Pakistan entered another phase of its history on 12th October, 1999, when the army took over power for the fourth time. To no one’s astonishment, the change of government was enthusiastically welcomed by the masses as it raised false hopes that the country’s unjust political, economic and social system would be reformed for their benefit. However, as the military government of General Pervez Musharraf completed one year on October 12, 2000, it became apparent that it was following the path of the previous military governments to maintain status quo that surely benefits only the privileged ruling elite that is a conglomerate of civilian-military bureaucracy backed by feudal and capitalist class.

This work is an attempt to highlight the working of the ruling elite  in maintaining the prevalent political, social and economic set up of the country where more and more people are being pushed every day into poverty as the world entered the new century.

The course of politics since independence has been determined and dominated by a small segment of society and nothing has happened during the half century  of economic turbulence and social chaos to alter the class composition of the leadership, which still comes from the  feudal-army-bureaucracy conglomerate. It cannot be denied that political power and authority were snatched away by  the bureaucrats and generals after the assassination of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, in October 1951. The first chapter, Hegemony of the ruling elite, traces the role of civil and military bureaucracy since 1951 when an ex-bureaucrat, Ghulam Mohammad became the Governor General after the assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. He dissolved the first Constitutional Assembly that was about to finalize drafting of the constitution. His illegal action was condoned by  Chief Justice Mohammad Munir, in a verdict that still haunts the country. With the appointment of General Mohammad Ayub Khan as Pakistan's first Pakistani commander-in-chief in early 1951, the civil and military bureaucracy, operating in tandem,  began to tighten their grip on the institutions of governance. General Ayub Khan , who later confessed to his own political ambitions, teamed up with the Defense Secretary, Major General Iskandar Mirza, to consolidate his grip over the levers of power.

This work also throws light on the feudal system in Pakistan that continues to exist and flourish with all its evils and colonial legacies which has virtually disenfranchised the bulk of the population by its monopoly of power.  This system creates areas of oppressive influence for the feudal lords, particularly in the vast rural areas constituting 70 per cent of country's population. With only two per cent of the population the feudal lords are able to capture bulk of the assembly seats, thus denying the poor and middle class their legitimate share in the government. Any electoral process which throws up Mazaris, Jatois, Mirs, Legharis, Tiwanas, Bhuttos, Nawabs, Sardars and the like as the elected representatives of the poor haris, laborers, petty shopkeepers, office workers and other segments of the working class in this country is not fair, transparent and well meaning. It makes a mockery of the most fundamental principle underlying the concept of a democratic form of government, viz. that those who run the government must be the representatives of the people.

In Pakistan's constitutional history, neither the politicians nor the military leaders respected the Basic Law. General Zia had once proudly proclaimed that he could tear up the constitution and throw it into the dustbin whenever he liked. This he nearly did with his wanton disfigurement of the constitution through the Eighth amendment. The second chapter deals with the subversion of our constitutions by our democratic and military autocrats. Subversion of the basic law began with the dissolution of the Constitutional Assembly in October 1954 when it was about to complete the drafting of the constitution. Governor General Ghulam Mohammad dissolved the Assembly that was clipping his powers. The second Constitutional Assembly, selected by the provincial legislatures, finally approved the first constitution that was enforced on 23 March 1956. Major General Iskandar Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, on 7 Oct. 1958 abrogated the 1956 constitution and appointed General Ayub Khan as the Martial Law Administrator. The 1973 constitution, unanimously approved by the National Assembly, has been distorted by our democratic and military rulers beyond recognition. It has also been put into abeyance by two military governments.

The political power of the armed forces of Pakistan is greater than the power of the elected representatives of the people as well as of the judiciary. Time and again the former have proved their supremacy. Since the days of the speaker-ship of Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan, the legislature of Pakistan has been humbled on several occasions. The Constituent Assembly could not be dissolved in 1954 without the backing and blessings of the Army Chief General Ayub Khan. The third chapter, Generals in Politics, relates the story of our army’s role in politics that is now  being formalized through the National Security Council appointed by General Pervez Musharraf.

It may not be a too harsh judgment to say that Judiciary in Pakistan has functioned at the behest of authority and has allowed itself to be used to further the interest of the state against its citizens. Given the five-decade long record of our higher judiciary, popular perceptions and criticism, particularly of its judgments on constitutional petitions, is that hhenever  martial law was imposed, the Courts seemed to have been waiting in the wings to provide it legal cover of validation. Moreover, the courts have hardly ever pronounced any judgment against any ruler while he was in office. Hence, our judiciary has played a very significant negative role in the development of political process in the country. Chapter four enumerates the Supreme Court judgments since 1955 that backed almost all the illegal and unconstitutional actions of our rulers.

We inherited our bureaucracy from the British Raj that was evolved to rule a vanquished subject. Unfortunately, more than 52 years after independence, our bureaucracy bears the same Saheb and Ghulam (lord and servant) mentality. Chapter five traces the role of bureaucracy in manipulating the levers of power.

Accountability remains a popular slogan with our rulers since the days of first prime minister, Liuaqat Ali Khan. However, it turned out to be an effective tool in the hands of our subsequent rulers to suppress their political opponents. Chapter six deals with the accountability process that has now been undertaken by the military regime as one of its seven major objectives.

Human rights violation has also become an important issue, particularly during the last 11 years of “democratic” rule when the governments resorted to mass arrest of people, condoned extra-judicial killings and framed special laws to legitimize brutalities of the security forces. Chapter eight enlists and human rights violations.

Islam has played an important role in the politics of Pakistan since its establishment. However, its systematic exploitation for political ends began with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and climaxed during General Zia’s regime. This caused a havoc to our social fabric and only helped in promoting the jihadi and obscurest in the country. Chapter nine highlights the negative role of religion in our politics.