BOOKREVIEWBOOKREVIEW
Pakistan’s desire for an industrial revolution
BY S.H. ZAIDI
“TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION IN PAKISTAN Story of a Failed Privileged Class and a Successful Working Class” by Ghulam Kibria; Published by City Press, A-16, Safari Heights, Block 15, Gulistan e-Jauhar, Karachi-75290; available at City Book Shop, 316, Madina City Mall, Abdullah Haroon Road, Saddar, Karachi 74400; 1998; Rs. 120/-
T his is an excellent work of research and analysis by Mr. Ghulam Kibria, on a subject he has devoted long years to-viz., technol ogy and its acquisition. On this vital issue hinges not only the welfare but the very survival of developing countries as sovereign states in future.
He has forcefully argued that, at the time of independence, Pakistan had the requisite techno-logical base for an industrial take off, but its lead-ership failed to exploit the available skilled man-power and high morale of its people. The theme is aptly summed up in the subtitle of the book: “the story of a failed privileged class and a successful working class!” According to the author, the main reason for this failure has been the unwillingness. of the rulers to bring about an end to feudalism. and usher in a modern literate, liberal, industrial society. In tracing the course of the industrial revo lution in England, the pioneers, he has described how the initial contribution of inventors and tech-nicians led to a revolutionary transformation in which the Government played the role of a catalyst by creating the requisite social and political condi tions.
In Pakistan, despite the existence of innovative and enterprising technicians (mistris in local par-lance), industrial take-off could not materialize due to the absence of other necessary socio-political fac tors. That may be true but, in the case of Britain, another very important factor, viz., its firm scientific foundation, (Britain was, with France and Germany, one of the three leading European nations in sci ence) has been committed from consideration in the book. Be as it may, the role of political leadership in economic development cannot be overemphasized. Whether it is Japan (1868 Meiji revolution), or China (1949 Communist Revolution), or Korea more recently, the state has provided the guidance and the motive force for the requisite fundamental change.
Though it does present a thesis outlining the rea-sons why a industrial revolution has not been possi-ble in Pakistan during the last fifty years, the book should not be thought of as a recipe for bringing about one. Yet, an understanding of the reasons that have held us back technologically can make the task of developing a viable industrialization programme considerably easier. Obviously, most of our leading economists and politicians would hardly agree with the author’s bitter criticism of their policies but judging from the results of these policies, one can-not help agreeing with most of the points made by the another.
With irrigation canals and Railways, the British introduced modern technology into India during the last century. Irrigation canals had been there in the subcontinent even before the British but the British contribution was the introduction of scientific meth-ods of design and construction instead of rules of
6.
DAWN MAGAZINE Sunday. November 15, 1998
thumb. At partition, West Pakistan inherited the largest irrigation network int he world. Sukkur bar-rage when built was the biggest single irrigation work with its 6472 miles of canals and 47,800 miles of water courses and an excellent example of effec tive, appropriate technology. The Railway ushered in a new era in transport and communications and further advanced the technological level. The associ ated workshops helped develop a reservoir of tech nical work force skilled in track laying and manufac ture, maintenance and repair of rolling stock and spare parts that had great technological and socio-economic impact. In fact, Pakistan had enough. Railway expertise to not only further expand and modernize the Railways but to export expertise to other developing countries. Unfortunately, this great asset was not fully exploited.
The author has painstakingly traced the history of other areas of expertise including manufacturing industries such as machine tools, diesel engines, sur-gical instruments, electric fans and cinema projector etc., mostly on small scale in which no mean role was played by local mistris acting as both experts and entrepreneurs. The take off stage was already reached in the 1930’s, about thirty years before Korea, but further headway was low since political will and national commitment were missing and social changes conducive to the development of an industrial culture failed to take root. The feudal and tribal structure of society was kept intact, mass liter acy rate remained low and a historic opportunity was squandered.
The Government can supplement initial efforts with establishment of technical training schemes. and obtaining the services of freelance consultants from the developed world, to help bring about a grassroots industrial revolution.
Mr. GK has also recounted the historical reasons for the failure of Indian Muslim society to generate a correct response to the English onslaught. He regrets some Muslim historians’ explanation that India fell prey to the English due to the latter’s ‘conspiracies’. “No Muslim historian or sociologist seems to have ever given a thought to a society with so many mercenaries making themselves a available to the enemy to conquer their own coun-try!” he asserts. Struggles against the British were launched but could not succeed partly because of the mutual antagonisms within India, but the main reason for the success of the Europeans is now widely held to be their technological superiority, -and, as a corollary, their superior weapons and mil-itary techniques at a crucial period in history. A valid charge against the Mughals is their failure to produce thinkers, philosophers and scientists of any distinction, neglecting to establish mass educa-tion systems in India, and inability to gauge the threat posed by the Europeans.
Apart from his rich personal experience, the sources of information the author has relied upon in building up his thesis, are numerous studies and reports pertaining to industries of various kinds, talks with and interviews of officials, politicians, industrialists, engineers, consultants, and last but. not the least, the local technicians (mistris). He has profusely quoted them all with full references in footnotes at the end of each chapter.