General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in 1977. Zia served in office until his death in a plane crash in 1988. He remains the country's longest-serving ''de facto''

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

and Chief of Army Staff. Educated at St. Stephen's College, Delhi , Zia was commissioned in the British Indian Army in the

Guides Cavalry The Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army which was raised in 1846 as The Corps of Guides. During more than a hundred and fifty years of military service, the regiment has earned the reputation of one of ...

on 12 May 1943 after graduating from the Officer Training School (OTS)

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

as British Army Officer and fought against Japanese forces in World War II in Burma and Malaya, before opting for Pakistan in 1947. He fought as a tank commander in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In 1970, he led a military training mission to

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, proving instrumental to defeating the Black September insurgency against

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...

. In recognition, 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 fourt ...

appointed Zia Chief of Army Staff in 1976 and awarded him the

Hilal-i-Imtiaz The ''Hilaal-e-Imtiaz'' (; ), also spelled and transliterated as Hilāl-e-Imtiyāz, is the second-highest (in the hierarchy of "Hilal") civilian award and honour given to both civilians and military officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces by the ...

medal. Following civil disorder, Zia deposed Bhutto in a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and declared martial law on 5 July 1977. Bhutto was controversially tried by the Supreme Court and executed less than two years later for allegedly authorizing the murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmed Khan Kasuri, a political opponent. Assuming the presidency in 1978, Zia played a major role in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

. Backed by the United States and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, Zia systematically coordinated the Afghan mujahideen against the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...

throughout the 1980s. This culminated in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

withdrawal Withdrawal means "an act of taking out" and may refer to: * Anchoresis (withdrawal from the world for religious or ethical reasons) * ''Coitus interruptus'' (the withdrawal method) * Drug withdrawal * Social withdrawal * Taking of money from a ban ...

in 1989, but also led to the proliferation of millions of refugees, with heroin and weaponry into Pakistan's frontier province. Internationally Zia bolstered ties with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the United States, and emphasized Pakistan's role in the Islamic world, while relations with India worsened amid the

Siachen conflict The Siachen conflict, sometimes referred to as the Siachen Glacier conflict or the Siachen War, was a military conflict between India and Pakistan over the disputed Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir. The conflict was started in 1984 by India' ...

and accusations that Pakistan was aiding the

Khalistan movement The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cu ...

. Domestically, Zia passed broad-ranging legislation as part of Pakistan's Islamization, curbed civil liberties, and heightened

press censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

. He also escalated Pakistan's atomic bomb project, and instituted industrialization and

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

, helping Pakistan's economy become the fastest-growing in South Asia, overseeing the highest

GDP growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...

in the country's history. After lifting martial law and holding

non-partisan elections Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

in 1985, Zia appointed

Muhammad Khan Junejo Mohammad Khan Junejo (Urdu: ; Sindhi: ; 18 August 193216 March 1993) was a Pakistani politician and an agriculturist who served as the tenth prime minister of Pakistan, having elected in this capacity in 1985 until being dismissed in 1988. Junejo ...

Prime Minister but accumulated more presidential powers via the Eighth Amendment to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. After Junejo signed the Geneva Accords in 1988 against Zia's wishes, and called for an inquiry into the

Ojhri Camp disaster Ojhri Camp ( ur, اوجھڑی کیمپ) was a military storage center located in Rawalpindi Cantonment, Rawalpindi Military District in Rawalpindi, Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab Province of Pakistan, and the site of the 1988 Ojhri Camp disaster. Ev ...

, Zia dismissed Junejo's government and announced fresh elections in November 1988. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was killed along with several of his top military officials and two American diplomats in a mysterious plane crash near

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...

on 17 August 1988. To this day, Zia remains a polarizing figure in Pakistan's

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, credited with preventing wider Soviet incursions into the region as well as economic prosperity, but decried for weakening democratic institutions and passing laws encouraging religious intolerance. He is also cited for promoting the early political career of

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

, who would be thrice elected Prime Minister. Zia is credited with stopping an expected Soviet invasion of Pakistan. Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince

Turki Al-Faisal Turki bin Faisal Al Saud ( ar, تركي بن فيصل آل سعود, Turkī ibn Fayṣal Āl Su‘ūd; tr, Türki bin Faysal Al Suud) (born 15 February 1945), known also as Turki Al Faisal, is a Saudi prince and former government official who se ...

, who worked with Zia during the 1980s against the Soviets, described Zia in the following words: "He was a very steady and smart person with a geo-strategic mind, particularly after the invasion by Soviets. He was very dedicated in preventing the Soviet invasion of Pakistan."

Early life and family

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was born into a Punjabi

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi agricultural tribe with strong political identity and organisation, found mainly in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh with a small population in parts of Indian Punjab, Uttar Pradesh ...

family in Jullundar, Punjab Province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, on 12 August 1924. Zia-ul-Haq was the second child of Muhammad Akbar Ali, who worked in the administrative corps of the Army GHQ of

India Command Following the Kitchener Reforms of 1903 during the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India, enjoyed control of the Army of India and answered to the civilian Viceroy of India. The Commander-in-Chief's staff was overseen by the Chief of the Ge ...

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

in Delhi and Simla, prior to the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

of India from British colonial rule in 1947. Zia's father was noted for his religiosity, and insisted that his seven children offer their daily morning prayers and learn the Qur’an. Due to his father's role in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, Zia spent his childhood between the hill station of

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, th ...

and Jalandhar as Akbar Ali followed the British administration north during the summers. After completing his initial education in

, Zia attended Delhi's prestigious St. Stephen's College, an Anglican missionary school, for his BA degree in History, from which he graduated with distinction in 1943. He was admitted to the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

, graduating in May 1945 among the last group of officers to be commissioned before the independence of India. In 1947, while his family was in a refugee camp, Captain Zia was the escort officer for the last train of refugees to leave Babina, an armoured corps training center in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, a difficult journey that took seven days, during which the passengers were under constant fire as communal violence broke out in the aftermath of

Partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. In 1950, he married

Shafiq Jahan Begum Shafiq Zia (née Shafiq Jahan; 21 September 1931 – 5 January 1996) was a Pakistani public figure who served as the First Lady of Pakistan from 1977 until her husband's death in a plane crash on 17 August 1988. Early life and family Begu ...

, a relative, and the daughter of a Ugandan-Indian doctor from

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. Begum Shafiq Zia died on 6 January 1996. Zia is survived by his sons,

Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq ( ur, ; born 20 February 1952) is a Pakistani politician who is the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Z). He served as Minister for Religious Affairs and Minorities in the government of General Pervez Musharraf fro ...

, (born 1953), who went into politics and became a cabinet minister in the government of

, and Anwar-ul-Haq (born 1960) and his daughters, Zain (born 1972), a special needs child, Rubina Saleem, who is married to a Pakistani banker and has been living in the United States since 1980, and Quratulain Zia who currently lives in London, and is married to Pakistani doctor, Adnan Majid.

Military service

Zia was commissioned in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

in the

on 12 May 1943 after graduating from the Officer Training School Mhow and fought against

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

forces in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After Pakistan was created following the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, Zia joined the newly formed Pakistan Army as a Major in the

Frontier Force Regiment The Frontier Force Regiment is one of the six infantry regiments of the Pakistan Army. They are popularly known as the ''Piffers'' in reference to their military history as the PIF ( Punjab Irregular Force) of the British Indian Army, or as th ...

. He also served in

13th Lancers The 13th Lancers is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1923 as 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers by the amalgamation of 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers and 32nd Lancers. On Partition of India in 1947, the regiment w ...

and 6 Lancers. He was trained in the United States during 1962–1964 at the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. After that, he returned to take over as Directing Staff (DS) at Command and Staff College,

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

.A.H. Amin
"Interview with Brig (retd) Shamim Yasin Manto"
''Defence Journal'', February 2002 During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Zia is said to have been the Assistant

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

of the 101st Infantry Brigade.

Role in Black September and protection by
Gul Hasan Gul Hassan Khan ( ur, گل حسن خان) (1921; b. 1921—10 October 1999), was a Pakistan Army senior general who served as the 6th and the last Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, serving under President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from 20 Decem ...

