I was about to order his book to get his insight into Pakistan, when by accident I came across this obituary he wrote on Zia-ul Haq:
He won respect even from some of his political enemies for his lack of vindictiveness. It was said his repression , unlike that of his predecessor stopped with individuals and was not extended to attempts to destroy their families. From that point of view he had some claim..to be remembered as an honourable man--Anatol Lieven the Times of London
Needless to say, those last two words made me change my mind...
2 comments:
haha!
You know, I have heard from some Indian friends that on a personal level, he was quite well regarded towards his Indian counterparts and made quite an impression when he attended Indira Gandhi's funeral (I think). He really was the opposite of ZAB - whereas a Bhutto or Jinnah created a cult of personality around themselves, Zia completely removed himself from the equation and depended heavily on Islamic ideology. I guess one can see some similarities with Nawaz.
We are all reaping what this one hypocrite sowed. He did not have any morals or principles and I am surprised at Rabia's comments that he depended on 'Islamic ideology'. Is taking the life of even your greatest enemy by foul means part of 'Islamic ideology? Personality cult? Well as was said about Clement Attlee by Winston Churchill; "A humble man with much to be humble about." Zia is responsible for the mess we are all in and all this just to satisfy his own ego. Remember he was the one who said that the Constitution was just a few pages of paper which he could tear up any time he wanted. Even Halaku Khan and Changez Khan would be ashamed of being mentioned with him.
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