Military coups or martial laws in Pakistan began in 1958. There have been numerous successful attempts since 1951. Since its creation in 1947,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
has spent several decades under military rule (1958 – 1971, 1977 – 1988, 1999 – 2008).
1953/54 constitutional coup
In 1953, the Governor-General
Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the government of the Prime Minister
Khawaja Nazimuddin
Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to hav ...
despite it enjoying the support of the
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan ( bn, পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ, Pākistān Goṇoporishod; ur, , Aāin Sāz Asimblī) was established in August 1947 to frame Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution for Paki ...
; then in 1954 he dismissed the Constituent Assembly itself to prevent it changing the constitution to restrict the Governor-General's powers. The failure of the courts to support representative institutions in ''
Federation of Pakistan v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan'' provided a pattern which latter led to more open military intervention against elected governments to be justified using a
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 ...
.
1958 coup
In 1958, the first
Pakistani President
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.[Iskander Mirza
Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakis ...]
dismissed the
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan ( bn, পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ, Pākistān Goṇoporishod; ur, , Aāin Sāz Asimblī) was established in August 1947 to frame Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution for Paki ...
and the government of Prime Minister
Feroz Khan Noon
Sir Malik Feroz Khan Noon, ( ur, ملک فیروز خان نون; 7 May 18939 December 1970), best known as Feroze Khan, was a Pakistani politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Pakistan from 1957 until being removed wh ...
, appointing army commander-in-chief Gen.
Ayub Khan
Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...
as the
Chief martial law administrator
The office of the Chief Martial Law Administrator was a senior and authoritative post with Zonal Martial Law Administrators as deputies created in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia that gave considerable executive authority and p ...
. Thirteen days later, Mirza himself was exiled by Ayub Khan, who appointed himself president.
1977 coup (Operation Fair Play)
Operation Fair Play was the code name for the
coup d'etat conducted at midnight on July 4, 1977, by the
Pakistan military
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 ...
, led by Chief of Army Staff General
Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...
, against the government of then-Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...
. General Zia ordered the arrest of Bhutto, his ministers and other leaders of both the
Pakistan People's 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 i ...
and 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 ...
. In a nationally televised address, General Zia announced that the
National Assembly of Pakistan
The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...
and all provincial assemblies were dissolved, and 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 ...
was suspended.
The
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 ...
enforced by President General
Zia
Zia or ZIA (also spelled Ziya, Ḍiya , Dia or Diya) may refer to:
People
* Zia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
** A romanization of the Wu ( Shanghainese) pronunciation of the Chinese surname Xie (謝)
...
introduced the strict but modern form of
conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
which promoted the nationalistic and religious programmes.
Under Zia's dictatorship a heavy
islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
of the country took place (the emblem of which were the so called
Hudood Ordinances
The Hudood Ordinances (Urdu ; also Romanized Hadood, Hadud, Hudud; singular form is ''Hadh'' or ''hadd'') are laws in Pakistan that were enacted in 1979 as part of then military ruler Zia-ul-Haq's "Islamisation" process. It replaced parts of the ...
), which steered the country away from
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
's non-sectarian vision.
1999 coup
In October, 1999 senior officers loyal to army chief Gen.
Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
arrested prime minister
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 ...
and his ministers after thwarting the Sharif regime's attempt to dismiss Musharraf and prevent his plane from landing in Pakistan as he returned from a visit to
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Indirect intervention
The death of Zia-ul-Haq led to the appointment of
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 ...
as President. Khan had vast, unchecked Presidential powers and was known to be close to the Pakistani military. Khan had dismissed both Benazir Bhutto in 1990 and Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister in 1993, though the latter resulted in his own resignation and is known in Pakistan as the Waheed Kakar formula.
Unsuccessful coup attempts
1951
There have been numerous unsuccessful coup attempts in Pakistani history. The first noted attempt was the
Rawalpindi conspiracy
The Rawalpindi Conspiracy (also known as the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case) was an attempted ''coup d'état'' against the governments of Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, in 1951. The conspiracy was the first of many subsequen ...
in 1951 led by
Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan along with left-wing activists and sympathetic officers against the government 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 ...
, Pakistan's first prime minister.
Prominent poet-intellectual
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi:
فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...
was suspected of involvement.
1980
In 1980, a plot by Maj. Gen.
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 ...
to assassinate Zia-ul-Haq on
Pakistan Day
The Resolution Day ( ur, , translit=Yawm-e-Qarārdād), also known as the Pakistan Day ( ur, , translit=Yawm-e-Pākistān) and Republic Day, is a national holiday in Pakistan primarily commemorating the adoption of the Lahore Resolution by the Mu ...
on March 23, 1980, was exposed and thwarted.
1995
In 1995, a coup attempt against the government of
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...
led by Maj. Gen.
Zahirul Islam Abbasi
Major General Zahirul Islam Abbasi ( ur, ﻇﻬﻴﺮ ﺍﻹﺳﻼﻡ ﻋﺑﺎﺳﻰ; 12 January 1943 – 30 July 2009) was a former commander and general of the Pakistan Army. Serving in the Siachen region of the disputed territory of Kashmir, ...
with the support of Islamic extremists was foiled.
An alleged coup attempt planned by
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, Pakistan, Chief Minister of Punjab and Governor of Punjab, Pakistan, Governor of Punjab.
...
during his exile during General Zia ul Haq's reign was thwarted beforehand due to Seth Abid playing double agent and informing the military about the plot. Allegedly, some disgruntled army officers were provided details of a safe house where weapons procured from India directly by Mustafa Khar after negotiating with an Indian agent in their London High Commission. This has been discussed in great length and detail by
Tehmina Durrani
Tehmina Durrani ( ur, ; born 18 February 1953) is a Pakistani author, artist, activist on women's and children's rights, and the current First Lady of Pakistan being married to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Her first book, "My Feudal Lord" ...
in her award-winning book 'My Feudal Lord' where she admits to playing a passive role under duress of her then husband Mustafa Khar.
See also
*
Military coups in Argentina
In Argentina, there were six coups d'état during the 20th century: in 1930, 1943, 1955, 1962, 1966 and 1976. The first four established interim dictatorships, while the last two established dictatorships of permanent type on the model of a burea ...
*
Military coups in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has undergone several changes of government since its independence. Between the first recorded uprising in August of 1975 and the last known attempt in December of 2011, Bangladesh has been through as many as 29 military Coups.
1975 co ...
*
Military coups in Nigeria
Since Nigerian independence in 1960, there have been five military coup d'états in Nigeria. Between 1966 and 1999, Nigeria was ruled by a military government without interruption, apart from a short-lived return to democracy under the Second N ...
*
Sudanese coup d'état (disambiguation)
*
Military coups in Turkey
*
List of coups and coup attempts by country
Coups d'état and coup attempts include: (listed by country, in chronological order)
Afghanistan
#February 20, 1919: Nasrullah Khan overthrows Habibullah Khan
#February 28, 1919: Amanullah Khan overthrows Nasrullah Khan
#January 17, 1929: H ...
References
{{Pakistani Armed Forces
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
Military history of Pakistan
Political history of Pakistan
Post-independence history of Pakistan