Brigadier Zia was stationed in Jordan from 1967 to 1970 as the head of a Pakistani training mission to Jordan. Zia-ul-Haq became involved on the Jordanian side of the military conflict against Palestinians known as Black September. Zia had been stationed in Amman for three years prior to Black September. During the events, according to CIA official

Jack O'Connell Jack O'Connell may refer to: * Jack O'Connell (actor) (born 1990), English actor * Jack O'Connell (Australian politician) (1903–1972), member of the Victorian Legislative Council * Jack O'Connell (diplomat) (1921–2010), American diplomat and C ...

, Zia was dispatched north by

to assess Syria's military capabilities. The Pakistani commander reported back to Hussein, recommending the deployment of a RJAF squadron to the region. Zia-ul-Haq then went on to plan the Jordanian offensive against the Palestinians and commanded an armoured division against them. O'Connell also reported that Zia personally led Jordanian troops during battles. According to the testimonies provided by Major-General A.O. Mitha, it was the Army Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General

Gul Hasan Gul Hassan Khan ( ur, گل حسن خان) (1921; b. 1921—10 October 1999), was a Pakistan Army senior general who served as the 6th and the last Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, serving under President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from 20 Decem ...

's lobbying at the Army GHQ which also saved then Brigadier Zia-ul-Haq from being terminated. Brigadier Zia had been recommended to be court-martialled by Major-General Nawazish in his submission to President

Yahya Khan General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his p ...

for disobeying GHQ orders by commanding a Jordanian armoured division against the Palestinians, as part of actions during Black September in which thousands were killed. It was Gul Hasan who interceded for Zia after which Army Chief General Yahya Khan let Zia off the hook.

Ascent to Chief of Army Staff

He was then promoted as

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and was appointed commander of the ''II Strike Corps'' at Multan in 1975. On 1 March 1976, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto approved then-three star rank general Lieutenant-General Zia as Chief of Army Staff and to be elevated to four-star rank. At the time of his nominating the successor to the outgoing Chief of Army Staff General

Tikka Khan General Tikka Khan ( ur, ٹکا خان; 10 February 1915 – 28 March 2002) was a Pakistan Army general who was the first chief of army staff from 3 March 1972 until retiring on 1 March 1976. Along with Yahya Khan, he is considered a chief a ...

, the Lieutenant Generals in order of seniority were:

Muhammad Shariff General Muhammad Shariff ( ur, ; 22 February 1921 – 6 August 1999) was a senior Pakistan Army general who was the first Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, serving in this post from 1976 until tendering his resignation in 1977 ov ...

, Akbar Khan, Aftab Ahmed, Azmat Baksh Awan, Ibrahim Akram, Abdul Majeed Malik,

Ghulam Jilani Khan , nationality = , party = , otherparty = , spouse = , relations = Zia Ullah Khan , children = Shaukat Jilani Khan Usman Jilani Khan Saulat Jilani Khan Omer Jilani Khan S ...

, and Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. But, Bhutto chose the most junior, superseding seven more senior lieutenant-generals. However, the senior most at that time, Lieutenant-General Mohammad Shariff, though promoted to General, was made the

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), ( ur, ); is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian Government of Pakistan, National Security Council, ...

, a constitutional post akin to President

Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry Fazal Elahi Chaudhry ( ur, ; 1 January 1904 – 2 June 1982) was a Pakistani politician who served as the fifth president of Pakistan from 1973 until 1978, prior to the martial law led by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq. He also serve ...

Husain Haqqani Husain Haqqani (; born 1 July 1956, alternately spelled Hussain Haqqani) is a Pakistani journalist, academic, political activist, and former ambassador of Pakistan to Sri Lanka and the United States. Haqqani has written four books on Pakistan, ...

argues that Bhutto chose Zia ahead of many senior officers for ethnic and caste reasons, thinking than an

would not make alliance with the predominantly

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

and

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

military officers in order to overthrow him, and this is also the reason why he let Zia push for more Islam in the armed forces, like when he changed the army's credo to “ Iman,

Taqwa ''Taqwa'' ( ar, تقوى '' / '') is an Islamic term for being conscious and cognizant of God, of truth, "piety, fear of God."Nanji, Azim. "Islamic Ethics," in ''A Companion to Ethics'', Peter Singer. Oxford: Blackwells,n(1991), pp. 106– ...

Jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

fi Sabil Allah” or when he offered books of

Mawdudi Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the part ...

to his officers as prizes during various competitions, despite the strong ideological antagonism between Bhutto and the Islamist thinker.

Planning of coup

Prime Minister Bhutto began facing considerable criticism and increasing unpopularity as his term progressed; the democratic socialists alliance who had previously allied with Bhutto began to diminish as time progressed. Initially targeting leader of the opposition Vali Khan and his opposition

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by A ...

(NAP), also a socialist party. Despite the ideological similarity of the two parties, the clash of egos both inside and outside the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

became increasingly fierce, starting with the Federal governments decision to oust the NAP provincial government in

Balochistan Province Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...

for alleged secessionist activities and culminating in the banning of the party and arrest of much of its leadership after the death of a close lieutenant of Bhutto's,

Hayat Sherpao Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao ( Urdu: حيات محمد خان شيرپاؤ; 1 February 1937 – February 8, 1975), simply known as Hayat Sherpao, was a left-wing intellectual and socialist, serving as the 15th Governor of North West Frontier P ...

, in a bomb blast in the frontier town of

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Civil disorders against Bhutto

Dissidence also increased within the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

(PPP), and the murder of leading dissident Ahmed Raza Kasuri's father led to public outrage and intra-party hostility as Bhutto was accused of masterminding the crime. PPP leaders such as

Ghulam Mustafa Khar Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar ( ur, ; born 2 August 1937) is a Pakistani politician and feudal lord who has previously served as the Chief Minister of Punjab and Governor of Punjab. Early life He was born on 2 August 1937 in Sanawan in Kot Add ...

openly condemned Bhutto and called for protests against his regime. The political crisis in the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

(NWFP now

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

) and Balochistan intensified as civil liberties remained suspended, and an estimated 100,000 troops deployed there were accused of abusing human rights and killing large numbers of civilians.

1977 parliamentary elections

On 8 January 1977, a large number of opposition political parties grouped to form the

Pakistan National Alliance The Pakistan National Alliance (Urdu: پاکستان قومی اتحاد, Acronym: PNA), was a populist and consolidated right-wing political alliance, consisting of nine political parties of the country. Formed in 1977, the country's leading ...

(PNA). Bhutto called fresh elections, and PNA participated fully in those elections. They managed to contest the elections jointly even though there were grave splits on opinions and views within the party. The PNA faced defeat but did not accept the results, alleging that the election was rigged. They proceeded to boycott the provincial elections. Despite this, there was a high voter turnout in the national elections; however, as provincial elections were held amidst low voter turnout and an opposition boycott, the PNA declared the newly elected Bhutto government as illegitimate.

Coup d'état

Soon, all the opposition leaders called for the overthrow of Bhutto's regime. Political and civil disorder intensified, which led to more unrest. On 21 April 1977, Bhutto imposed

in the major cities of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. However, a compromise agreement between Bhutto and opposition was ultimately reported. Zia planned the Coup d'état carefully, as he knew Bhutto had integral intelligence in the Pakistan Armed Forces, and many officers, including Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal

Zulfiqar Ali Khan Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan (Urdu: ذوالفقار علی خان; 10 December 1930 – 8 March 2005) , was a four-star air officer in the Pakistan Air Force and later a diplomat. He is noted as a first four-star air officer who c ...

and Major-General

Tajammul Hussain Malik Major General Tajammul Hussain Malik (June 13, 1924 - 2003) was a senior officer in the Pakistan Army and the former General Officer Commanding of the 23rd Division of Pakistan Army, retiring with the rank of major general. He was the commanding ...

, GOC of 23rd Mountain Division, Major-General

Naseerullah Babar Major-General Naseerullah Khan Babar (Urdu: نصیر اللہ خان بابر; born 1928 – 10 January 2011) was a Pakistani army officer, diplomat, and politician who served as the 28th Interior Minister of Pakistan from 1993 to 1996. A membe ...

