Pakistan: At the Helm

by Tilak Devasher

Fascinating vignettes about the men and woman who ruled PakistanWhat did Muhammad Ali Jinnah say when he received a royal salute from the last British regiment about to leave Pakistan? Did Ayub Khan consider turning Pakistan into a monarchy? Why was Yahya Khan so confident that the 1970 elections would return a hung parliament? What did Zulfikar Ali Bhutto say when the Pakistan Army launched a brutal crackdown in March 1971? How did Zia-ul-Haq get Bhutto to appoint him the army chief? In 2007, did Benazir Bhutto misread the extent of American support for her return to Pakistan? Had Pervez Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif agreed to a pull-out from Kargil even before the latter went to meet President Clinton in July 1999? Backed by meticulous research, the second book from Tilak Devasher, author of Courting the Abyss, provides enthralling insights into the lives and times of the leaders of Pakistan over the seven decades of the nation's existence. Anecdotal and engrossing, At the Helm presents a human side to the country's political history for anyone who is curious about the inner workings of its corridors of power.

Genres: History, Pakistan, Politics, Nonfiction, Biography

413 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2018

Reviews

[Rajat Ubhaykar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a meticulously researched, yet engrossing anecdotal history of Pakistan that surveys the life and times of the leaders who shaped its destiny. These include Ayub Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Yahya Khan, Zia Ul Haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Pervez Musharraf. The book explores their quirks and flaws which inevitably seeped into policy decisions with remarkable insight. In the process, it also sheds light on the inner workings of the corridors of power, including the dynamics of the civilian-military relationship, and the circumstances that led to the periodic transitions from democratic to military rule and vice versa. Some of the vignettes are downright hilarious.

I would recommend this book to everyone who seeks to understand the Pakistani political system beyond the usual cliches through a blend of enjoyable anecdotes and insightful analysis, though a basic understanding of post-independence Pakistani history would be helpful in this digesting this book completely.

I have noted down some of the noteworthy anecdotes below, though this is by no means exhaustive.

In August 1966, a Pakistani military delegation visited China. Sultan M Khan, then Pakistan's ambassador to China and later foreign secretary describes an incredible incident that took place. The Pakistani army officers were quite confused after meeting their Chinese counterparts because their uniforms were neither smart nor did they wear any badges of rank. When the delegation was leaving, a Pakistani general 'asked a modest-looking individual wearing un-pressed trousers and jacket to fetch his suitcase that had been left behind in his room'. Just as the man moved to comply, Sultan Khan stopped him and apologized for the Pak general's mistake. The man who had been asked to bring the suitcase was a lieutenant general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and a veteran of the Long March. When informed that he had been sitting opposite the Chinese general for two days during the talks, the response of the Pak general was, "They all look the same to me! Why don't they do something about wearing badges of rank?"

During a public speech, when caught consuming alcohol Bhutto retorted, 'Fine I am drinking sharab. Unlike you sisterf****rs, I don't drink the blood of our people.' This brought the crowd to their feet who chanted in Punjabi, 'Long may our Bhutto live, long may our Bhutto drink.'

Iskander Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, was a direct descendant of Mir Jafar, the traitor of Plassey. Mirza was eventually exiled to London and denied a burial in his own country. It was the Shah of Iran who lent him dignity by arranging a state funeral in Tehran.

Western intellectuals such as Samuel Huntington (of Clash of Civilizations fame) lauded Ayub Khan as an 'Asian de Gaulle' which propelled Ayub's ego to stratospheric heights. He boasted in 1965 that in the 'past 50 years the Muslims had not seen a greater leader than him'.

During Ayub's time, the test of successful journalism in Pakistan came to mean that when he glanced at the morning papers, he should not be upset.

The one astonishing contribution that Ayub made to political science was his statement, 'We must understand that democracy cannot work in a hot climate. To have democracy we must have a cold climate like Britain.'

