The Pakistani Spectator

The Pakistani Spectator is extremely proud to present an exclusive interview with the pride of Pakistan, heartbeat of nation, and nature’s prize to Pakistan; the one and only Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, who is an independent security analyst and strategic affairs expert and the author of several books including Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy.

Could you tell us what made you decide to start writing?
Ans: Writing found me. I didn’t go to it. My mother was a novelist so perhaps writing was in my blood. I started writing fiction at age 10 but then lost the strength to write stories. I still pray for finding the strength to write fiction. I am sure some day fiction will drag me out of my fear.

What do you think sets Your writings apart from others?
Ans: I wouldn’t adopt a comparative framework. Every person has their own perception and contribution. Personally, I work on issues on which not too many academics in Pakistan have done work. You will find newspaper columns but very few books on military and politics.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?
Ans: Research and writing is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration. I believe it is consistency and hard work which helps in getting meaningful results. My focus has always remained the people of Pakistan. That is what I draw my inspiration from.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?
Ans: Considering what the country is going through these days, most days appear gloomy. On a personal level, it was when I lost my father and then my mother. My happiest day was when my pen opened up again and I started to write fiction again. I am currently working on a novel. The inspiration is two months old. But generally, my happiest moments are when I discover new things with my husband or share a laugh with him.

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?
Ans: I would travel to Cholistan (the desert in Southern Punjab), Chile and Innsbruck (Austria)

What is your favorite book and why?
Ans: My all time favorite book is Maxim Gorky’s biography which is actually four books. It is about the life of a very ordinary person and so it encapsulates the extraordinary of the ordinary. The first time I read it was when I was 10 years old. My mother gave me the book and asked me to read it. It was in Urdu. She said read it though you might not fully understand what is in it. I have always gone back to the book in the best and worst of times.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?
Ans: How do they address others and how do the shoes appear.

Do you think Pakistani politicians could benefit from the social networks like Facebook, Orkut and things like twitter?
Ans: Networking is always a good idea. It is modern day technology which allows you to connect. But face book is also part of people’s private world. It depends if they can connect the private with the public.

Who are your top five favourite writers in the world?
Ans:Maxim Gorky, Milan Kundera, Jamila Hashmi, Isabel Allende and Amin Moluf.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any writer?
Ans: Isabel Allende is one of my favorite writers. She knows how to tell a story and weave stories around the politics of her land Chile.

You have also got a writing life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?
Ans: I am a writer so this is both personal and professional. Since I write on military and politics it does have an impact on the personal especially in present day Pakistan where institutions and people seem to confuse nationalism with betterment of the people.

You are the pride of Pakistan, as you have broken the stereotype and have spoken about the unspeakable; What exactly compelled you to do that?
Ans: I am grateful you think this way. The reason I wrote my books was because we need to break taboos and discuss issues which relate to our lives. There was the realization that this country is not about the elite but about the very ordinary and common people. All countries are an asset of the ordinary people. I have not tried to particularly challenge just the military but looked at the elite structure of our socio-economic. I wish people wouldn’t read the book in a hurry or comment on people’s commentary on the book.

What are the inspirations behind your first and second book?
Ans: My first book was drawn on my doctoral work which was on military decision-making in the country. I worked in military accounts then and I found some of the weapons procurement decisions questionable. This lead me to investigate the structure and process of military decision-making. For the second book, my inspiration was primarily to look at the issue of military capital which is not just restricted to Pakistan but can be found all over the world. I wanted to understand the behaviour and impact of this capital especially in a country like ours where the military is a very strong institution.

What Pakistan should do with its nuclear arsenal? Should we freeze it, or roll-back it, or improve it, or just hand it over to IAEA?
Ans: This is a political decision. Any answers must be sought by looking at how a certain technology serves the ordinary people. We have millions who do not have access to clean drinking water, basic health, education and dignity. I wouldn’t have a problem with nuclear weapons as long as the other needs are being met. But if any new technology is used to hold people hostage and make fools out of them, then whats the use.