, DG of Directorate-General for the

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

(DGMI) and Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan, were loyal to Bhutto. The coup, (called "

Operation Fair Play Operation Fair Play was the code name for the 5 July 1977 coup by Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The coup itself was bloodless, and was preceded by ...

") transpired in the small hours of 5 July 1977. Before the announcement of any agreement, Bhutto and members of his cabinet were arrested by troops of Military Police under the order of Zia. Bhutto tried to call Zia but all telephone lines were disconnected. When Zia spoke to him later, he reportedly told Bhutto that he was sorry that he had been forced to perform such an "unpleasant task". Zia and his military government portrayed the coup as a "spontaneous response to a difficult situation", but his response was a complete contradiction. Soon after the coup, Zia told the British journalist Edward Behr of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'': However, Zia's Chief of Army Staff General Khalid Mahmud Arif contradicted Zia's statement when Arif noted that the coup had already been planned, and the senior leadership of

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

had solid information. Therefore, Arif met with Bhutto on an emergency basis, stressing and urging Bhutto to "rush negotiations with the opposition". By Arif's and independent expert's accounts, the talks had not broken down even though the coup was very much in the offing. Zia further argued that ''Fair Play'' against Bhutto had been necessitated by the prospect of a civil war that Bhutto had been planning, by distributing weapons to his supporters. However, Arif strongly rejected Zia's remarks on Bhutto, and citing no evidence that weapons were found or recovered at any of the party's election offices, the military junta did not prosecute Bhutto on the charge of planning civil war. Immediately, the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral

Mohammad Shariff Admiral Mohammad Shariff ( ur, ; 1 July 1920 – 27 April 2020), was a Pakistan Navy senior admiral, who served as the 2nd Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and a memoirist who was at the center of all the major decisions made ...

announced his and the navy's strong support for Zia and his military government. But, the Chief of Air Staff General

Zulfikar Ali Khan Major Nawab Sayyid Zulfikar Ali Khan Bahadur (11 March 1934 – 5 April 1992) was an Indian politician and an Indian army officer who ruled as Titular Nawab of Rampur from 1982 to 1992, succeeding his elder brother Murtaza Ali Khan Baha ...

remains unsupported while the

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) ( ur, ) is, in principle, the highest-ranking and senior most uniformed military officer, typically at four-star rank, in the Pakistan Armed Forces who serves as a Principal Staff Officer and ...

General

remains neutral, while he silently expressed his support to Prime minister Zulfikar Bhutto. In 1978, Zia pressured President

to appoint General

Anwar Shamim Air Chief Marshal Mohammad Anwar Shamim ( ur, ); (1 October 1931 – 4 January 2013) was a senior air officer of the Pakistan Air Force and was the Chief of Air Staff, appointed to the post in 1978 until retiring in 1985. Born in Haripur, B ...

as Chief of Air Staff; and Admiral

Karamat Rahman Niazi Admiral Karamat Rahman Niazi ( ur, ; usually shortened to K.R. Niazi) (died 4 May 2021) was a senior officer of Pakistan Navy who served as the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) from 1979 to 1983 of Pakistan Navy. He was renowned for being the co ...

as Chief of Naval Staff in 1979. On Zia's recommendation, President Illahi appointed Admiral Mohammad Shariff as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hence making the Admiral the highest-ranking officer and principal military adviser overlooking all of the inter-services, including the Chiefs of Staff of the respected forces. In 1979, the Chiefs of Army, Navy, and the Air Force, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff validated the coup as constitutional and legal under the war-torn circumstances, pledging their support to Zia as well.

United States sponsorship

President Ronald Reagan and Bill Clark meeting with President Mohammad Zia Ul Haq

The United States, notably the

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

, was an ardent supporter of Zia's military regime and a close ally of Pakistan's conservative-leaning ruling military establishment. The Reagan administration declared Zia's regime as the "front line" ally of the United States in the fight against the threat of Communism. American legislators and senior officials most notable were

Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ( , ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), or Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter's ...

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, Charlie Wilson,

Joanne Herring Joanne King Herring (born July 3, 1929) is an American socialite, businesswoman, political activist, philanthropist, diplomat, and former television talk show host. Originally from Houston, Texas, she is best known for influencing policy throug ...

, and the civilian intelligence officers

Michael Pillsbury Michael Paul Pillsbury (born February 8, 1945) is an author, and former public official in the United States. He has been the Director of the Center on Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. since 2014. Before Hudson, he he ...

and

Gust Avrakotos Gustav Lascaris Avrakotos (January 14, 1938 – December 1, 2005) was an American case officer and the Afghan Task Force Chief for the Central Intelligence Agency. Avrakotos joined the CIA in August 1962 and was posted to Greece in 1963. Followi ...

, and senior US military officials General John William Vessey, and General Herbert M. Wassom, had been long associated with the Zia military regime where they had made frequent trips to Pakistan advising on expanding the idea of establishment in the political circle of Pakistan. Nominally, the

American conservatism Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conservative ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's Republican Party influenced Zia to adopt his idea of

Islamic conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in r ...

as the primary line of his military government, forcefully enforcing the Islamic and other religious practices in the country. The socialist orientation had greatly alarmed the capitalist forces in Pakistan and as well as brought a clinging bell tolls alarm to the United States who feared the loss of Pakistan as an ally in the cold war. Many of Pakistan's political scientists and historians widely suspected that the riots and coup against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was orchestrated with help of the US

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA) and the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

because United States growing fear of Bhutto's socialist policies which were seen as sympathetic towards the

and had built a bridge that allowed Soviet Union to be involved in Pakistan, and had access through Pakistan's warm water port; something that the United States was unable to gain access since the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. Former

US Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Ramsey Clark William Ramsey Clark (December 18, 1927 – April 9, 2021) was an American lawyer, activist, and federal government official. A progressive, New Frontier liberal, he occupied senior positions in the United States Department of Justice under Pres ...

widely suspected the United States' involvement in bringing down the Bhutto's government, and publicly accused the United States' Government after attending the trial. On the other hand, the United States refused any involvement in Bhutto's fall, and argued that it was Bhutto who had alienated himself over the five years. While witnessing the dramatic fall of Bhutto, one US diplomat in American Embassy in Islamabad wrote that:

Postponement of elections and call for accountability

After assuming power as Chief Martial Law Administrator, Zia shortly appeared on national television, PTV promising to hold new and neutral

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

within the next 90 days

My sole aim is to organize free and fair elections which would be held in October this year. Soon after the polls, power will be transferred to the elected representatives of the people. I give a solemn assurance that I will not deviate from this schedule.

He also stated that the

Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's Pakistani political parties, opposition ...

had not been abrogated, but temporarily suspended. Zia did not trust the civilian institutions and legislators to ensure the country's integrity and sovereignty therefore, in October 1977, he announced the postponement of the electoral plan and decided to start an accountability process for the politicians. On television, Zia strongly defended his decision for postponing the elections and demanded that "scrutiny of political leaders who had engaged in malpractice in the past". Thus, the PNA adopted its policy of " retribution first, elections later". Zia's policy severely tainted his credibility as many saw the broken promise as malicious. Another motive was that Zia widely suspected that once out of power the size of the Pakistan Peoples Party rallies would swell and better performance in elections was possible. This led to request for postponement of elections by the right-wing Islamists as well as left-wing socialists, formerly allied with Bhutto, which displaced Bhutto in the first place. Zia dispatched an intelligence unit, known as ''ISI's'' Political Wing, sending Brigadier-General Taffazul Hussain Siddiqiui, to Bhutto's native Province,

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, to assess whether people would accept martial law. The ''Political Wing'' also contacted the several right-wing Islamists and conservatives, promising an election, with PNA power-sharing the government with Zia. Zia successfully divided and separated the secular forces from right-wing Islamists and conservatives, and later purged each member of the secular front. A Disqualification Tribunal was formed, and several individuals who had been members of parliament were charged with

malpractice In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional".Malpractice definition, Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions inc ...

and disqualified from participating in politics at any level for the next seven years. A

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

document was issued, incriminating the deposed Bhutto government on several counts. It is reported by senior officers that when Zia met federal secretaries for the first time as leader of the country after martial law, he said that "He does not possess the charisma of Bhutto, personality of Ayub Khan or the legitimacy of

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

" thereby implying how can he be marketed.

