FAHAD BIN HUSSAIN 17-ME-13

M.USMAN BIN AHMED 17-ME-16

M.AWAIS 17-ME-79
USAMA RAZA 17-ME-88

Dictatorship in Pakistan: A Study of the Zia Era

(1977-88)
Abstract:
Authoritarianism has contributed immensely to democratic disruptions
and dysfunctional democracy in Pakistan. Forces impervious to
representative democracy and dissent rallied round the most repressive
military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq which declared democracy
opposed to the psyche of the Pakistani people, repeatedly chanted the
mantra of a vaguely defined and distorted concept of Islamic democracy,
a veiled Islamic dictatorship, and defeated all attempts at egalitarian
change. Zia’s vigorous pursuit of power and his carefully crafted and
tried typology of constitutional and political measures left the country
politically poorer and more polarized than it ever was. The junta
considered as kosher everything including the misuse of religion, law
and institutions such as the army, judiciary and civil bureaucracy that
would ensure its longevity in power.

Introduction:
In this age of democracy there are a large number of nations still
struggling for their right of self-determination. Pakistan is one such
country which, having lived half of its life under the direct military rule
and the remainder under its shadow is not out of the woods yet.
Following the death of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the
founder of Pakistan, and since the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, her
first Prime Minister, there has been no stopping the military from
acquiring power and all its trappings.1 With every Martial Law, the
military has extended its power base, monopolized decision-making and
developed and expanded its corporate interests. Like historical events in
general, every Martial Law in Pakistan has been informed by the
previous ones and has differed more in form than in motivation. A
baggage of colonial history, post-colonial failures of politicians,
judiciary, the media, and the masses to stop encroachments on
democracy and rule of law, have encouraged Bonapartist trends in the
military mired in colonial traditions and intolerant of representative
democracy. Ironically, there was no dearth of conservative hangers-on
for the Raj and had never been since Independence for the praetors who
disrupted with impunity the country’s fragile democracy. Add to this,
the unscrupulousness of the more resourceful and developed
democracies, which, in hot pursuit of national interest, either watched or
actively supported these disruptions thereby making a mockery of their
so-called commitment to democracy and constitutionalism. Even some
leading luminaries of the twentieth century Europe such as the
philosopher of history Arnold Toynbee were inclined to perceive
democracy as an anachronism in developing countries like Pakistan in
the wake of Ayub’s coup d’état in 1958. Such influential counsels in
favour of authority, akin to those proffered by the colonial-orientalist
critiques of the idea of responsible government in colonies or east in
general, were to rationalize and strengthen incumbent or potential
dictatorships among the nations that won their freedom or right of self-
determination after much sacrifice under the colonial rulers. While
condoning democratic disruptions or exculpating the dictators under the
misinterpreted doctrine of necessity, these endorsements were the
fulfilment of legality to the otherwise illegitimate rule in Pakistan by
men like Ghulam Muhammad (1951-54), Generals Sikandar Mirza
(1955-58), Ayub Khan (1958-1969), Yahya (1969-1971), Ziaul-Haq
(1977-1988) and last but not least General Musharraf (1999-2008). All
of these backdoor entrants into power either avoided/manipulated
elections or followed the referendum-route to consolidate it.

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haqq (12 August 1924 – 17 August

1988) was a Pakistani four-star general who served as the 6th President
of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in 1988, after declaring martial
law in 1977. He remains the country’s longest-serving de facto head of
state.
He suspended the constitution, with the army's stated objective being to
create an environment in which fair elections could be held. However,
Bhutto, his primary opponent, was tried and sentenced to death in 1978
on the charge of conspiring to murder a political opponent. The Supreme
Court upheld the sentence, and Bhutto was hanged in April 1979.
Zia cancelled the elections that had been promised and kept the country
under martial law until 1985. During this time, Zia pressed the policy
that Pakistan's survival and progress were dependent on building an
Islamic state. A number of measures were taken to implement this
policy, including the introduction of the Federal Shariat Court. A
referendum held in 1984 confirmed Zia's policy of Islamization. In this
referendum, a "yes" vote agreeing with Zia's Islamization policy was
also to be interpreted as a vote for Zia to remain in office as president for
another five years. According to the results reported by the government
but contested by the opposition, Zia obtained 98 percent of total votes
cast.

 Some events are described briefly as:-

July 5, 1977
Gen Zia removes Bhutto in a bloodless coup, suspending the constitution
and declaring martial law. He announces elections will be held in 90
days. But simultaneously begins a censorship regime. Political activists
and journalists are arrested and flogged in public
May 13, 1978
Eleven journalists are sentenced by military courts. Four journalists —
Masudullah Khan, Iqbal Jafri, Khawar Naeem Hashmi and Nasir Zaidi
— are also flogged.
December 2, 1978
Shariat benches constituted at the high court levels while an appellate
Shariat bench constituted at the Supreme Court level. Shariat benches
could revisit any law deemed to be un-Islamic. Prayers to be offered in
congregation at all government offices during working hours. All offices
and shops to remain shut at the time of Friday prayers
April 4, 1979
ZAB is hanged in Rawalpindi jail despite a split verdict and international
appeals.
October 15, 1979
Gen Zia clamps down further on press freedoms. Two days later, the
Daily Musawat and Daily Sadaqat are both banned.
September 17, 1977
ZAB is arrested for “conspiracy to murder”
October 1, 1977
Elections postponed indefinitely
January 1, 1978
Gen Zia declares 1978 as Year of ‘Islamisation’. Education committee
constituted to review syllabi and revise them to include an ‘Islamic bias’
September 16, 1978
Gen Zia assumes office of president; retains the office of army chief

