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A Strategic Doctrine For Pakistan Part I Pakistan is an ideological miracle and not a geographical land mark. Hence its strategic doctrine is primarily ideological and only secondarily geo-political. To define its strategic doctrine it is therefore necessary to lay down certain basic points:-   Pakistan was created as an Islamic State by a people whose political interests were not confined to the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent but extended to the entire Muslim World. Pakistan was therefore not envisaged by its founders and its people to be an inward looking, introverted state confined to the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent or even South Asia, but as an outward-looking extroverted Islamic State which was to be the harbinger of the independence of the Muslim States of Asia and Africa. Pakistan's motivating force or Prime Mover is Islam-which is a dynamic, revolutionary force, whose spreading within forty years of its advent from the Atlantic to the Pacific was due to its constant 'offensive', which in its process destroyed the two Super Powers - the Roman and the Persian Empires. The primary reason for this avalanche was its revolutionary ideology, which destroyed the existing socio-economic systems and brought down the two super-powers, the Roman and the Persian Empires and their entire political and administrative systems. The primary instrument for this monumental spreading of Islam was Jihaad, which was compulsory for all Muslims. Contrary to the hair-splitting distinctions that we make about defensive wars, and Jihaad bil Nafs and Jihaad bil Qalm, such distinctions did not exist in early Islam. So we see that in the Battle of Yarmuk against the Romans, Hazrat Abu Sufiyan took part at the age of eighty and similarly at the age of eighty-five Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari took part and died in the Siege of Constantinople. So Jihaad was and is the greatest instrument for the spreading of Islam. More recently it is the spirit and the practice of Jihaad which has made it possible for the least developed Islamic State-Afghanistan to defeat a super-power-the USSR. To a Muslim the greatest motivating force is Islam and Jihaad. And without a motivating force no army can succeed. Mere training is not enough. Pakistan therefore has to get rid of its 'defensive syndrome', as it is against Islamic traditions and against the traditions of the Muslims of the sub-continent. Forty years ago the British had thrust a 'defensive syndrome' on our strategic planners, for obvious reasons. India got rid of it by adopting the Panikkar and Subrahmanyam Doctrines. Had Islam only confined to only defensive wars or subscribed to a defensive syndrome, it would not have even conquered Mecca. Similarly the Muslims of the sub-continent never subscribed to a defensive strategy, otherwise they would not have ruled India for 700 years. So our strategic doctrine has to emancipate itself from this defensive syndrome. The strategic doctrine of Pakistan has therefore to be based on twin pillars - Islam as an ideology and Jihaad as the instrument for that ideology. Training can not be a substitute for Islam. Jihaad by itself is a training school, after all the great commanders of early Islam, Khalid bin Walid, Saad bin Waqaas and Abu Ubaida bin Jarrah were only shepherds. Similarly in modern times the commanders in the Jihaad in Afghanistan are ulema and engineers. So for the training and organization of the Pakistan Armed Forces they should bear in mind the basic points that we have laid down in formulating a strategic doctrine for Pakistan. Having laid down these basic points for our proposed strategic doctrine let us now try to lay down the problems that the Pakistan Armed Forces shall be faced with in time to come that is in the year 2,000 A. D. Later on in our concluding remarks we shall lay down the strategic doctrine for Pakistan. In visualizing a strategic doctrine for Pakistan, it is absolutely necessary to bear in mind the following questions and try to formulate the answers to them:-   Question No. l   It is necessary for Pakistan to determine whether it intends to play a global role, a regional role or a subsidiary role subsidiary to India, Afghanistan (Communist) and the USSR.   