Tenure as Chief Martial Law Administrator

After deposing Prime Minister Bhutto on 5 July 1977, Zia-ul-Haq declared martial law, and appointed himself Chief Martial Law Administrator, which he remained until becoming president on 16 September 1978.

The doctrine of necessity

Nusrat Bhutto ''Begum'' Nusrat Bhutto (; sd, نصرت ڀٽو; ur, ; born as Nusrat Ispahani; 23 March 1929 – 23 October 2011) was an Iranian-Pakistani public figure of Kurdish origin, who served as spouse of the Prime Minister of Pakistan between 1971 unti ...

, the wife of the deposed Prime Minister, filed a suit against Zia's

military regime A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

, challenging the validity of the July 1977 military coup. The

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

ruled, in what would later be known as the ''Doctrine of Necessity'' (not to be confused with the 1954

doctrine of necessity The doctrine of necessity is the basis on which extra-constitutional actions by administrative authority, which are designed to restore order or attain power on the pretext of stability, are considered to be lawful even if such an action contrave ...

) that, given the dangerously unstable political situation of the time, Zia's overthrowing of the Bhutto government was legal on the grounds of

necessity Necessary or necessity may refer to: * Need ** An action somebody may feel they must do ** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment * Necessary and sufficient condition, in logic, something that i ...

. The judgement tightened the general's hold on the government. When Bhutto appeared personally to argue his appeal in the supreme court, he almost affirmed his concurrence with the judges present for not letting off a judgement without imposing some conditions on ruling military government.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto trial

Former elected Prime Minister

was arrested during the coup but released shortly afterwards. Upon his release, Bhutto travelled the country amid adulatory crowds of PPP supporters. On 3 September 1977, he was arrested again by the Army on charges of authorising the murder of a political opponent in March 1974. The trial proceedings began 24 October 1977 and lasted five months. On 18 March 1978, Bhutto was declared guilty of murder and was sentenced to death. In the words of Aftab Kazie and

Roedad Khan Roedad Khan ( Urdu: روئیداد خان; born 28 September 1923) is a Pakistani politician and former civil servant. He was a leading figure in Pakistan from the start to the end of the Cold War. During his long career, Khan was one of the mo ...

, Zia hated Bhutto and had used inappropriate language and insults to describe Bhutto and his colleagues. The Supreme Court ruled four to three in favour of execution. The High Court had given him the death sentence on charges of the murder of the father of Ahmed Raza Kasuri, a dissident PPP politician. Despite many

clemency A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

appeals from foreign leaders requesting Zia to

commute Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to: * Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work Mathematics * Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...

Bhutto's death sentence, Zia dismissed the appeals and upheld the death sentence. On 4 April 1979, Bhutto was hanged, after the Supreme Court upheld the

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

as passed by the

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...

. The hanging of an elected prime minister by a military dictator was condemned by the international community and by lawyers and jurists across Pakistan. Bhutto's trial was highly controversial.

Appointment of martial law administrators

Martial law judges

The ''Ad hoc'' appointments of senior justices at the Supreme Court of Pakistan was one of the earliest and major steps were taken out by the military government under General Zia-ul-Haq. Zia had recognised the fact that since, Bhutto had good equations with the governments of the

, and all the important

western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, excluding the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Still, it was a formidable array of sovereigns, presidents and prime ministers and the PPP can be forgiven for making a massive political miscalculations. After calling for martial law, Zia pressured President Fazal Illahi to appoint Justice

Sheikh Anwarul Haq Chief Justice Sheikh Anwarul Haq ( Punjabi and ur, شیخ انوار الحق‎; 11 May 1917 – 3 March 1995), was a Pakistani jurist and an academic who served as the 9th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 23 September 1977 until resi ...

Chief Justice of Pakistan } The Chief Justice of Pakistan (Urdu: ) (Initialism, initials as CJP) is head of the court system of Pakistan (the Judiciary of Pakistan, judicature branch of Government of Pakistan, government) and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Paki ...

on 23 September 1977. Immediately, chief justice Yaqub Ali was forcefully removed from the office after the latter agreed to re-hear the petition filed at the supreme court by the peoples party's chairwoman

on 20 September 1977. After Justice Yaqub Ali's removal, Bhutto objected to the inclusion of the new Chief Justice, Sheikh Anwar-ul-Haq, as a chief justice of the Bench on the grounds that by accepting the office of acting president during the absence of Zia-ul-Haq from the country, he had compromised his impartial status. Bhutto also stated that the Chief Justice in his public statements had been critical of his government in the recent past. The objection was over-ruled by the Chief Justice Anwarul Haq, and the case of Bhutto was again heard by the Chief Justice Anwar-ul-Haq as the bench's lead judge, and presided the whole case of

while forcing the martial law throughout Pakistan. Shortly, after Zia's return, another judge Mushtak Ahmad also gained Zia and Anwar-ul-Haq's support and elevated as the ''ad hoc'' Chief Justice of

; he was too part of the bench who retained the death sentence of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto even though Bhutto was not declared guilty of the murder of the political opponent. In 1979, when Zia departed for

, Justice Haq served as interim president of Pakistan.

Martial law governors

General Shamim Alam Khan receiving the Hilal-i-Imtiaz

The Zia regime largely made use of installing high-profile military generals to carte blanche provincial administration under martial law. Zia's Guides Cavalry comrade Lieutenant-General Fazhle Haque was appointed Martial Law Administrator of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Lieutenant-General Fazle Haque was considered a strong vocal General and a strong man. General Haque was the commander of the

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

, and commanding-general officer of the Army elements responsible for fighting a secret war against Soviet Union. The second appointment was of Lieutenant-General S.M. Abbasi who was appointed

Martial Law Administrator Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 an ...

Sindh Province Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

; his tenure too saw civil disorder amid student riots. By contrast, third martial law administrator appointment of Lieutenant-General Ghulam Jilani Khan to the Punjab Province made much headway in beautifying Lahore extending infrastructure, and muting political opposition. The ascent of

to Chief Minister of Punjab was largely due to General Jilani's sponsorship. Perhaps most crucially, final and fourth martial law administrator appointment was then-Lieutenant-General

Rahimuddin Khan Rahimuddin Khan (21 July 1926 – 22 August 2022) was a general of the Pakistan Army who served as the 4th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1984 to 1987, after serving as the 7th governor of Balochistan from 1978 to 1984. He als ...

. Lieutenant-General Rahimuddin Khan was appointed to the post of

saw the disbanding of the

Baloch insurgency The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch nationalists against the governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Balochistan region, which covers the Balochistan Province in southwestern Pakistan, Sistan and Baluchestan Prov ...

, the containment of Afghan Mujahideen, as well as the construction of nuclear test sites in the

Chagai District Chaghi District ( bal, ; urd, ), also known as Chaghi District, is the largest district of Pakistan by area, located in the north west corner of Balochistan, Pakistan. Demographics At the time of the 2017 census the district had a population ...

. Zia's tenure saw the influx of heroin, sophisticated weaponry, and countless refugees in from neighbouring

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Law and order deterioration was worse after he appointed Mr. Junejo as Prime minister in 1985. The government did not locate evidence of Zia having a relationship in the heroin trade, but has been considered. Zia benefited from the extremely capable martial law administrators who previously had worked with the military governments of former president

and Ayub Khan in the 1960s. One of the notable officers that had worked with him were General Khalid Arief, Chief of Army Staff, and Admiral

, Chairman Joint Chiefs. Both were noted by Western governments as highly capable and had wide experience from the military government of the East-Pakistan and remained General Zia' confidential members. Both Admiral Sharif and General Arif handled the matters efficiently if the matters were out of control by Zia. In 1979, Zia influenced the Navy's Promotion Board several times after he succeeded first in the appointment of Admiral Caramatt Nazi as Chief of Naval Staff in 1979, and Admiral Tarik Kamal Khan, also chief of naval staff, in 1983. On his request, then-President Fazal Illahi approved the appointment of General

as Chief of Air Staff and following President's resignation, Zia appointed Shamim as the Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator. In the matters of serious national security, General Zia had taken the chief of air staff and chief of naval staff in confidence after he discussed the matters with the respected chiefs of Staff. Zia's appointment in inter-services were highly crucial for his military government and pre-emptive measure to ensure the continuous loyalty of Navy and Air Force to himself and his new military government.