It was at Ayub's behest that a Greek architect had carved Islamabad out of the Margala Hills in the 1960s, described by an American ambassador as 'like a New York cemetery; half the size but twice as dead'. But nothing of prominence was ever named in Ayub's memory in the capital.

Since the 1965 war was based on a big lie and was presented to the nation as a great victory, the army came to believe its own fiction and has since then used Ayub as its role model and therefore continued to fight unwanted wars - the 1971 war and the Kargil fiasco in 1999.

Given Yahya Khan's penchant for nocturnal pleasures, Gen Abdul Hameed Khan, chief of staff of the Pakistan army had instructed provincial military governors to carry out his verbal orders only after reconfirming them the following morning if they were given after 10 pm.

One of the idiosyncrasies that Yahya had was about his eyebrows. Make-up men were warned not to touch them if they cared for their well-being. In the Samson mould, whose strength was in his hair, Yahya believed he obtained all his strength from his brows.

Besides Zia, there were two others who governed Pakistan: Gen. Arif & Ishaq Khan. It was said that Zia always said 'yes', the taciturn Arif said nothing & Ishaq always said no. Thus, they achieved a perfect balance on every issue, so Pakistan stood still while the world moved on.

When Zia called on President Zail Singh, he held forth on peace with India even as Pakistan was assisting terrorists in Indian Punjab. Zail Singh then in chaste Punjabi told him it can't be that a woman 'Akh vi maare, tay ghund vi kaddae' (wink provocatively AND cover her face).

At one of Benazir Bhutto's cabinet meetings, the ministers found before each seat a copy of Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People. This was her way of telling them that they needed to improve their personal skills.

During Benazir's visit to North Korea in 1993 she bought an overcoat with the 'deepest possible pockets'. The reason? She was carrying on her person CDs containing critical data about uranium enrichment that the North Koreans wanted. On the return flight, she brought back missile information on CDs. The appreciative North Koreans presented the disassembled parts of the Nodong missile for her to carry back so Pakistani scientists could study it. That's how Pakistan's missile programme was kick-started.

[Apratim Mukherjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coincidentally,I finished this book on Christmas of 2018 i.e. 142nd birth anniversary of Mohd.Ali Jinnah,the founder of Pakistan.This book is a collection of anecdotes which tells about the back stories behind many incidents in Pakistan like Operation Gibraltar,Kargil conflict etc.It also exposes grey sides of those who ruled Pakistan.Sometimes the story telling becomes monotonous but all in all from Jinnah to Musharraf,the author has done justice to their 'legacy'.The only disappointment is the absence of a chapter on current Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.I would recommend the book to anyone interested in Pakistani politics.

[Yash Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pakistan : A Tumultuous Journey
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Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their-minds cannot change anything.

- George Bernard Shaw



Pakistan, At the helm is one of the best books I've read till now on Pakistan. It's thoroughly researched and explained in an adorable way by the author.

It tells us about the life and times of those men and woman who once ruled Pakistan. Though, this book is only for those readers who are somewhat familiar with Pakistan's history.

Pakistan was created on 14 August 1947 by partitioning India. But since its creation it's infamous for its notorious activities. And the reason for this is that those people who were given the chance to take their country forward, decided to loot and plunge it with total impunity. They didn't cared about the masses, because for them their narrow minded self-interest comes first.

People like Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Zia-ul-haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Pervez Musharraf who once ruled Pakistan had several things in common. Like all of them deliberately destroyed and weakened the democratic institutions of Pakistan.They were arrogant, corrupt and considered Pakistan as their personal fiefdom. The results of their policies proved disastrous for the inhabitants of Pakistan.

I will end with these immortal words of Allama Iqbal :-

'Nations are born in the hearts of poets, they prosper and dies in the hands of politicians'.

My Ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

I hope you like this, Thanks for reading, Jai Hind.

For more information You can visit - https://dontbignorant.in/

[Dinesh Mundra · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Excellent anecdotal book. Well Researched, lucidly written, It's a fine piece of writing. Unputdownable ! One of the best books I Have read on Pakistan with such incisive study of characters.

