It is easy to say that the system has collapsed. It is not so easy to replace it with a new system that withstands the challenges of good governance, exacerbated by repeated disruptions in constitutional rule; the abrogation and suspension of Constitutions; authoritarianism and coercion; mismanagement and corruption; partial accountability; and the imbalance of power between political and military leadership. The last Viceroy of British India, Lord Mountbatten, was biased, partial and a dishonest arbiter. He was won over by the wily Nehru, who had access to his bedroom. They had mala fide intentions.

He handed over a moth-eaten Pakistan to the Quaid, with two wings in the east and west separated by over a thousand kilometres of Indian territory. The Governor General played this political chicanery only a month or so before the independence of the Dominion Republics of Pakistan and India, dividing Punjab and Bengal, triggering an en masse exodus of people across the border in Punjab and Sindh.

The Quaid was undaunted by the odd geographical situation of his country. However, two factors were weighing against his will and resoluteness. The odd political crowd he had allowed to jump on the Muslim League’s bandwagon to win the crucially important elections of 1945 and 1946. These elections were determining whether the Muslim League was the sole representative of the Muslims. With this odd crowd, the Quaid won a thumping majority of the Muslim seats, but he had to discipline them in the process of nation building. The second and the most daunting challenge was the Quaid’s collapsing health. He left us leaderless and the country rudderless. His successors ruined Pakistan through their incompetence.

Pakistan emerged as a........

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