Answer to Question No. l   No Pakistani would ever dream of Pakistan to play a subsidiary role to India, that is the role of a 'client' state of India, a role visualized both in accordance with the Panikkar and Subrahmanyam Doctrines for Pakistan. So the two roles left for us are 'global' and regional'. A global role is played by a power which either is located in a vast geographical mass like the USSR, or by a country which both has a moderate geographical mass and is also an industrial giant like the USA. But a global role can and is played in certain matters by countries which are highly industrialized like Japan and West Germany, and a vast country with a huge army like China. Certain other countries like India also do aspire to play a global role in certain fields of international affairs. Moreover, it may be predicted that certain countries which shall become highly Industrialized such as South Korea, may also play a global role in future. The holding of the Olympics was a first step to project an image as a prelude to play that role. So Pakistan can also Flay a progressive global role in certain fields such as Palestine in future. But for Pakistan to play a global role, a high degree of industrialization is necessary. Pakistan can and does play a 'regional' role. During the last ten years it has emerged both as a regional power and as the leader of the Muslim World. Pakistan should continue to play an independent regional role, but as a first step towards playing a global role. It should not remain bogged down as a regional power for over.   Question No.2   It is further necessary for Pakistan to determine that if it intends to play a 'global' or 'regional' role, then who would be its 'adversaries' in a future military conflict and who would be its prospective 'allies'.   Answer to Question No.2   If Pakistan intends to play a global role in certain fields then apart from the usual adversary India, the two super-powers, the USSR and the USA can be its adversaries. An apt illustration is Afghanistan where both the Super-powers are united on the point that they shall not allow a ‘fundamentalist' government to take over Afghanistan. This is in conflict with Pakistan's policy of supporting the so-called fundamentalists and effecting an Islamic Revolution in Afghanistan so that it can once and for all bury the dream of the USSR for a warm-water port through the takeover of Pakistan or part of Pakistan and in the bargain gives Pakistan the freedom to move all its troops away from its Western frontiers towards its long Eastern boundaries with India, which are not natural defensible frontiers with rivers or mountains. Pakistan therefore should envisage a long term global role and objectives which it should endeavour to fulfill. These global goals can be:   Strengthening the unity of the Muslim World-Strengthening the economic potential and development of Muslim Countries-Helping in liberating those Muslim areas which are under non-Muslim domination, like Eriteria, Arakan, (Burma), South Phillipines, Muslim Republics of the USSR, Sinkiang in China, Muslim areas under Hindu domination etc etc. For the achievement of this objective an organization like the 'French Foreign Legion' but more like an International Jihaad Movement can be sponsored. This will absolve Pakistan Government of all responsibility. Positive steps to weaken the internal political or economic structure of its adversaries should be undertaken. Pakistan should form an intelligence system for this purpose.   If Pakistan decides to play only a regional role then its adversary shall be India. If we are to play either a global or regional role in both cases, our permanent allies shall be the Muslim people of the world. We have to get out of the syndrome of zero-plus zero is equal to Zero, which for thirty years brought us the enmity and scorn of the Islamic World. In a global role viz-a-viz the USSR, our allies are the millions of Muslims in the USSR. Similarly in a regional role viz-a-viz India our allies are 150 million Indian Muslims. It is a tragedy and an irony that during the last forty years we have failed to do any thing positive in the matter. Finally, both in a global and a regional conflict, our greatest allies are the Afghan Mujahideen who have defeated a super-power.   Question No.3   It is also necessary to determine if Pakistan has to play an 'offensive' role or a 'defensive' role in a future military confrontation.   Answer to Question No.3   The question now is whether we want and intend to follow an 'offensive' strategy or a 'defensive' strategy. In enunciating a strategic doctrine for Pakistan, it is therefore absolutely necessary for us to determine if we intend to adopt an offensive or defensive strategy for Pakistan. Speaking objectively and in a factual historical manner the spreading of Islam has been the result of an offensive strategic doctrine from the moment the Prophet migrated to Medina. The Prophet himself took part in 27 battles and about 100 other battles took place in his life-time in which he did not take part. In these battles about 125 Muslims were martyred and 923 nonbelievers died. Then after the Prophet's death, Islam spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific like an avalanche - and it continued to do so till the eighteenth century when the decline set in. This monumental development took place both because of the revolutionary principles of Islam- and Jihaad which for all intents and purposes is the basis of an 'offensive' strategy. Jihaad therefore in its origin, in its practice is a purely offensive strategy. It is not, and it has never been a 'defensive' instrument in Islam, inspite of the various interpretations given to it later on. Therefore, the doctrine that Pakistan should adopt in accordance with its ideology, its history, the psyche of its people is an 'offensive' approach and strategy. Needless therefore to emphasize that as we intend to adopt a progressively global role in world affairs and an 'offensive' role in these global affairs, our adversaries shall be the super-powers and India. Obviously, it is not at all desirable to adopt a Don Quixotic policy but to plan every thing selectively and to isolate our opponents through diplomatic means.   Question No.4   It is also necessary for Pakistan to know what are and would be the capabilities of its adversaries after ten years.   Answer to Question No.4   It is not possible to visualize a strategic doctrine until we know who are our adversaries and what are their capabilities. The adversaries as mentioned earlier can be both the super-powers and India. However in the first phase the adversaries shall be the USSR and India. The military capabilities of the USSR and India combined are colossal. But we have seen that inspite of their collusion in 1984 during the last days of Indira Gandhi and inspite of our involvement in the Afghan Jihaad and the disinterestedness of the USA then in the affairs of the sub- continent-we survived. Finally by playing the card of the 'cricket diplomacy' with India we succeeded in defeating the USSR in Afghanistan by proxy. As mentioned earlier we should also remember that our greatest asset both in India and the USSR are the Muslims inside the two countries. Unfortunately, during the last forty years we have not utilized this greatest asset-the Muslims to de-stabilize these two countries. It is now high time that we draw up a Ten Year Plan to help, revitalize economically and ideologically the Muslims of the USSR and India. If we succeed in this plan we shall not need to have a military confrontation with these two countries. In any case we should not at all either under-emphasize or be unduly over-awed by the military potential of the USSR and India. If the Afghan Mujahideen had been over-awed by Soviet military might as we are with India then they would never have started their Jihaad against the USSR.   Question No.5   Pakistan has also to bear in mind the technological progress in the nuclear field, satellites, missiles, aerial and sea - navigation and warfare and the counter-measures to be developed throughout the world during the next ten years.   Answer to Question No.5   The acquisition of the latest technology for warfare was the first priority of the Holy Prophet. Consequently he imported most of his swords from India where the best steel was then fabricated. Hazrat Ali, that valiant mujahid of Islam had imported the famous sword Al-Zulfiqar from Sirohey in India. Consequently, in Arabia all two edged swords which were imported from Sirohey in India were called Siroheys. Islam has given the highest priority to knowledge and therefore to technology. In every phase of Islam, the Muslims immediately acquired and mastered the latest technology. If the Arabs were reluctant to master arts and crafts then according to Ibn Khaldun, the other newly converted Muslims brought these skills with them for the service of Islam. It is true that the conquests of the Muslims were due to the revolutionary spirit of Islam and Jihaad but they were also due to the acquisition of technology and a high degree of mobility. So the Muslims conquered Sind with the help of the minjineeq and other technological weapons not then used in India. They also soon started utilizing the gun-powder which originally was imported from China. It is only when the decline set in that they lagged behind in the acquisition of technology which led to their military debacles after the middle of the eighteenth century. In India the land-mark of their success- a success of the spirit of Jihaad-was the third battle of Panipat in 1761. So a Pakistan has to adopt a progressively global offensive strategy, it has to acquire nay master science and technology. This is difficult but not impossible. We have to take a giant step in the nuclear field, satellites, missiles, computers and other similar fields. It is a monumental task not impossible for the great Pakistani nation vibrating with incessant energy bursting at its seams. If it can be done by Japan it can be done by Pakistan also. This can be achieved by first formulating a ten year plan and then using all our resources and energies to achieve it. To make it a success, it will be necessary to bring all the Pakistani scientists and engineers back to Pakistan and provide them all the facilities. Secondly, it will also be necessary to entice all the Muslim scientists and engineers from other countries including India. Let us not forget that the entire development of the USA has taken place because of the brain-drain from Europe and Asia.   