When President Musharraf says that Pakistan cannot have a democracy and human rights like West, do you agree with him?
Ans: This is absolute nonsense. The ordinary people of Pakistan can decide as intelligently about their political future as an average American or people from developed countries. Our problem lies at the top. Our elite is highly predatory and suicidal. They have evolved a system of patronage and are holding ordinary people hostage to it. General Musharraf is part of that elite. It is ridiculous to hear people say that illiterate Pakistanis cannot chose their leaders. We are not less intelligent than the Indians. It is our tragedy that governments have always been voted in but booted out. Once that changes, we will also become a strong democracy.

What should be the strategy to deal with this rising tide of terrorism in Pakistan.
Ans: Change the system of resource distribution. Our elite is highly predatory and feudal in nature. This includes both civil and military. It also includes professional, educated people from the upper-middle and middle class. The ordinary man has no life. And then comes a mullah who talks about going to heaven by killing others. The prize is that if you go to heaven you will be ahead of your ruler and master. This terrorism is a symbol of hight of desperation in a society where the common man is not respected and has no options but to become a militant. Open possibilities for this ordinary citizen, give him his right to basic facilities and respect and he will not be lured by the mullah.

You’ve written on a very important yet taboo topic in Pakistan; was it hard getting all your data and convincing people to help you?
Ans: Obtaining the data wasn’t easy. I started working on this in 1998. The benefit I had was that I was with military accounts and defense audit departments during that period and later went to work as Director of Naval Research. It helped me get the contacts to access the data. Also, there was some breakthrough in terms of five years of data of some of the major military foundations. Some people helped because they thought it would be a service to the nation to highlight what was going on. I could access the audit reports as well which constantly talked about how money and resources of the state were siphoned off to keep these organizations running. The data and information is spread all over the place. I did about 100 interviews and they were at the time willing to talk because they presented their point of view. The military basically expected that it will just be there point of view which will be presented minus any analysis. They now have problem with the analysis.

How has the reaction been from the government and the military towards you after the launch of the book?
Ans: I didn’t expect the government to go to the limit to which they did. I thought that they would probably publish some articles and commentaries against me. However, they not onl tried to ban the launch of the book, they tried to stop the distribution of the book. It is still not available in many places. The people of course were happy that such a closed subject was being discussed. My gripe is that people who are for military’s power and those who are against it are not reading the book. My basic argument is that this military economy is part of an elite economy. The military built its empire with help from a large number of other elite groups from the civil society as well. People are unfortunately commenting on the commentaries on the book.

Did it ever scare you about the consequences of publishing such a book would have on you and your family?
Ans: I was told by friends in academia that I shouldn’t write it. Perhaps, if I thought too much about what would happen I might have been scared. I just shut my eyes, reposed faith in God and worked because this was not a case of ill-intention towards any one.

How have people generally received your book?
As I said that most people haven’t read the book. There are people who pose to be supra-nationalists and are very angry. They do not understand that even a strong institution must be saved from itself. The military elite is destroying the organization. Then there are the common people who are happy that this issue was finally discussed. What they see around them was finally documented.

What other topics do you think are worth talking about?
Ans: I am currently working on a third book which is on military, state and society in South Asia and it brings the people’s view from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri lanka and Nepal. But that is just my own work. There is need for discussion between the relationship between the US, other western countries and Pakistan. The problem is that the world elite is together in exploiting their own people and the people of our country. We need to talk about those linkages.

What do you do when you are not researching, writing, and rocking the world with your ground-breaking ideas?
Ans: I travel with my husband, collect airplane models and learn tango

Are you working on any future book?
Ans: yes I am working on a book which aims to bring the perspective of marginalized groups in assessing the relationship between military, state and society in South Asia. I am also working on a novel.

What are your future plans?
Ans: My heart is in writing and thats what I will continue to do.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
Ans: Whats more important in life is the people. Concepts like nationalism etc can become distractions. The best way to love this country is when you start thinking about the ordinary people who do not have access to what all of us have. Those who can buy books, read magazines, papers on the internet are still privileged as compared to millions of those who do not have access to basic facilities or do not even have a right to live. Please reach out to those Pakistanis.