[Zeeshan Ahmad · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Tilak Devashar has written about all the rulers of Pakistan, both Military and Civilian. Starting from Jinnah, Tilak gives critical account of all the rulers, who one way or another have ruled Pakistan as autocrats.

Tilak writes anecdotal history of our rulers who shaped destiny of Pakistan, both domestically and internationally. In doing so, he also gives an insight about the working of Corridor of powers, the civil-military relationship, the petty politics and absurd rationales given to public in Election campaigns.

“The entire empire was the personal estate of the ruler; the bureaucracy functioned at his whims and fancies.”

Thus, “instead of the rule of law there was the law of the ruler; all power and authority flowed from the ruler — political, military, administrative and judiciary “

It gives us an hint, that why we have struggled both financially and diplomatically since our inception. From the outset, this may seem a rhetoric of another Indian author, but Tilak has done deep research & has given neutral account of all our foibles and woes.

Those who believe our history is all bright stars and moon of fourteenth should stay away from this.

As Air Marshal wrote in his book,

“We have learnt nothing from the history.”

For people who want to know the factual details, and why we haven’t managed to get hold of international politics, this book’s a good start. Interestingly, all the references given are of Pakistani ministers, Generals, Secretaries and American state advisors.

These lines from Tilak will some up the whole scenario,

“Pakistan has a long war to go before democracy can be said to have taken roots. Unfortunately, elections will be held but other aspects of democracy like a functional cabinet, parliament being more than a rubber stamp, acceptance of role of opposition, internal party democracy and strong regulatory institutions are still in the future."

I would give Pakistan at the Helm 4.


If you have reached this point than, thanks alot.

[Sanjay Banerjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides enthralling insights into the lives and times of the leaders of Pakistan - Jinnah, Iskander Mirza, Liaquat, Ayub, Yahya, Bhuttos - Zulfiqar and Benazir, Nawaz Sharif Musharraf et al. Provides a number of interesting insights and anecdotes which were earlier not known to me and would recommend this book to anyone curious about the inner workings of the corridors of power!

[Muhammad Hasan · Rating 1 out of 5]

At last, have fully read this book now... The author Mr. TILAK DEVASHER seems to be so much Anti Pakistani that he searched History and collected all the negative materials about the Pakistani Politicians and combined all the materials in the form of a book. He should have given the other side of the story as well like the positive and good work done by all those politicians and army generals. .... To err is to human.... these people were not ANGELS .... would be delighted if Mr. Tilak should also write a similar sort of book on his own country.... to be named INDIA: At the Helm.... and highlight the treatment given to minorities by this nation.... PAKISTAN ZINDABAD.... long live Pakistan......

[Sarthak Bhatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jackie Kennedy and ayub khan were lovers thats the best thing i got from the entire book. Lol

[Navdeep Pundhir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, great primer on Pakistan and the many men and woman who have run it aground!

[Amit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light but insightful read. Largely extracted from books, interviews and other published material - Devasher’s book provides a window to the troubled history of Pakistan through the lives of its elected and unelected leaders. While the main trajectories of Pakistan’s life course are well known, this work really gives one glimpses of personal lives and traits of its principal characters.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tilak Devasher’s tome is one of those works that arrives wearing the quiet confidence of deep research, the stance of someone who has spent decades staring directly at the subcontinent’s fault lines without once blinking. It’s not written with the theatricality of a political thriller or the smug certainty of a “know-it-all” think tank veteran.

Instead, it unfurls like a long, slow exhale — the voice of a man who has watched the smoke rise across borders, listened to the subtle tremors beneath official statements, and traced the silhouettes of leaders whose choices have shaped one of the most complicated states of the modern world.

The book’s real strength is that it neither demonises nor romanticises: it attempts to understand the men who led Pakistan, and in doing so, reveals a nation whose crises, paradoxes, and aspirations remain entangled in its political DNA.