Faith   Ibn Khaldun, world's greatest historian, in his monumental PROGLAMENA, of his History of the World, in analyzing the decline and fall of nations says that 'Arabs (which implies Muslims also) have always achieved conquests and greatness when they have been motivated by religion (that is Islam). It is Islam which united the Arabs and motivated them to do great deeds in the anals of history. This truism is equally applicable to all Non-Arab Muslims such as the Berbers' conquest of North Africa and Spain, Turk's conquest of East Europe, Middle East and North Africa and the Muslim conquest and rule of India. Even in the creation of Pakistan, the prime mover was Islam. So the prime mover for the Pakistan's Armed Forces should be Islam, not just faith as a formality but as a living force in all phases and facets of their lives, then, they can achieve monumental success like the Afghan Mujahideen. But the effort has to be deliberate, conscious, real and not just as a formality. Like the Afghan Mujahideen, we have to go back to early Islam. The Afghan Jihaad is the greatest modern successful manifestation of Islam as practiced by Muslims in the times of the Prophet in its pristine glory. Unpalatable as it may seem, the Pakistan Armed Forces have no motivating factor which is its greatest weakness. It is based entirely on the British notion of the Indian Army of training only. Training can be an additional factor but it can not replace FAITH.   This Game of Numbers   In formulating a strategic doctrine for Pakistan, the Pakistan Armed Forces have to rid themselves of this Game of Numbers. Yes, we have to rid ourselves of this complex of India's Armed Forces being four times to that of Pakistan or even more. Let us learn a lesson from our own history. Did Hazrat Omar or his commanders Saad bin Waqaas and Abu Ubaida bin Jarrah calculate the relevant strength of the Armed Forces of the Persian and the European Empires, or the GNP of these two great empires.   Similarly did Mahmud Ghaznavi know the relevant strength of his opponents in all his seventeen raids and battles in India. Did Shihabuddin Ghori know the strength of his opponent's army. Is it not a fact that during the times of the early slave Kings Aibak and Altutmish, the size of the entire population of Muslims in India was only 100,000 and that of the Hindus was fifty million.   They did not suffer from this psychological complex of the Game of Numbers as we do now. So let us bury this complex once and for all. The only reason for their conquests was Jihaad, constant Jihaad.   The Islamic State and the Islamic Army   The primary objective in creating an Islamic State is to promote and propagate Islam, to establish Islamic institutions, to create an Islamic society by any means possible. Thus Ibn Khaldun writes:-   "Now in the Muslim religion, which is all - inclusive in its appeal and seeks to convert all by persuasion or by force, the Jihaad (Holy War) against infidels is obligatory. Hence, in him, Caliphate and Kingship are conjoined in order to unite all efforts towards a common end.   Ibn Khaldun was also of the opinion that 'vast and powerful empires are founded on a religion. This is because domination can only be secured by victory and victory goes to the side which shows most solidarity (asabiyat) and unity of purpose. Now man's hearts are united and co-ordinated with the help of God, by participation in a common religion'.   Further he says:-   "A Religion reinforces the power which a state has already acquired from its solidarity and numbers. This is because as we mentioned earlier, a religious fervour can efface the competitiveness and envy felt by the members of the group towards each other, and turn their faces towards the truth. When once their eyes have been fixed on the truth nothing can stand in their way, for their outlook is the same and the object they desire is common to ail and in one for which they are prepared to die. The people of the state they are setting out to conquer, on the other hand, however superior in numbers, have different and unworthy goals and are ready to flee for fear of death. Hence tile latter will not succeed in resisting the attack, inspite of their numbers, but will soon suffer defeat and annihilation, especially in view of the luxury and oppression prevailing in the country."   