“Mir Madad Khan ko!”(For Mir Madad Khan!)
The chant resounded through the street and I rushed out of the door of my house. A horde of street children, some that I recognised as beggars, holding a single rose in their hand, were responding to the shouts of the leader, a much older man with a big turban and a handlebar moustache. He would shout the first line through a megaphone and the children would raise their arms and respond in unison that Mir Madad Khan was the candidate most deserving of the votes. For a ten-year-old boy, living in Quetta, it was a stirring sight and also his first introduction to a “political rally”.
The year was 1965 and the infamous General Ayub Khan-era election date was near. Ayub’s party, known as the Convention Muslim League, was contesting the election under the Basic Democracy system – a brainchild of Ayub Khan. Under this variant of a presidential system, 80,000 Basic Democrats (BDs) were elected in a direct election. In turn, the BDs formed the electoral college that elected the President.
Among the sceptics and naysayers to the BD system was my father. I remember him saying that Ayub had instituted this system because it is easier to bribe 80,000 than to bribe 80 million! Those opposed to Ayub Khan’s autocratic rule referred to it as “Ayub ka danda” (Ayub’s baton). One of Ayub’s baton-wielders was Malik Amir Mohammad Khan, the Nawab of Kalabagh, who was the Governor of West Pakistan. While it was never proven, he allegedly topped off twenty-one political rivals. I remember a story going around at that time that when Nawa-i-Waqt, the main opposition newspaper, reported the Nawab’s escapades, the editor Hameed Nizami was summoned by the Nawab. At the end of a fine dinner and some pleasant conversation the Nawab said to Nizami, “Nizami Sahib, you have reported that I had twenty-one men killed. That could well be true, but if I can kill twenty-one men, I can always kill a twenty second.” According to the political folklore, Nizami fainted!
The Nawab had a very big, handlebar moustache, a kind of trade mark of his brutality. There was an enterprising seller of fake beards and moustaches who would advertise the most impressive moustache with the slogan, “Do annay mein Governor baan ja!” (Become the Governor in just 2 annas). Some say that he was the twenty second victim of the Nawab’s wrath (since Hameed Nizami survived!). Ironically, the Nawab was killed by one of his sons in 1967.
On the night before the elections, Vakil Sahib, with a lantern and a megaphone in hand, walked around the area making a simple appeal to vote for the lantern. Since it was late, he managed to avoid a beating at the hands of the Convention Muslim League goons
The BD system was known among the masses as “Bacha Jamhoora” system. This term is not translatable in literal English but can be understood by the show that street vendors would put up to sell their dubious products. The vendor would call out to a little boy who was his assistant, “Bachoo Jumhoro, Sachoo Samooro, jo baat poochoon ga bataeyga? (You truthful little one, would you give me an honest answer to what I ask?). The little boy would shout, “Bataoonga!” (Yes, I will!”). The performer would then go on to state some utterly unbelievable properties of his product and get the assistant to confirm their veracity. Thus the “Bacha Jamhoora System” referred to a gathering of 80,000 yes-men for Ayub!
In our area, the pro-Ayub candidate was one Mir Madad Khan. He was known to many as a smuggler and thus a man of resources who could afford to plaster large campaign posters all over the area, drop leaflets from a small plane and bring out processions in the support of his candidacy.
The lady contesting against Ayub Khan was Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, the sister of the late Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, known as the Great Leader (Quaid e Azam). She belonged to yet another Muslim League, known as the Council Muslim League – with a lantern as the election symbol.
In our area that was staunchly pro-Ayub, it was expected that no one would dare challenge Mir Madad Khan for fear of getting a beating by his gang of thugs. There was an environment of fear in which few dared to speak loudly of their dissent with Ayub Khan’s military dictatorship. So, it created quite a stir when a few handbills appeared that presented a candidate for the Council Muslim League. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that the candidate was none other than the humble lawyer who lived at the end of the street. I never knew his name, as he was known simply as “Vakil Sahib” (Mr. Lawyer). There was no campaigning by him other than the handbills. But on the night before the elections, Vakil Sahib, with a lantern and a megaphone in hand, walked around the area making a simple appeal to vote for the lantern. Since it was late, he managed to avoid a beating at the hands of the Convention Muslim League goons.
Of course, Vakil Sahib lost by a wide margin. But the saving grace was that he received enough votes that his “zamanat” (surety deposit) was not confiscated. Ayub Khan won by a huge margin, winning 52,000 BD votes out of a total of 80,000. Alas, he did not enjoy the fruits of his brilliant new political system for long and had to resign following massive street protests in 1968.