become army chief.He had Bhutto especially installed as the Colonel in Chief of the Armoured Corps as part of his plan,even though that title was not meant for a civilian.
He talks about resisting Zia's orders before he became chief.But Zia,the junior most Lt.Gen. surprised everyone by winning the top slot.He calls Zia irresponsible for not writing the performance reports of his officers,for years.
He mocks Zia for letting his handicapped daughter use army uniforms of senior rank.He accuses Zia of earning cheap popularity by distributing cash etc. to the poor.
He describes how Zia once decided to ride a bicycle in downtown Rawalpindi,with his whole entourage.It is an amusing description.
Then,he looks at the air crash that killed Zia.While pointing out a range of suspects who could have done it,he says that the biggest culprit was Zia himself.He had no friends left by then and was aware that he could be killed.
He also talks about the April 10,1988 ammunition depot blasts in Rawalpindi and puts the figure of the dead at 1,000.He says that he had resisted the establishment of the arms depot at Ojri Camp,and it was established only after he had left the army.He is also critical of Gen.Akhtar Abdur Rehman,who was killed with Zia.
He frequently goes into lecture mode,he quotes a lot of media reports.This hinders the smooth flow of the narrative.He is too full of himself.I skimmed a fair bit,but found a good part of the book pretty entertaining too,as a firsthand account of history in the making.
Can be downloaded from :
sanipanhwar.com
May 8, 2020
Pretty brisk read right off the bat when the focus was Zia, Bhutto and the shenanigans thereof - a labour towards the latter chapters when the General starts talking about himself and his foreign tours and his press conferences.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews