1965: a revisit six decades on

Every year has its importance, for in its distinctive way it has an impact on history. When decades or generations later we travel back to the years that once gave us glimpses into the working of human affairs, we are able to note the difference between them and those that have followed.

Six decades ago, it was the year 1965 which left deep imprints on history as nations went through their progress or convulsions. Those of us who were in school and yet recall 1965 have had all those images in the mind. Transfixed as we were by all that was happening around the world, we felt that big changes were taking place.

How did 1965 begin for the world? In January, two of the more remarkable men in our times, the poet TS Eliot and the politician Winston Churchill died. Eliot's place in modern English literature is today what students around the globe focus on; and Churchill's leadership of Britain in the difficult times of World War Two elevated him to a pinnacle of fame unmatched by many politicians anywhere.

And yet 1965 had its moments of sadness, indeed of trauma. It was a time when the Moroccan dissident politician Mehdi Ben Barka disappeared in Paris, never to be found. Fingers were pointed at King Hassan II for the abduction or killing, but no conclusions were drawn. And that at a time when Charles de Gaulle governed France.

For President de Gaulle, 1965 was not an easy year. At the first presidential election under the Fifth Republic he had inaugurated, he was forced into a run-off against Francois Mitterrand, his socialist opponent, in December. De Gaulle managed to prevail against Mitterrand, but subsequent happenings, the revolt of the young for instance in 1968, weakened him. A defeat in a constitutional reform the next year forced his resignation. Mitterrand would win the presidency in 1981 and serve in office for fourteen years.

For the South Asian subcontinent, 1965 commenced with the electoral triumph of Pakistan's military ruler Ayub Khan over Fatima Jinnah as President. Ayub, in power since he engineered a coup d'etat in October 1958, utilised his Basic Democracy political system --- whose 80,000 members known as Basic Democrats voted for the president, the national and provincial assemblies --- to claim victory against the sister of Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

But the subcontinent was far from a peaceful region in 1965. In May the Rann of Kutch crisis vitiated the already frayed relations between India and Pakistan. On 6 September the two countries engaged in full-scale war, a conflict brought to an end seventeen days later on 23 September through a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations (UN). [It was known as the second conflict between the two countries over the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir]. The end of the war would lead to peace talks mediated by the Soviet Union in Tashkent in January of the following year. Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistan's President Ayub Khan would initial the Tashkent Declaration, a few hours after which Shastri would die of a heart attack.

The year 1965 will be recalled for the large-scale escalation of the war --- 500,000 US troops --- in Vietnam undertaken by the Johnson administration in Washington. Vietnam would divide Americans and eventually lead to public protests against the war on university campuses and other areas of public life in the United States (US). It would force President Johnson into renouncing a second term in the White House. It would cause incalculable damage to North and South Vietnam. As many as 58,000 American soldiers would perish in the war.

For Indonesia, 1965 was a year of unimaginable anguish. On the last day of September, six generals were murdered in what was later given out as a coup attempted by the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI). The mystery of whether the communists were actually involved in the coup has never been resolved, but with General Suharto taking charge through side-lining President Sukarno, questions were raised about the intrigue that might have gone into the making of the tragedy. A bloodbath followed 30 September, leaving between a million and two million Indonesians dead. The respected PKI leader D N Aidit was shot within hours of the abortive coup.

In 1965, Singapore was left to fend for itself when the Malaysian federation decided the city could not remain part of it. On 9 August, it fell to Lee Kwan Yew to transform Singapore into a city-state, a feat his leadership achieved in a remarkable manner. Lee's emphasis on what he called an Asian version of democracy, with an emphasis on discipline and a certain dose of pluralist authoritarianism, turned Singapore into the world's business hub as well as a preferred tourism spot for visitors from around the world.

But where Lee Kwan Yew was able to give Singapore a respectable niche in the global community, Ian Smith in Rhodesia simply muddied the waters by his refusal to acknowledge black majority rule in the country. His unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) on 11 November was a setback for the country. Protracted negotiations between Smith and British Prime Minister Harold Wilson led nowhere. Not until 1980, by which time guerrilla forces led by Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe would become intensely active in their operations to dislodge the racist regime, would a resolution of the conflict be arrived at. Rhodesia would be rechristened as Zimbabwe, with the capital Salisbury renamed as Harare. Mugabe would assume power, staying long there until forced out decades later.

Elections in the Philippines in December 1965 dashed President Diosdado Macapagal's hopes for a second term in office when Ferdinand Marcos emerged victorious against him. Marcos, accused of corruption and misrule, would impose martial law in the country in 1972. His rival Benigno Aquino Jr would be forced into exile. Aquino returned in 1983 but was shot dead on the tarmac at Manila airport within minutes of his arrival. A controversial presidential election in 1986, with Marcos declaring victory, would lead to nationwide agitation against him. When he fled the country, his rival at the election and Aquino's widow Corazon Aquino would assume the presidency.

The 1960s were indeed interesting, even exciting times. Mid-decade, the world was beginning to comprehend the tremors that were to be. The Cold War went on in full swing. China, having become a nuclear power in 1964, was reaching out to the outside world. The Soviet Union was under new leadership. Afghanistan under King Zahir Shah was a symbol of growing modernity. Africa and South America were on the way to an overturning of politics and the rise of military dictatorship. In 1965, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft crashed in Cairo, leaving 121 individuals dead.

Six decades on, those of us who watched events unfold in 1965 have passed into old age. Some have passed into their graves. It is a different, difficult and uncertain world we inhabit.

ahsan.syedbadrul@gmail.com