Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated November 22, 1958: Pak under dictatorship

(From an editorial)

In his statement to the Lok Sabha, Mr. Nehru has recounted the events that led to the present dictatorship in Pakistan. It is clear from his recital of the events of October 27 that General Mirza was unceremoniously dismissed by the army leader who thus tore up the remnants of legality. Though elections were never held in Pakistan, there was some kind of responsible government until this seizure of power took place. As Mr. Nehru has commented “for the first time, dictatorial rule was established in a member country of the Commonwealth.” Yet, because the new regime maintains its treaties with the West, the Western democracies have not shown the same alarm over this development as they showed in the cases of Iraq and Egypt. The Premier of Canada, for example, has expressed the belief that this is a temporary phase and that Pakistan will eventually return to democracy. We hope so too, but in the meanwhile, since Pakistan is our immediate neighbour, we cannot afford an attitude of complacency. Dictatorships have always been noted for their irresponsibility and their tendency to canalise all local grievances into violence against their neighbours. That is why the continuance of American and other military aid to Pakistan is regarded with apprehension by our Government. The very fact of massive military aid to Pakistan has created in that country a vested interest for the Army and undermined any opposition political party which ventured to criticise the foreign policy of the Government.

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