This is a book that I have lived with most of my life. Born into a military
family with a long tradition of soldiering, in an area that has produced
warriors and still does, I could not help but learn the ways of the soldiers and
follow their activities with a knowing eye. This book is an attempt to
understand and explain Pakistan’s soldiers and its army within the context of
the country’s search for nationhood and a place in the global order of things.
For the story of Pakistan in many ways is the story of the Pakistan Army. And
in order to understand Pakistan’s position in the emerging regional and global
order, in a world beset with terror and the threat of regional nuclear wars, it
is important to understand the nature and role of the Pakistan Army and its
leadership.
In taking on this venture, I realize that the Pakistan Army today is different
from the institution that I grew up in, which was then a newly instituted
post-colonial force with a young but dedicated officer class that had not been
fully trained to take on the task of running a national army. In its early days
it was also removed from civil society. I have seen it grow into a large force,
and observed it at close quarters in peace and in war. It is now more of
a national army than at its birth with a much better trained officer corps and
soldiers. However, it has also suffered defeat in war and has become deeply
embroiled in the politics of Pakistan. Its influence pervades civil society in
ways that are pernicious, and in tasks for which it has not been trained. The
army is now involved as a major protagonist in the wars raging within
Pakistan today, and as I write these words, large swathes of public opinion
seem to be challenging its hold on state power.