Reading Devasher today, in a world where geopolitics feels like a badly moderated group chat — unstable alliances, abrupt betrayals, back-channel whispers — you realise just how prescient his lens is.

Pakistan, in 2025, is not merely an internal story. It is a ripple point in the global strategic ocean: the tenuous US–Pakistan tango, the uneasy China–Pakistan embrace through CPEC, India’s wary observation, the Gulf’s shifting patronage, and the quiet pressure of IMF strings pulling at the national fabric.

Every leader Devasher examines — from Jinnah to Bhutto to Zia to Musharraf to the more recent civilian contestants — becomes a prism through which we understand the present international anxieties about extremism, debt, nuclear control, regional instability, and identity politics.

But before the world enters the frame, Devasher’s book insists that we dwell on the individuals: men pushed “to the helm,” often unprepared, occasionally visionary, frequently conflicted. Leadership in Pakistan, he suggests, isn’t just a political role — it is an exercise in existential improvisation. The Geeta says, “Karmany evadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana” — you have the right to action, not to the fruits thereof.

In Pakistan’s case, the fruits have almost always been bitter, but the actions of its leaders — taken under duress, under illusions, or under the influence of military shadow — reveal how a nation’s destiny can be shaped by men in rooms too dimly lit for the rest of us to see clearly.

Shakespeare would have adored Pakistan’s political theatre. “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” he writes in Henry IV, a line that could serve as the epigraph to this book. Devasher shows us that every leader at the helm wore that crown not as a symbol of legitimacy but as a burden — a hotspot for coups, clerical pressures, foreign interference, internal factionalism, ideological dissonances, and the perpetual dilemma of holding together a nation whose founding fears often outweighed its founding dreams.

Comparatively, when we look at the postcolonial trajectories of other artificially carved states — Israel, South Sudan, even Myanmar’s modern identity struggles — we see echoes of Pakistan’s initial dissonance: a nation created by rhetoric, shaped by trauma, and forced to stabilise before it could define itself.

But Pakistan’s story is uniquely turbulent because of the military’s early arrival as the “guardian,” a role that froze political evolution and converted leadership into a revolving performance of negotiation with invisible referees.

Devasher does something few analysts manage: he humanises without excusing. His portraits of leaders are textured — Ayub’s authoritarian developmentalism, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s flamboyant populism, Zia’s austere Islamisation project, Musharraf’s swaggering modernism — each one a study in contrasts. And inevitably, when you view them side by side,

Pakistan’s national narrative becomes a kind of Möbius strip: the same ideological tensions looping endlessly, the same institutions colliding, the same anxieties finding new vocabulary.

This is where the global perspective becomes unavoidable. Pakistan is not a sealed laboratory; it is a node in the world’s geopolitical nervous system. China’s Belt and Road ambitions transformed the country's economic and infrastructural landscape but also bound Pakistan into a relationship that oscillates between dependence and strategic necessity.

To read Devasher now, with CPEC’s debt burdens becoming more visible, is to feel Kautilya whispering from the Arthashastra: “A king with impoverished subjects is like a barren cow — neither yields milk nor gives pleasure.” Leadership, Kautilya says, must secure prosperity before pride. Pakistan’s leaders often reversed the formula.

In contrast, India’s economic and diplomatic rise has further destabilised Pakistan’s regional positioning. The asymmetry has grown too vast to ignore, shaping political decisions inside Islamabad and Rawalpindi with a defensive logic.

Afghanistan’s uncertainties after the Taliban’s return in 2021 have also pushed Pakistan into a vortex of cross-border militancy, diplomatic embarrassment, and internal blowback.

Devasher’s analysis of leaders looks eerily prophetic in this light — he identifies precisely how certain ideological choices planted seeds that would sprout decades later, becoming the thorny bushes of modern policy paralysis.