Tenure as President of Pakistan

Assumption of the post of President of Pakistan

Despite the dismissal of most of the Bhutto government, President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry was persuaded to continue in office as a

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...

. After completing his term, and despite Zia's insistence to accept an extension as President, Chaudhry resigned, and Zia took the office of President of Pakistan on 16 September 1978.

Political structural changes

Formation of Majlis-e-Shoora

Although ostensibly only holding office until free elections could be held, General Zia, like the previous military governments, disapproved of the lack of discipline and orderliness that often accompanies multiparty "

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

." He preferred a "presidential" form of government and a system of decision making by technical experts, or "

technocracy Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

". His first replacement for the parliament or National Assembly was a ''Majlis-e-Shoora'', or "consultative council." After banning all political parties in 1979 he disbanded

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and at the end of 1981 set up the majlis, which was to act as a sort of board of advisors to the President and assist with the process of Islamization. The 350 members of the ''Shoora'' were to be nominated by the President and possessed only the power to consult with him, and in reality served only to endorse decisions already taken by the government. Most members of the ''Shoora'' were intellectuals, scholars,

ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

, journalists, economists, and professionals in different fields. Zia's parliament and his military government reflect the idea of "military-bureaucratic technocracy" (MBT) where professionals, engineers, and high-profile military officers were initially part of his military government. His antipathy for the politicians led the promotion of bureaucratic-technocracy which was seen a strong weapon of countering the politicians and their political strongholds. Senior statesman and technocrats were included physicist-turned diplomat

Agha Shahi Agha Shahi ( ur, آغا شا ﮨی; 25 August 1920 – 6 September 2006), ''NI'', was a Pakistani career Foreign service officer who was the leading civilian figure in the military government of former President General Zia-ul-Haq from 1977 t ...

, jurist Sharifuddin Perzada, corporate leader

, economist

Mahbub ul Haq Mahbub ul Haq ( ur, ; ) was a Pakistani economist, international development theorist, and politician who served as the Minister of Finance of Pakistan from 10 April 1985 to 28 January 1986, and again from June to December 1988 as a careta ...

, and senior statesman Aftab Kazie,

, and chemist-turned diplomat

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Ghulam Ishaq Khan ( ur, غلام اسحاق خان; 20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), was a Pakistani bureaucrat who served as the seventh president of Pakistan, elected in 1988 following Zia's death until his resignation in 1993. He wa ...

were a few of the leading technocratic figures in his military government. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq 1982

Referendum of 1984

After Bhutto's execution, momentum to hold elections began to mount both internationally and within Pakistan. But before handing over power to elected representatives, Zia-ul-Haq attempted to secure his position as the head of state. A

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

was held on 19 December 1984 with the option being to elect or reject the General as the future President, the wording of the referendum making a vote against Zia appear to be a vote against Islam. According to official figures 97.8% of votes were cast in favour of Zia, however only 20% of the electorate participated in the referendum.

1985 elections and constitutional amendments

After holding the 1984 referendum, Zia succumbed to international pressure and gave permission to election commission to hold national wide

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

but without political parties in February 1985. Most of the major opposing political parties decided to

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

the elections but election results showed that many victors belonged to one party or the other. Critics complained that ethnic and sectarian mobilisation filled the void left by banning political parties (or making elections "non-partisan"), to the detriment of national integration. The General worked to give himself the power to dismiss the Prime Minister dissolve the National Assembly, appoint provincial governors and the chief of the armed forces. His prime minister

was known as a unassuming and soft-spoken Sindhi. Before handing over the power to the new government and lifting the martial law, Zia got the new legislature to retroactively accept all of Zia's actions of the past eight years, including his coup of 1977. He also managed to get several amendments passed, most notably the Eighth Amendment, which granted "''

reserve power In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power, also known as discretionary power, is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch or part of the government. Unlike in ...

''s" to the president to dissolve the Parliament. However, this amendment considerably reduced the power he'd previously granted himself to dissolve the legislature, at least on paper. The text of the amendment permitted Zia to dissolve the Parliament only if the government had been toppled by a vote of no confidence and it was obvious that no one could form a government or the government could not function in a constitutional manner.

Economic policy

In general Zia gave economic development and policy a fairly low priority (aside from Islamization) and delegating its management to technocrats such as Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Aftab Qazi and Vaseem Jaffrey. However, between 1977 and 1986, the country experienced an average annual growth in the GNP of 6.8%—the highest in the world at that time—thanks in large part to remittances from the overseas workers, rather than government policy. The first year of Zia's government coincided with a dramatic rise in remittances, which totalled $3.2 billion/year for most of the 1980s, accounted for 10 percent of Pakistans's GDP; 45 percent of its current account receipts, and 40 percent of total foreign exchange earnings. By the time General Zia had initiated the coup against Prime Minister

Zulfikar 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 Politician, statesman who served as ...

, the economic cycle process of

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

program was completed. The socialist orientation and nationalisation program was slowly reversed; the idea of

corporatisation Corporatization is the process of transforming and restructuring state assets, government agencies, public organizations, or municipal organizations into corporations. It involves the adoption and application of business management practices and ...

was heavily favoured by President Zia-ul-Haq to direct the authoritarianism in the nationalised industries. One of his well-known and earliest initiatives were aimed to

Islamize The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...

the national economy which featured the Interest-free

economic cycle Business cycles are intervals of expansion followed by recession in economic activity. These changes have implications for the welfare of the broad population as well as for private institutions. Typically business cycles are measured by examini ...

. No actions towards privatising the industries were ordered by President Zia; only three steel mill industries were returned to its previous owners. By the end of 1987, the

finance ministry A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

had begun studying the process of engaging the gradual privatisation and economic liberalisation.

Soviet-Afghan War and strategic initiatives

Soviet invasion and Soviet–Afghan War

On 25 December 1979, the

(USSR) intervened in Afghanistan. Following this invasion, Zia chaired a meeting and was asked by several cabinet members to refrain from interfering in the war, owing to the vastly superior military power of the USSR. Zia, however, was ideologically opposed to the idea of communism taking over a neighbouring country, supported by the fear of Soviet advancement into Pakistan, particularly Balochistan, in search of warm waters, and made no secret about his intentions of monetarily and militarily aiding the Afghan resistance (the Mujahideen) with major assistance from the United States. During this meeting, the

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

of the

Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

(ISI) then-Lieutenant-General Akhtar Abdur Rahman advocated for a covert operation in Afghanistan by arming Islamic Extremists. After this meeting, Zia authorised this operation under General Rahman, and it was later merged with

Operation Cyclone Operation Cyclone was the code name for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program to arm and finance the Afghan mujahideen in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1992, prior to and during the military intervention by the USSR in suppor ...

, a programme funded by the United States and the

(CIA). In November 1982, Zia travelled to Moscow to attend the funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, the late

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

. Soviet Foreign Minister

Andrei Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...

and new Secretary General

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the p ...

met with Zia there. Andropov expressed indignation over Pakistan's support of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union and its satellite state, Socialist Afghanistan. Zia took his hand and assured him, "General Secretary, believe me, Pakistan wants nothing but very good relations with the Soviet Union". According to Gromyko, Zia's sincerity convinced them, but Zia's actions didn't live up to his words. Zia reversed many of Bhutto's foreign policy initiatives by first establishing stronger links with the United States, Japan, and the Western world. Zia broken off relations with the Socialist state and State capitalism became his major economic policy. US politician Charlie Wilson claims that he worked with Zia and the CIA to channel Soviet weapons that Israel captured from the PLO in Lebanon to fighters in Afghanistan. Wilson claims that Zia remarked to him: "Just don't put any stars of David on the boxes".