February 10, 1979

Islamic penal laws enforcing ‘Hadd’ are promulgated in pursuance of
‘Nizam-i-Islam’. These include the Prohibition Order and the Zina
Ordinance as well as separate laws for amputation for theft and
punishment by whipping

December 24, 1979

Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Gen Zia drags Pakistan into the jihad
sponsored by the Americans and Saudis.
In 1979, Russian forces invaded Afghanistan. Communism came to the
threshold of Pakistan when forces led by Babrak Karmel overthrew the
Government of Afghanistan. Some 120,000 Russian troops entered
Afghanistan .The Afghan people organized a resistance force against
this blatant aggression. The Soviet forces suffered greatly in terms of
manpower and material, and the Afghan War proved expensive even for
a world power like the Soviet Union.
General Zia stood against the spread of communism. He reiterated his
solution to the Afghanistan crisis in 1983 in New Delhi. He said that
Pakistan has given political asylum to millions of Afghans. He
demanded the expulsion of Russian forces from Afghanistan. America
responded to the call of Pakistan and flooded Pakistan with monetary
help to finance the anti-communist regime in Afghanistan and to equip
the freedom fighters. The freedom fighters, the mujahideen, put forward
a strong resistance to the Russian invasion. Although the Afghans
suffered enormous causalities in the beginning of the war but the turning
point in the war came when the U. S. supplied them with surface-to-air
Stinger missiles.

May 26, 1980

Establishment of Federal Shariat Court is announced.
March 18, 1982
Changes introduced to the Pakistan Penal Code; Section 295-B now
stipulates a life term for defiling, damaging or desecrating a copy of the
Holy Quran.
February 9, 1984
Government bans all students’ unions

April 27, 1984

Ban imposed on use of Islamic nomenclature by Ahmadis.

Referendum 1984
General Zia wanted to establish a pseudo-democracy in Pakistan, with a
continuation of him as President under a civilian setup.

December 19, 1984

Zia holds referendum on ‘Islamisation’ which will give him five more
years at the helm. His government claims that more than 95 percent of
votes cast were in support of Zia. 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 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.
Zia holds referendum on ‘Islamisation’ which will give him five more
years at the helm. His government claims that more than 95 percent of
votes cast were in support of Zia however only 10% of the electorate
participated in the referendum. The Law of Evidence, under the Shariah
laws proposed that the testimony of a woman was not equal to that of a
man. In legal matters, two women would have to stand witness against
the testimony of one man. The status of women was thus arbitrarily cut
in half by Zia. There was little consensus amongst Muslim authorities
over this law. The lack of consensus among the re1igious authorities
combined with countrywide protests forced Zia to hold back on making
the Shariah law the law of the country.
February 25, 1985
National polls are held on non-party-basis
March 2, 1985
Articles 62 & 63 of the Constitution amended to make parliamentarians’
qualifications subject to ‘Islamic’ morality

November 9, 1985: Historic 8th Amendment is passed

Eight Amendment to the Constitution comes into force, giving Zia the
power to dissolve the parliament under Article 58-2(B). The 1973
Constitution of Pakistan envisaged a Parliamentary System of
government, with the balance of power tilted towards the Prime
Minister. The President could not exercise his powers without the
concurrence of the Prime Minister. The Eight Constitutional
Amendment, however, altered the form of the Constitution drastically.
Passed by the Senate on November 14, 1985, the Eight Amendment
affected almost 19 clauses of the Constitution and brought the office of
the President of Pakistan almost at par with that of the Prime Minister.

The President was given the right to nominate the Prime Minister,
Governors of the provinces, and Judges of the High Court and Supreme
Court, including the Chief Justice. Democratically elected Prime
Minister thus became subservient to the President.

February 25, 1985

National polls are held on non-party-basis.
March 23, 1985
Martial law is lifted and Muhammad Khan Junejo is sworn in as Prime
Minister.
November 9, 1985
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. Eight Amendment to the Constitution
comes into force, giving Zia the power to dissolve the parliament under
Article 58-2(B)
Zia kept postponing elections, saying it was not ‘written in the Quran’
that elections were to be held at a given date.
Religious minorities, in particular Ahmadis, suffered the most and were
made third class citizens with few rights. Still worse, they were often
unable to even protest since the environment had turned hostile against
them.
Most govt office holders were army officers, he brought army into
politics.
October 5, 1986
The use of derogatory remarks for the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is
criminalised. The offence is made punishable by death or life
imprisonment
May 29, 1988
Zia dissolves parliament and dismisses Junejo’s government. He
promises elections in the next 90 days.
June 15, 1988
Zia promulgates the Shariat Ordinance, making Sharia supreme law of
the land.
August 17, 1988; Death of General Zia-ul-Haq:-
Gen Ziaul Haq is killed, along with 31 others, in a plane crash near
Bahawalpur.
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was killed in an air crash on August 17,
1988. He had gone to Bhawalpur to see a demonstration of tanks where
he was accompanied by a number of Generals, including the Chairman
Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of General Staff, high-ranking
Military Attaches, as well as the U. S. Ambassador to Pakistan. On his
return journey, his military transport aircraft, a C-130, exploded in mid-
air a few minutes after takeoff from Bhawalpur airport, killing all
passengers aboard including the President.