When Devasher discusses leaders like Zia-ul-Haq, the world intrudes immediately. Zia’s Islamisation project, supported by the U.S. during the Soviet-Afghan war, didn’t merely change Pakistan; it changed global extremism. The consequences echo across continents today — from counterterrorism strategies in Europe to refugee crises in America.

And when Devasher examines later leaders attempting to “correct” that trajectory, one realises how nation-building can become a generational tug-of-war, with each faction trying to restore a version of Pakistan that may never have existed beyond an ideological dreamscape.

There are moments in the book that feel almost tragic in a Shakespearean sense — the irony, the hubris, the miscalculations. Bhutto’s downfall could have been staged by Shakespeare himself: ambition, betrayal, charisma, downfall, the crowd cheering one moment and deserting the next.

Musharraf’s era reads like modern political theatre: the global war on terror, the tightrope walk between Washington and the Islamists, the swagger of a general-turned-modernizer who underestimated the strength of Pakistan’s political undercurrents.

When Devasher writes about leaders struggling to escape the military’s shadow, we hear echoes of Macbeth: “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none.” In Pakistan, to do more than a civilian leader should — or less than a military leader expects — is to invite catastrophe. Leadership is not merely a role. It is a negotiation with destiny.

And in the 2025 global landscape, that negotiation has become perilous. Pakistan’s economic crisis has placed it firmly in the orbit of IMF restructuring, which often comes with political fragility. Inflation and unemployment fuel street movements. The judiciary’s independence oscillates like a pendulum caught in crosswinds.

Civilians rise and fall in news cycles, while the security establishment quietly recalibrates behind the scenes.

Devasher’s book, though published earlier, almost anticipates this moment: a Pakistan caught between global expectations and internal contradictions. The strategic partnership with China is no longer a simple “all-weather friendship.” It is a complex ledger of debts, security guarantees, and mutual anxieties about the future.

The U.S., which once relied on Pakistan as a Cold War and War-on-Terror ally, now engages with more caution, more distance. Saudi Arabia’s shifting investments reflect a region slowly diversifying its friendships, no longer treating Pakistan as the automatic recipient of bailouts.

And India’s growing diplomatic clout has made Pakistan’s habitual strategies — rhetorical, military, ideological — less effective on the world stage.
Comparatively, when you place Pakistan’s leadership trajectory against nations like Turkey, Iran, or even Egypt, patterns emerge: the struggle between military and civilian legitimacy, the use of religion as political glue, the reliance on external patrons, the cyclical economy of crisis and bailout.

Devasher’s achievement is that he shows these patterns without collapsing individuals into caricatures. Each leader is a product of their time, but also an agent shaping the next era’s challenges.

The Geeta offers an unsettlingly apt line here: “When adharma rises and dharma declines, I reappear.” In Pakistan’s context, “reappearance” is not divine — it is institutional. When political dharma weakens, the military reappears. When ideological extremism rises, a new leader emerges promising moderation.

When economic collapse looms, the state resurrects external alliances. It’s a karmic cycle of political reincarnation, grimly predictable yet endlessly surprising in its manifestation.

By the end of Devasher’s book, you don’t walk away thinking Pakistan is a doomed project. Instead, you see it as a nation trapped in a maze whose walls are historical, ideological, institutional, and psychological. Each leader tried, in their own way, to carve a path through this maze — some by breaking walls, some by painting new ones, some by pretending the maze didn’t exist.

And the world watched, sometimes amused, sometimes alarmed, always invested because Pakistan has never been just another country. It has been a geopolitical hinge — a nation whose internal oscillations affect strategic balances far beyond South Asia.

Reading Pakistan: At the Helm today is to understand not just Pakistan, but the global fault lines that define 21st-century politics: extremism, economic fragility, military-civilian tussles, identity crises, strategic dependencies, and the perpetual tug-of-war between nationalism and globalisation. Devasher’s book becomes a mirror through which we see how nations struggle to define themselves amid pressures both internal and external.