Consolidation of atomic bomb program

One of the earliest initiatives taken by Zia in 1977, was to militarize the Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction, integrated atomic energy program which was founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1972. During the first stages, the program was under the control of Bhutto and the Ministry of Science and Technology (Pakistan), Directorate for Science, under Science Advisor Dr. Mubashir Hassan, who was heading the civilian committee that supervised the construction of the facilities and laboratories. This atomic bomb project had no boundaries with Munir Ahmad Khan and Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan leading their efforts separately and reported to Bhutto and his science adviser Dr. Hassan who had little interest in the atomic bomb project. Major-General Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, Zahid Ali Akbar, an engineering officer, had little role in the atomic project; Zia responded by taking over the program under military control and disbanded the civilian directorate when he ordered the arrest of Hassan. This whole giant Kahuta Project, nuclear energy project was transferred into the administrative hands of Major-General Akbar who was soon made the Lieutenant-General and Engineer-in-Chief (Pakistan Army), Engineer-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers to deal with the authorities whose co-operation was required. Akbar consolidated the entire project by placing the scientific research under military control, setting boundaries and goals. Akbar proved to be an extremely capable officer in the matters of science and technology when he aggressively led the development of nuclear weapons under Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdul Qadeer Khan in a matter of five years. By the time, Zia assumed control, the research facilities became fully functional and 90% of the work on atom bomb project was completed. Both the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) had built the extensive research infrastructure started by Bhutto. Akbar's office was shifted to Army's General Headquarters (Pakistan Army), General Headquarters (GHQ) and Akbar guided Zia on key matters of nuclear science and atomic bomb production. He became the first engineering officer to have acknowledge Zia about the success of this energy project into a fully matured program. On the recommendation of Akbar, Zia approved the appointment of Munir Ahmad Khan as the scientific director of the atomic bomb project, as Zia was convinced by Akbar that civilian scientists under Munir Khan's directorship were at their best to counter international pressure. This was proved when the PAEC conducted the cold-fission test of a fission device, codename ''Kirana-I'' on 11 March 1983 at the Kirana Hills, Weapon-Testing Laboratories-I, under the leadership of weapon-testing laboratory's director Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad. Lieutenant-General Zahid Akbar went to GHQ and notified Zia about the success of this test. The PAEC responded by conducting several cold-tests throughout the 1980s, a policy also continued by Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s. According to the reference in the book, "''Eating Grass''", Zia was so deeply convinced of the infiltration of Western and American moles and spies into the project, that he extended his role in the atomic bomb, which reflected extreme "paranoia", in both his personal and professional life. He virtually had PAEC and KRL separated from each other and made critical administrative decisions rather than putting scientists in charge of the aspects of the atomic programs. His actions spurred innovation in the atomic bomb project and an intense secrecy and security culture permeated PAEC and KRL.

Nuclear diplomacy

Unlike Bhutto, who faced rogue criticism and a heated diplomatic war with the United States throughout the 1970s, Zia took different diplomatic approaches to counter the international pressure. From 1979 to 1983, the country was made a subject of attack by international organization for not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); Zia deftly neutralized international pressure by tagging Pakistan's nuclear weapons program to the nuclear designs of the neighboring India and weapons of mass destruction, Indian nuclear program. Zia, with the help of Munir Ahmad Khan and

, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Foreign Minister, drew a five-point proposal as a practical rejoinder to world pressure on Pakistan to sign the NPT; the points including the renouncing of the use of nuclear weapons. Following the success of ''Operation Opera'' – in which an Israeli Air Force strike took place to destroy the Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, Iraqi nuclear program in 1981 – suspicion grew in Pakistan that the Indian Air Force had similar plans for Pakistan. In a private meeting with General

, then- Chief of Air Staff, Zia had notified General Shamim that the Indian Air Force had plans to infiltrate Pakistan's nuclear energy project, citing solid evidence. Shamim felt that the Air Force was unable to divert such attacks, therefore, he advised Zia to use diplomacy through Munir Ahmad Khan to divert the attacks. At Vienna, Munir Ahmad Khan met with Indian physicist Raja Ramanna and notified him that such an attack would provoke a nuclear war between the two countries. In the meantime, Shamim decided to start the program to acquire the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-16 Falcons and Nanchang Q-5, A-5 Fanton jets for the Pakistan Air Force. Shamim launched Anwar Shamim#Operation Sentinel, ''Operation Sentinel''- a counter operation that thwarted the Israeli Air Force attempt to sabotage Pakistan's nuclear energy project—forced Indian Premier Indira Gandhi to hold talks with Pakistan on nuclear issues and directed a high delegation to Pakistan where both countries pledged not to assist or attack each other's facilities. In 1985, following the induction of the F-16 Falcons and A-5 Fantons, Shamim commissioned the Air Force Strategic Command (Pakistan), Air Force Strategic Command to protect and battle the weapons of mass destruction. In 1977, Zia ultimately adopted the policy of "nuclear opacity" to Policy of deliberate ambiguity, deliberately deny the atomic bomb programs. This policy of nuclear ambiguity was adopted after witnessing the success of Israel's nuclear programme, Israel's nuclear program and on multiple occasions Zia broke his words and promises concerning the nature of the country's atomic bomb project. On nuclear policy issues, Zia deliberately misguided the United States and concealed classified information from the outside world. The United States trusted Zia's sincerity and his promises made to the United States; Zia gave assurances to the United States not to produce weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) above a 5% level. However, the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Vernon Walter, confronted Zia on his secret trip to Pakistan in October 1981. Confronted with the evidence, Zia acknowledged that the information "must be true," but then denied everything, leading Walters to conclude that: "either Zia "did not know the facts" or was the "most superb and patriotic liar I have ever met...".

Nuclear proliferation

Soon after the coup, the clandestine nuclear energy project was no longer a secret to the outside world. Part of his strategy was the promotion of nuclear proliferation in anti-western states (such as North Korea, Iran, and communist People's Republic of China, China) to aid their own nuclear ambitions, to divert international attention which was difficult. In 1981, Zia contracted with China when he sent weapon-grade uranium to China and also built the centrifuge laboratory which increasingly enhanced the China and weapons of mass destruction, Chinese nuclear program. This act encouraged Abdul Qadeer Khan, who allegedly tried to aid the Libyan nuclear programme but because Libya–Pakistan relations were strained, Khan was warned of serious consequences. This policy envisaged that this would deflect international pressure onto these countries, and Pakistan would be spared the international community's wrath. After Zia's death, his successor General Mirza Aslam Beg, as Chief of Army Staff, encouraged Abdul Qadeer Khan and gave him a free hand to work with some like-minded nations such as North Korea, Iran and Libya which also wanted to pursue their nuclear ambitions for a variety of reasons. In 2004, Abdul Khan's dismissal from the nuclear weapons program was considered a face saving exercise by the Pakistan Armed Forces and political establishment under the then Chief of Army Staff and President General Pervez Musharraf. Zia's nuclear proliferation policy had a deep impact on the world, especially anti-western states, most nominally North Korea and Iran. In the 2000s (decade), North Korea would soon follow the same suit after it was targeted by the international community for its on-going North Korea and weapons of mass destruction, nuclear program. In the 2000s (decade), North Korea attempted to aid the Syria and weapons of mass destruction, Syrian and Iranian nuclear programme, Iranian nuclear program in the 1990s. The North Korean connection to the Syrian nuclear program was exposed in 2007 by Israel in its successful strategic operation, Operation Orchard, ''Orchard'', which resulted in them sabotaging the Syrian nuclear program as well as the deaths of 10 senior North Korean scientists who were aiding the nuclear program.

