The 1977 Pakistan uprising, also known as the Pakistani Revolution of 1977, was a series of protests against the results of the

1977 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 March 1977 to elect 200 members of the National Assembly. They were the second general elections held in Pakistan and the first to be held after the Bangladesh Liberation War, which saw East Pakista ...

and Prime Minister

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The protests first erupted against Bhutto and the results of the election. After a wave of popular uprisings and massive demonstrations, the government ordered the military, including tanks, to be deployed. Anti-Bhutto protests continued for two months without any violence until June, when 50 were killed in clashes and intense violence at protests. The increasingly violent street demonstrations were characterised by

riots A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...

and street protests while police clashed and ordered a crackdown on the demonstrators, using

live ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

, pellet ammunition and

rubber bullets Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

to disperse protesters while protests consisted of

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

, arson attacks and violence. More than 100 protesters were killed in

strike actions Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...

and massive labour unrest during the bloody crisis. The uprising ultimately led to Operation Fair Play, an army coup which overthrew Bhutto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan uprising, 1977 Protests in Pakistan 1977 protests Protests against results of elections 1977 in Pakistan

See also

References