It’s also a reminder of something Kautilya said with chilling clarity: “The king shall consider as good not what pleases him but what pleases his subjects.” In Pakistan, leaders often did the opposite — and the nation still pays the price.

Shakespeare might have shrugged and said, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” Devasher, in his quiet analytical way, suggests exactly that: Pakistan’s destiny has always been shaped not by cosmic forces but by the choices, insecurities, ambitions, and blind spots of the people at the helm.

And the world, still very much entangled with Pakistan’s future, cannot afford to look away.

Recommended.

[Badar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by no means is a historical analysis nor a biography of Pakistan, as clearly pointed out by the author. Rather, it is quite a meticulously researched anecdotal book that gives an insight into the personalities that ruled Pakistan. I must warn you if you’re a Pakistani you might find it difficult to read not because it’s propaganda or poorly written but because one is enlightened how this nation, our country has been and continues to be fiddled and played with by the political and military elite. The book chronologically follows Jinnah, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Z.A. Bhutto, Zia-ul-Haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Pervez Musharaf. Sycophancy, patronage, personal ambitions, and egotism - these distinct attributes are found in all personalities after Jinnah in my opinion. After a few chapters, pattern of vicious power-hungry cycle can be seen. It also gives an understanding that why democracy has never been able to find its roots and how even the so-called democratic leaders acted more or less like autocrats throughout history. The bulwark of democracy namely parliament, senate, federal Cabinet, etc have never been shown importance by any elected leader. Again to reiterate, the book itself has been brilliantly written. The prose is fast-paced, engrossing, and easy to follow. Following are few excerpts from the book that would give you the idea of what this book is about;


...During Ayub’s time, the test of successful journalism in Pakistan came to mean that when he glanced at the morning papers, he should not be upset.

...The one astonishing contribution that Ayub made to political science was his statement, ‘We must understand that democracy cannot work in a hot climate. To have democracy we must have a cold climate like Britain’

...Western economists and intellectuals lauded Ayub as an ‘Asian de Gaulle’-- a military leader who was also a statesman with a vision. Not surprisingly, Ayub’s ego grew to such an extent that in 1965, at a committee meeting of the Muslim League, Ayub Khan boasted that ‘ during the past fifty years the Muslims had not seen a greater leader than him’.


...At the peak of his power, a fawning politician proposed that Ayub should proclaim a hereditary monarchy in Pakistan and that he should make himself its first monarch. For Ayub, this was a serious enough proposal. He formed a two-man committee to examine it. Within a week, the committee advised Ayub to forget the proposal.


... A telling description in Times magazine was that ‘between dusk and dawn, Pakistan was ruled by pimps’.


...Ayub told his son, ‘ You have served in GHQ and should know that if the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army gets it into his head to take over, then it is only God above who can stop him.’


...Bhutto’s arrogance and obsession with maintaining an aura of invincibility was so intense that on several occasions, on his personal instructions, several of his jailed political opponents were subjected to severe sexual humiliation.


...During a public speech, when caught consuming alcohol Bhutto retorted, 'Fine I am drinking sharab. Unlike you sisterf****rs, I don't drink the blood of our people.' This brought the crowd to their feet who chanted in Punjabi, 'Long may our Bhutto live, long may our Bhutto drink.'


...After Bhutto amended the constitution to declare Ahmadis as non-muslims. Abdus Salam, Nobel prize-winning physicist resigned in protest. Bhutto tried to assuage his concerns by saying ‘ This is all politics. Give me time, I will change it’. When Salam asked if Bhutto would write this down in a private note, he politely declined.

[Shoaib · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, Tilak Devasher, former cabinet secretary, specialized in security issues pertaining to India’s neighbors, offers a deep insight into the traits, quirks, characteristics and the style of the governance of the personalities who shaped the regional and international geopolitics; from suave founder Jinnah to savvy dictator Musharraf.