Expansion

Even though Zia had removed the Bhutto sentiment in the nuclear energy project, Zia did not completely disband Bhutto's policy on nuclear weapons. After the retirement of Zahid Ali Akbar, Zia transferred control of the nuclear weapons program to Bhutto's close aide Munir Ahmad Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Soon, Zia promoted Khan as the technical director of the entire program as well as appointing Khan as his Science Adviser. With the support of handpicked civilian Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, Muhammad Juneijo, Zia sanctioned the launch of the 50 Megawatt (MW) heavy water plutonium production reactor, known as Khushab Nuclear Complex, ''Khushab-I'', at Khushab in 1985. Zia also took initiatives to launched the space projects as spin-off to nuclear project. Zia appointed nuclear engineer Salim Mehmud as the Administrator of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, Space Research Commission. Zia also launched the work on the country's first satellite, ''Badr-1'', a military satellite. In 1987, Zia launched the clandestine aerospace project, the Pakistani missile research and development program, Integrated Missile Research Program under General

in 1985, and later under Lieutenant-General Talat Masood in 1987.

The war legacy

The rise of the illicit drug trade and its spread through Pakistan to the rest of the world increased tremendously during the Soviet-Afghan war. Afghanistan's drug industry began to take off after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Desperate for cash with which to buy weapons, various elements in the anti-Communist resistance turned to the drug trade. This was tolerated if not condoned by their American sponsors such as the CIA.

'Sharization' of Pakistan

The "primary" policy or "centerpiece" of Zia's government was "Sharization" or "Islamization". In 1977, prior to the coup, the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims, along with nightclubs, and horse racing was banned by Prime Minister Bhutto in an effort to stem the tide of street Islamization. Zia went much further, committing himself to enforce ''Nizam-e-Mustafa'' ("Rule of the prophet" or Islamic System, i.e. establishing an Islamic state and sharia law), a significant turn from Pakistan's predominantly secular law, inherited from the British. In his first televised speech to the country as head of state Zia declared that

Pakistan which was created in the name of Islam will continue to survive only if it sticks to Islam. That is why I consider the introduction of [an] Islamic system as an essential prerequisite for the country.

In the past he complained, "Many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam." Zia established "Sharia Benches" in each High Court (later the Federal Sharia Court) to judge legal cases using the teachings of the Quran and the Sunna, and to bring Pakistan's legal statutes into alignment with Islamic doctrine. Zia bolstered the influence of the ''ulama'' (Islamic clergy) and the Islamic parties. 10,000s of activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami party were appointed to government posts to ensure the continuation of his agenda after his passing. Conservative ''ulama'' (Islamic scholars) were added to the Council of Islamic Ideology. Islamization was a sharp change from Bhutto's original philosophical rationale captured in the slogan, ''"Food, clothing, and shelter"''. In Zia's view, socialist economics and a secular-socialist orientation served only to upset Pakistan's natural order and weaken its moral fiber. General Zia defended his policies in an interview in 1979 given to British journalist Ian Stephens: How much of Zia's motivation came from piety and how much from political calculation is disputed. One author points out that Zia was conspicuously silent on the dispute between the heterodox Zikri and the 'Ulama in Balochistan where he needed stability. Secular and leftist forces accused Zia of manipulating Islam for political ends. According to Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady of Pakistan: How much success Zia had using state-sponsored Islamization to strengthen national cohesion is also disputed. Religious riots broke out in 1983 and 1984. Sectarian divisions between Sunnis and Shia worsened over the issue of the 1979 ''Zakat'' ordinance, but differences in Fiqh jurisprudence also arose in marriage and divorce, inheritance and wills and imposition of ''hadd'' punishments. Among Sunni Muslims, Deobandis and Barelvis also had disputes. Zia favoured the Deobandi doctrine and so the Sufi Pir (Sufism), pirs of

(who were Barelvis) joined the anti-Zia Movement for the Restoration of Democracy.

Hudood Ordinance

In one of his first and most controversial measures to Islamize Pakistani society was the replacement of parts of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) with the 1979 "Hudood Ordinance." (Hudood meaning limits or restrictions, as in limits of acceptable behavior in Islamic law.) The Ordinance added new criminal offences of adultery and fornication to Pakistani law, and new punishments of Flagellation#Islam, whipping, Amputation#Legal punishment, amputation, and Rajm, stoning to death. For theft or robbery, the PPC punishments of imprisonment or fine, or both, were replaced by amputation of the right hand of the offender for theft, and amputation of the right hand and left foot for robbery. For ''Zina (Arabic), Zina'' (extramarital sex) the provisions relating to adultery were replaced by the Ordinance with punishments of flogged 100 lashes for those unmarried offenders, and Rajm, stoning to death for married offenders. All these punishments were dependent on proof required for ''hadd'' being met. In practice the Hudd requirement—four Muslim men of good repute testifying as witness to the crime—was seldom met. As of 2014, no offenders have been stoned or had limbs amputated by the Pakistani judicial system. To be found guilty of theft, ''zina'', or drinking alcohol by less strict ''tazir'' standards—where the punishment was flogging and/or imprisonment—was common, and there have been many floggings. More worrisome for human rights and women's rights advocates, lawyers and politicians was the incarceration of thousands of rape victims on charges of ''zina''. The onus of providing proof in a rape case rests with the woman herself. Uncorroborated testimony by women was inadmissible in hudood crimes. If the victim/accuser was unable to prove her allegation, bringing the case to court was considered equivalent to a confession of sexual intercourse outside of lawful marriage. Despite this the ordinance remained in force until the Women's Protection Bill was passed in 2006. Although the Sharia punishments were imposed, the due process, witnesses, law of evidence, and prosecution system remained Anglo-Saxon. The hybridization of Pakistan penal code with Islamic laws was difficult because of the difference in the underlying logic of the two legal systems. PPC was kingly law, ''Haddood'' is a religious and community-based law.

Islamic Law

Under Zia, the order for women to cover their heads while in public was implemented in public schools, colleges and state television. Women's participation in sports and the performing arts was severely restricted. Following Sharia law, women's legal testimony was given half the weight of a man's, . In 1980 the "Zakat and Ushr Ordinance, 1980" was implemented. The measure called for a 2.5% annual deduction from personal bank accounts on the first day of Ramadan, with Zia stating that the revenues would be used for poverty relief. Zakat committees were established to oversee distribution of the funds. In 1981 interest payments were replaced by "profit and loss" accounts (though profit was thought to be simply interest by another name). Textbooks were overhauled to remove un-Islamic material, and un-Islamic books were removed from libraries. Eating and drinking during Ramadan was outlawed, attempts were made to enforce praying of salat five times a day.

Blasphemy ordinances

To outlaw blasphemy, the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) were amended through ordinances in 1980, 1982 and 1986. The 1980 law prohibited derogatory remarks against Islamic personages, and carried a three-year prison sentence. In 1982 the small Ahmadiyya religious minority were prohibited from saying or implying they were Muslims. In 1986 declaring anything implying disrespect to the Prophets of Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, ''Ahl al-Bayt'' (family members of Muhammad), ''Sahabah'' (companions of Muhammad) or ''Symbols of Islam, Sha'ar-i-Islam'' (Islamic symbols) was made a cognisable offence, punishable with imprisonment or fine, or both.

Madrassa expansions

Traditional religious Madrassas in Pakistan, madrassass in Pakistan received state sponsorship for the first time, under the General Zia-ul-Haq's administration,Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam
edited by Zahid Hussain, Columbia University Press, 2006, p.81 their number grew from 893 to 2,801. Most were Deobandi in doctrinal orientation, while one quarter of them were Barelvi.Apocalyptic Realm: Jihadists in South Asia
By Dilip Hiro, Yale University Press, 2012, p.162 They received funding from Zakat councils and provided free religious training, room and board to impoverished Pakistanis.Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam
edited by Zahid Hussain, Columbia University Press, 2006, p.78 The schools, which banned televisions and radios, have been criticised by authors for stoking sectarian hatred both between Muslim sects and against non-Muslims.

Cultural policies

In a 1979 address to the nation, Zia decried the Western culture and music in the country. Soon afterwards, PTV, the national television network ceased playing music videos and only patriotic songs were broadcast. New taxes were levied on the Pakistan film industry, film industry and most of the cinemas in Lahore were shut down. New tax rates were introduced, further decreasing cinema attendances. It was under Zia and the economic prosperity of his era that the country's urban middle and lower-middle-classes expanded and Western 1980s in fashion, 1980s fashion wear and hairstyle spread in popularity, and rock music bands gained momentum, according to leftist cultural critic Nadeem F. Paracha.

