Bureaucracy and Power Politics in Pakistan: A Study of Roedad Khan
Keywords:
Bureaucracy; Power Politics; Pakistan; Roedad Khan; Praetorian state; Civil-Military relations; Interior Ministry; political repression; authoritarian governanceAbstract
This study examines the role of Roedad Khan, one of Pakistan’s seniors and influential civil servant, in Pakistan's power politics from 1965 to 1993. It investigates how did the higher bureaucracy serve as a tool for political power in Pakistan's praetorian state? The study traces Roedad Khan's career through his role in five critical episodes of Pakistan’s history i.e. presidential elections 1965, East Pakistan crisis 1971, his service as Federal Secretary Interior during General Zia ul-Haq’s Martial Law, and political engineering during late 1980 and early 1990s. This study explores that Khan was not a neutral administrator but was an active player in the politics of authoritarianism in Pakistan, such as electoral rigging, press censorship, intelligence coordination, and political repression. The article then studies the paradox of Khan's public appeals for democracy and constitutionalism after his retirement and his institutional record for the past decades. The study has been produced while applying qualitative historical case- study approach based on memoirs, contemporary accounts, newspaper sources, and scholarly literature. The results enrich the scholarly discussion on the role of the bureaucracy in authoritarian systems, the civil-military relationship in Pakistan, and accountability in praetorian political systems
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