It is noteworthy to mention that the author meticulously presented the historical reference and facts – mostly by the Pakistani authors; both military and civilians. Hence the author attempted to present the nature of the hegemony of the ruling elite in country without any prejudice, bias and unfairness.

For those who want to understand the inside story of Pakistan and how regional and international power brokers come into play, this book is joy to read and it will ultimately broaden the perspective on geopolitical issues at the time when post-truth politics is dominating the political scene of the country.

[SUBRATA DATTA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will it be wrong to say that Pakistan is a country that has been born in deception? And a deception that is finally unraveling?

Jinnah. A man whose family was Hindu only two generations ago – his grandfather was Punjalal
Meghji Thakar – and who was only a Muslim by name whipped up deadly passions crying “Islam is in danger”. A man who could not even speak Urdu well became a “sole spokesman” of the Indian Muslims. When the Motherland was vivisected in the name of religion he went on to declare that the state he created would not make any distinction on the basis of religion! Deception?

The nation thus created became the tool to serve the interests of one state only – Punjab. Or, more
specifically, the military and the landed gentry of Punjab. The other units, East Bengal, Sindh,
Balochistan, North West Frontier Province (NWFP) [later Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.] were there to serve the interests of the Elder Brother. Deception?

Forget that Jinnah, on the day he died, was left gasping for breath for two hours in a broken-down
ambulance in the middle of the road before a replacement ambulance could be arranged. Many of the country’s prominent leaders met with suspicious or unnatural deaths: Fatima Jinnah. Liaqat Ali Khan. Iskander Mirza. (After break-up) Mujibar Rahman. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Zia-ul-Haque. Benazir Bhutto. Land of the pure! Deception?

A “democratic” country where the General – a career soldier – is more powerful that the Prime Minister – supposedly a people’s representative. Deception?

A country that received largesse of hundreds of billions of dollars from the West to fight, first,
Communists in Afghanistan and later, the “war on terror” used that bounty for jihad against India.
Deception?

A country that has driven out most of the non-Muslims from their “land of the pure” has descended to such a state where Muslims are wantonly killing Muslims. Deception?

A country whose geographical area includes Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, where history’s greatest
grammarian, Panini, was believed to have been born and worked, which has one of the most sacred of Sati Peeths, of Hinglaj Mata, teaches its children that its history starts from 708 AD when Muhammad ibn al-Qasim landed in Sindh. Deception?

Tilak Devasher looks at this Pakistan through the omissions and commissions of the leaders who were at the helm of the country for the last seven decades. Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Ayub Khan. Yahya Khan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Zia-ul-Haq. Benazir Bhutto. Nawaz Sharif. Parvez Musharraf.

And, needless to say, all these individuals have contributed, in his or her own way, to the mess that
Pakistan is in today.

As I am writing this, my attention is drawn to an ANI news that quotes former Pakistan High
Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, who reportedly said that Pakistan, facing almost an existential crisis, “is dying to mend fence with India.” Whether it is the retired official’s personal opinion or Pakistan’s (secret) official position we do not know.

But, after seventy five years, what we do know is that when it comes to Pakistan it is better to tread
cautiously. A country whose raison d etre is hatred for India and the Hindus is unlikely to be a “normal” neighbour any time soon.

Shri Devasher’s erudition and wide reading is evident from the numerous sources he has quoted to
marshal his arguments. Inclusion of an Index and a bibliography, however, will enhance the value of the book even further.

Pakistan: At the Helm is an interesting read.

[T.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is wonderful book. Truth when wrote and read unbiasedly: amuses. Although the writer has chosen odd side of the Pakistan state actors but has shown a full insight into his choice. In social subject even a wrong or negative debate view leads to to a right conclusions ultimately after it becomes a matter of wider debate and critic. As is natural few of the narrations are thought true but dialectical in nature as is true in politics and state functions. I rate it among the good and well researched works. This vividly shows that wrong actors usurp the long struggle of true, sincere and patriots who go in the background after achievement, a fact characteristically subcontinental and might be true in the wider International realm. The first two characters are fully true and most of Pakistani even agree to that. I agree with one of the comments that the book needs to be updated regularly by the writer in every next edition as it would interesting to have a part describing the present PM Imran Khan.