Welfare of the people with disabilities

During his tenure, he oversaw passing of an ordinance for the welfare of people with disabilities. The ordinance is called "The Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance, 1981" and it was passed into law on 29 December 1981. It provides the measures for the employment, rehabilitation and welfare of the people with disabilities.

Dismissal of the Junejo government and call for new elections

As time passed, the legislature wanted to have more freedom and power and by the beginning of 1988, rumours about the differences between Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo and Zia were rife. It is said by some that Zia-Junejo rift was encouraged by late Mahboob-ul-Haq and Junejo's insistence on signing Geneva pact without deciding the composition of next government of Afghanistan before Soviet withdrawal. Junejo also gave Benazir a seat next to him in parleys before that. Junejo did not strengthen the Islamization drive and rather weakened it. His era led to serious disturbances in Karachi and ultimately Karachi went into the secular control of MQM from the clutches of Sunnis Jamaat-e-Islami. Ojhri Camp blast had irreversibly weakened Zia. Junejo was committed to make an investigation into the Ojhri camp disaster. This couldn't be digested by President as it would expose the involvement of ISI and Zia co- fellow Generals. After defeat of Soviet army, America wanted to audit the ammunition and missiles supplied to Pakistan for Mujahideen, most of which has been stored by Pakistan for future targets against India or other enemies. So Zia planned this event in a very cruel manner, having sacrificed the lives of people of Pakistan for fulfillment of their own agenda. On 29 May 1988, Zia dissolved the National Assembly and removed the Prime Minister under article 58(2)b of the amended Constitution. Apart from many other reasons, Prime Minister Junejo's decision to sign the Geneva Accord (1988), Geneva Accord against the wishes of Zia, and his open declarations of removing any military personnel found responsible for an explosion at a munitions dump at Ojhri Camp, on the outskirts of army headquarters in Rawalpindi, earlier in the year, proved to be some of the major factors responsible for his removal. Zia promised to hold 1988 Pakistani general election, elections in 1988 after the dismissal of Junejo government. He said that he would hold elections within the next 90 days. The late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir Bhutto had returned from exile earlier in 1986, and had announced that she would be contesting the elections. With Bhutto's popularity somewhat growing, and a decrease in international aid following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Zia was in an increasingly difficult political situation.

Death

Zia died in a plane crash on 17 August 1988. After witnessing a US M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur, Zia had left the city in the Punjab province by Lockheed C-130 Hercules, C-130B Hercules aircraft. The aircraft departed from Bahawalpur Airport and was expected to reach Islamabad International Airport. Shortly after a smooth takeoff, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air afterward claim it was flying erratically, then nosedived and exploded on impact. In addition to Zia, 31 others died in the plane crash, including chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, close associate of Zia, Brigadier Siddique Salik, the American ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the US military aid mission to Pakistan.

, the Senate chairman announced Zia's death on radio and TV. Conditions surrounding his death have given rise to many conspiracy theories. There is speculation that the United States, India, the Soviet Union (in retaliation for Pakistani support of the mujahideen in Soviet–Afghan War, Afghanistan) or an alliance of them and internal groups within Zia's military were behind the incident. A board of inquiry was set up to investigate the crash. It concluded 'the most probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated in the aircraft'. It also suggested that poisonous gases were released which incapacitated the passengers and crew, which would explain why no Mayday (distress signal), Mayday signal was given. There was also speculation into other facts involving the details of the investigation. A flight recorder (black box) was not located after the crash even though previous C-130 aircraft did have them installed. Maj. Gen. (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was suspected by many circles within Pakistan and also by then United States ambassador to India, John Gunther Dean, for being "extraordinarily insistent" with President Zia to visit the demonstration, is considered to be the prime suspect in the incident. He claimed later that reports of Israeli and Indian involvement in Zia's plane crash were only speculations. Lt. General Hameed Gul, the head of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency at the time, suggested that the United States might be responsible, even though the U.S. ambassador and military attaché were also killed. He told ''The Times'' that the Pakistani President was killed in a conspiracy involving a "foreign power".

Legacy

Funeral and aftermath

His funeral was held on 19 August 1988 near Islamabad. As a 21-gun salute of light artillery resounded off the lush Margalla Hills, nearly one million mourners joined in chants of "Zia ul-Haq, you will live as long as the sun and moon remain above." His remains were laid to rest in a 4-by-10-foot dirt grave in front of the huge, modern Faisal Mosque that Zia had built as a symbol of Pakistani-Saudi friendship. Also in attendance was his successor President

, chiefs of staff of armed forces, chairman joint chiefs, and other high military and civil officials. Former US Secretary of State George P. Shultz also laid a floral wreath at Zia's grave.

Public image

Even after his death, Zia-ul-Haq remained a highly polarizing and widely discussed figure in the country's intellectual and political circles. Out of the History of Pakistan, country's short history, Zia-ul-Haq's legacy remains a most toxic, enduring, and tamper-proof legacy, according to the editorial written in Dawn (newspaper), ''Dawn''. He is also praised for defeating the Soviets. Indian journalist Kallol Bhattacherjee, an author of a book on Afghanistan, said:

"There will not be another Zia in South Asia. He was unique and multidimensional like all complex characters of South Asian history. I admire Zia's guts, though not his methods, especially in regards to Islam. He successfully took on nuclear India and changed the balance of power that Indira Gandhi created in the 1971 war and broke all rules to acquire nuclear weapons for Pakistan."

Historians and political scientists widely discussed and studied his policy making skills, some authors noting him as "''The Ringmaster''", "''Master of Illusion''" and "''Master Tactician''". However, his most remembered and enduring legacy was his indirect involvement and military strategies, by Operation Cyclone, proxy supporting the Afghan mujahideen, Mujahideen, against the USSR's Soviet–Afghan War, war in Afghanistan. His reign also helped the conservatives to rise at the national politics against Benazir Bhutto. He is also noted as being one of Pakistan's most successful generals, placing the armed forces in charge of the country's affairs. During his regime, western styles in hair, clothing, and music flooded the country. The 1980s gave birth to Pakistani rock music, which expressed Pakistani nationalism in the country.

Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

With the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (2010), the executive powers General Zia had legislated were permanently deleted from the Constitution of Pakistan.

Awards and decorations

Portrayals in popular culture

Zia has been portrayed in English language popular culture a number of times including: * In the comic ''Shattered Visage'', it is implied that Zia's death was orchestrated by the same intelligence agency that ran The Village (The Prisoner), The Village from the show ''The Prisoner''. * Zia was portrayed by Indian actor Om Puri in the 2007 film ''Charlie Wilson's War (film), Charlie Wilson's War''. * Zia is caricatured as one of the main protagonists in Mohammed Hanif's 2008 satirical novel ''A Case of Exploding Mangoes'' which is loosely based around the events of his death. * The oppressive regime of Zia-ul-Haq and the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was referenced in the book ''Songs of Blood and Sword'', a non-fiction memoir by Murtaza Bhutto's daughter Fatima Bhutto.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Biography video 'Shaheed e Islam

Annotated Bibliography for Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

by Edward Jay Epstein for ''Vanity Fair (magazine), Vanity Fair'', September 1989
Official profile at Pakistan Army website

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

General Zia-ul-Haq's plane crash due to mechanical problem (Times of London)

Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq President of Pakistan
on Encyclopedia Britannica , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zia-ul-Haq, Muhammad Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 1924 births 1988 deaths Pakistani Muslims Pakistani Salafis Punjabi people Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan Leaders who took power by coup Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Pakistan Armoured Corps officers Pakistani anti-communists Pakistani generals Pakistani Islamists People from Jalandhar People of the Soviet–Afghan War Presidents of Pakistan Project-706, H State leaders killed in aviation accidents or incidents Delhi University alumni State funerals in Pakistan St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1988 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Pakistan Indian expatriates in Malaysia Indian expatriates in British Burma Pakistan Command and Staff College alumni