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Pakistan
The Formation of Pakistan
The Indian military had no role in the relinquishment of control
by the British and the division of India into two parts-- India
and Pakistan. Under their British commanders, the Indian military
had resisted the nationalist tide, and then, when London changed
its course, Indian military personnel obediently shifted their
allegiance to new masters. After partition and independence, the
relationship between the military and the new nationalist government
in India was at first problematic. India's first prime minister,
Jawalharlal Nehru, deliberately limited the expansion and modernization
of his country's armed forces, fearing that an excessive emphasis
on the military would lead to the militarization of society and
undermine the nation's fledgling democratic institutions.
The Pakistani military, however, immediately became a central
part of the national consciousness. Unlike their Indian counterparts,
Pakistani soldiers did not bear the stigma of being antinational.
The main base of army recruitment, Punjab, was at the heart of
Pakistan, and the army was immediately called upon to defend the
interests of the nation against a perceived security threat from
"Hindu India."
The Pakistani army was fortunate in its political position, but
less so in regard to the experience and technical expertise required
to field an effective military force. Muslims had been significantly
underrepresented in the Indian officer corps, and when partition
occurred, there was a severe shortage of personnel. To lead the
planned army of 150,000 men, 4,000 officers were needed, but there
were only 2,500, and many of those, especially in the technical
services, were underqualified. Only one major general, two brigadiers,
and six colonels were available, and in the middle officer ranks
the situation was equally bad. The first two commanders in chief
of the army were British. The first Pakistani commander in chief--General
Mohammad Ayub Khan--did not become commander in chief of the army
until 1951. In the small Pakistani navy and air force, the situation
was even worse: there were only nine regular officers in the navy
and sixty-five pilots in the air force. Both forces had to be
commanded by British officers: the navy until 1953 and the air
force until 1957. Overall, some 500 British officers were retained
on contract to ease the transition of the armed forces until Pakistanis
could be qualified and promoted. In the interim, training underqualified
officers for rapid promotion was a matter of top priority.
The lack of equipment presented further problems. Most of the
depots and virtually all of the military production facilities
were located in areas that became India, which was less than forthcoming
in handing over the share of military matériel that was due Pakistan
under the partition agreement. Pakistan received little or nothing
in the way of ships and only two of the ten squadrons of the former
Royal Indian Air Force. Pakistani military historian Fazl Muqeem
Khan records: "It is no exaggeration to say that for its first
few months the infant state of Pakistan was without an organized
army."
Units with a majority of Muslims (as well as individual Muslims
in other units who opted for Pakistan) that were located in India
had to find their way to Pakistan. These men formed into new units
based on common traditions and class affiliation; the remaining
service gaps were gradually filled by recruitment. Intercommunal
violence at partition took a huge toll of lives, and the role
played by the army in protecting the citizens of the new Pakistan
created an important initial bond between army and people.
The crucial challenge to the new Pakistani military was the outbreak
of hostilities with India over the disputed state of Jammu and
Kashmir immediately after partition (see Problems at Independence
, ch. 1). Unlike most of the rulers of the other princely states
of India, the Hindu ruler of Kashmir (as it is usually called)
hesitated in declaring the allegiance of his largely Muslim realm
to one or the other of the new nations. Bands of Muslim tribesmen
from Pakistan--together with "volunteers" from the Pakistani army--entered
the state in early October 1947 to force the issue and, after
joining up with insurgents within Kashmir, were soon threatening
to overwhelm the Kashmiri forces. As the price for protection,
the ruler acceded to India, and elements of the Indian army arrived
on October 27. They soon routed the Pakistani irregulars and moved
westward to consolidate control over all of the state. Pakistan
committed regular military formations to combat in May 1948 to
ensure its borders and stabilize the situation. Fighting continued
until January 1, 1949, when a United Nations-sponsored cease-fire
took effect. The cease-fire did not, however, settle the underlying
conflict. The dispute flared up several times again, most notably
in 1965, and remained unresolved as of early 1994. The Indian
and Pakistani armies remained deployed along much the same line
as they had in 1949. The Pakistani army, however, performed credibly
in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-48 and won immense admiration
and support among Pakistanis, on which it drew heavily as Pakistan
began to pay the price of developing a military capability to
offset that of India.
Data as of April 1994
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