[Ute Tonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting compilation of amusing facts and anecdotes about Pakistan’s leaders starting with Jinnah and finishing with Musharraf. It is a book recommended for those familiar with the history of Pakistan, otherwise it makes little sense. The author has a good understanding of each personality involved and explains in length particularly the relations and wars with India which gets a little tiring a times. I would have wished for more information about domestic politics but here the book was quite sparse and dim. So it is a nice book to read if you want to know the personality of the leaders and rulers of Pakistan but that is all.

[Jareer Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pakistan at the Helm" by "Tilak Devasher" provides a comprehensive and well-researched account of Pakistan's political leadership and its complex history. Devasher's detailed analysis of various leaders is insightful, offering readers a deep dive into the inner workings of the state. However, the book's narrative does lean heavily towards an Indian perspective, which may limit its objectivity for readers seeking a more balanced view of Pakistan’s challenges and triumphs. Despite this, it remains a valuable read for those interested in understanding Pakistan's political landscape.

[Rabeea Asif · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first few chapters appeared to be written with so many biases in them. and I feel like the references to events mentioned in the book were quite repetitive that shows he has taken and mentioned one side of the coin. I quite like the ending chapters of the book. But the chapters on wars don't give the view of another side. and I guess this would never happen.

[Riaz Ujjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief account if life & times of few people from Pakistan, which include Jinnah, Ayub, Yahya, ZAB, Zia, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif & Mushraff, who over the years influence the events & happenings in Pakistan.

[Prasad Krovvidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broad coverage of Pakistani leaders but does not have the depth

The book broadly covers Pakistani leaders. The author fondness for specific leaders and dislike of Nawaz Sharif is evident in the topics he covers.

[Mah Noor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent account of so far the prominent leaders of Pakistan, their early lives, personalities and how did they govern. Although I must say that the book may be a little bit hard to digest for a patriotic Pakistani

[Manraj Sohi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light read. Informative. Juicy to some extent. I learnt a good lot about pak who’s who. Lakhi Bai complex in zia. Mirza is Poona horse. Ayub Deccan Horse. Zia 13 Lancer. Gen Rani, zia making bhutto making a civ a col of Regt. Monkey Gen. A must read!!

[Brajesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chronologically written and we'll researched book. At times one gets a feeling if accounts of events are written with skewness. Overall an interesting rwad for all those who are interested in knowing development in pakistan .

[Zia Mehdi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being the Indian the author has dragged everything to his Indian angle. There are things which are stated effectively and we have to admit that.

[Fatima Hayee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book quiet biased ....

[Malik Afridi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardly a book on Pakistan's politics can be precisely written as one.

[Amit Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good anecdotes. Really shows how those at the helm work

[Es · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best historical non-fiction book about Pakistan.

[Syed Sibtul Hasnain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pakistan: At the helm offers a good introduction to the dark currents underlying some of the major issues of Pakistan but this book just introduces you to the important events and dates. However you can read meticulously on each of the events before making an invariable opinion.

3 stars given for writer being a little harsh and biased.

[Kumar Rishabh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book to read. As per author, this book is "ANALYTICAL collection of anecdotes, vignettes and incidents selected from Pakistan’s history of the last seven decades which he came across while researching for his first book "Pakistan: Courting the Abyss".

Each major leader - Md Ali Jinnah, Gen Ayub Khan, Gen Yahya Khan, Z.A. Bhutto, Gen Zia, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Gen Musharraf have been covered in seperate chapters.

Reading this book will give an insight into the psyche of each of this leaders and how this psche of theirs have shaped the history of Pakistan and affected that of whole Indian Subcontinent.