So Pakistan being an Islamic State has to be motivated by Islam and the objective of the State should be to promote an Islamic society, to promote Islamic institutions and above all to usher in an Islamic Revolution.   The concept of an Islamic Army is entirely different from the concept of an army that we have inherited from the British.   The Islamic Army from the times of the Holy Prophet till the end of the Orthodox Caliphate was the elite corps of Islam. It was the vanguard of the Islamic revolution. It was the primary instrument of the Islamic Revolution. It was the prime mover of all change that Islam brought about.   The Muslims who constituted this army were the best Muslims that Islam, produced both as soldiers and also as spiritual leaders. And these soldiers and their officers were battle-trained in the school of Jihaad. It was going through the process end crucible of Jihaad that brought out their best qualities-humility, magnanimity and self-sacrifice.   Leadership in such an army was dependent both upon being the best as a soldier and as a Muslim. And there were continual opportunities for a Muslim to show his mettle in the battle field and earn promotion and prominence in the eyes of God and man.   So for the Pakistan Army to achieve glory and success which is the ultimate goal of all armies; motivation both through Islam as a religion in the form and practice of Jihaad and an esprit de corps called asabiyat by Ibn Khaldun is necessary. As he says:-   "It is impossible to establish a domain or to found a dynasty without possessing the support of a people animated by esprit de corps".   An esprit de corps is a great motivating factor but as Ibn Khaldun said, 'asabiyat is not the only kind of social protoplasm after all an alternative--- and superior-- kind exists in the shape of religion'.   He goes on to elaborate:   "A dynasty which starts its career by placing itself on a religious basis will thereby double the effectiveness of the esprit de corps" The British during the two hundred years rule of India had come to the conclusion that the regular army due to its training looses initiative and becomes drill-deadened. But in some kinds of warfare specially in mountain warfare initiative is necessary. So the British created the irregular army which included the Guides Cavalry and the various scouts some of whom had their local uniforms and local officers.   It is necessary that apart from the highly trained regular army of Pakistan, it should also have an irregular army. Such any army should be motivated by the spirit of Jihaad and they should have their own esprit de corps that is the asabiyat of Ibn Khaldun.   Although due to the influence of the late President Zia ul Haque many officers and men of the Pakistan Army started saying their prayers regularly yet they do not observe their prayers with the congregation which is the essence of Islam and which promotes the esprit de corps in Jihaad. Thus the spirit of both Islam and asabiyat so necessary for victory has not developed.   It is therefore necessary either to have a complete plan to motivate the Pakistan Army with the spirit of Jihaad or to create a separate corps motivated by Jihaad. The motivation of Jihaad is not possible only through lectures or the formality of namaz but by actually taking part in Jihaad.   There are thus two alternatives for us, either to promote and practice Jihaad by our regular army or to create a separate corps for this purpose like the French Foreign Legion. I personally would prefer the former that is the inculcation and practice of Jihaad by the Pakistan Army and only opt for the latter if that is not possible owing to the secular nature of our state machinery.   With my preference for the former that is Jihaad as a prime mover for the Pakistan Army my conclusions shall be:-   The objective of the Pakistan Army should be to promote the Islamic Revolution in Pakistan. The Pakistan Army should follow Ibn Khaldun's theory- be motivated both by Islam and asabiyat through the active practice of Jihaad.   And in conclusion to the Pakistan Armed Forces and their Officers I would say:-   "March at the head of the ideas of your century and these ideas shall follow you and support you - - - - - - - - - - - March behind them and they will drag you after them. March against them and they will overthrow you". Napoleon III   And the success of the Afghan Jihaad and the defeat of the super-power the USSR has proved that the great idea of this century is ISLAM.   Sameen Khan 33, Quaid-e-Azam Avenue, Sialkot Cantonment December 2, 1988