520463098-His-103-Lec-on-AYUB.ppt

1. The Decade of Ayub
Khan
(1958-1969)
Dictator or Patriot
A Review of his time and role in Pakistan

2. Introduction
The emergence of Ayub Khan as a military ruler
happened in a very critical moment of Pakistan
history. This particular regime of Ayub Khan lasted
for more than 10 years, brought enormous
economic prosperity to the West Pakistan, given
years of political stability but at the same time,
opened the road for independence of East
Pakistan. Therefore, historians believe that the
freedom movement of Bangladesh is somehow
thankful to the long lasted Ayub regime as without
this, Bangabandhu would have not emerged, and
without Bangabandhu, liberation war would never
have started.

3. After the fall of the United Front government in
East Pakistan, the political crisis between East
and West reached its peak. Iskandar Mirza,
temporarily controlled the instability, but it came
back after the inception of 1956 constitution. The
very chaotic situation then after produced
several governments in East Pakistan within a
short period of time. Under this circumstance,
President Iskandar Mirza in alliance with Ayub
Khan, who was the commander in chief of
Pakistan at that time abrogated the constitution,
dismissed the central and provincial
governments and declared martial law in 1958.

4. Iskandar Mirza appointed Ayub Khan as the
Martial Law Administrator, and asked the army
to clean up the mess and set things right. General
Ayub after taking the authority declared that due
to total administrative, economic, political and
moral chaos in the country the revolution was
launched against the disruptionists, political
opportunists, smugglers, black-marketers. He
added, “the biggest weapon of a politician is his
tongue, which we would control. I think things are
going to be quite for a while.”

5. Ayub Khan and his background

6. • After studying at Alīgarh Muslim University, and
at the British Royal Military College, at Sandhurst,
Ayub Khan was commissioned an officer in the
Indian army (1928).
• In World War II he was second-in-command of a
regiment in Burma and commanded a battalion in
India.
• After the 1947 partition of British India he was
rapidly promoted in the army of the new Muslim
state of Pakistan: from major general (1948) to
commander in chief (1951).
• In addition, Ayub became minister of defense
(1954) for a brief period.

8. Ayub Khan regime is significant for several
reasons. The main features of his tenure
include:
1. A rigid Political rule, very little freedom
and invention of Basic Democracy.
2. Modernization of Pakistan economy.
3. Development of Science and technology.
4. Westward foreign policy, especial tie with
US and also China.
5. Rivalry with India and the war of 1965.
6. Discriminative and exploitative policy for
the East Pakistan.

9. Rigid Political System, Basic Democracy
Ayub Khan’s martial law regime was a form of
representational dictatorship, and he introduced a
new political system in 1959, as he named basic
democracy. With a view of keeping him in power,
Ayub introduced this new kind of system in Pakistan
to befool not only the people of Pakistan but outside
world as well.
The system consisted of a network of local self-
governing bodies to provide a link between the
government and the people. Primary governing
units were set up to conduct local affairs; their
members were elected by constituencies of 800–1,000
adults.

10. A national referendum among all those elected
confirmed Ayub as president. He was reelected
under this system in 1965, against a strong
challenge from an opposition united behind
Fatima Jinnah, the sister of Mohammed Ali
Jinnah, the creator of Pakistan.
The system of Basic Democracies was initially a
five-tier arrangement. They were: (i) Union
councils (rural areas), Town and Union
committees (urban areas); (ii) Thana councils
(East Pakistan), Tehsil councils (West Pakistan);
(iii) District councils; (iv) Divisional councils; (v)
Provincial Development Advisory council.

11. At the base of the system, the union council which
consisted of a Chairman and usually about 15
members. It had both elected and nominated
members. Two-thirds of the members were elected
representatives and one-third consisted of non-
official members nominated by the government. The
members of the council were elected by the people
from their respective unions on the basis of
universal adult franchise. The chairman of the
council was elected by the members from amongst
themselves. The elected representatives of the
Union council were called basic democrats. The
total number of such councils was 7300 and the
number of basic democrats was above 80,000.

12. In the second tier was the Thana council
which consisted of ex-officio representative
members, official and non-official members.
The representative members were the
chairmen of the Union councils and Town
committees. The official members were the
representatives of various nation-building
departments of a Thana and their number
was fixed by the district magistrate of the
concerned district. The council was headed by
the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) who was
the ex-officio chairman. In all, there were 655
Thanas and Tehsils in Pakistan.

13. Basic democracies specified a provincial
development advisory council for each wing.
One-third of the appointed members of the
council had to be selected from union council
chairmen. Apart from being the agent of local
government, the basic democracies also
performed political and electoral functions to
legitimize the government through popular
support and participation. The monopolization
of electoral rights by the basic democrats was
strongly despised by the vast rural and urban
masses, which led to mass upheaval against
Ayub in 1969.

14. It is said that during Ayub period the political
system of Pakistan was in many ways not
political but bureaucratic. The state elite
which came to rule Pakistan primarily came
from the top echelons of the military and the
bureaucracy with a collaborative relationship
with a new industrial and commercial class
and gradually with the landed gentry in West
Pakistan. It was mainly composed of the
Punjabis, the Muhajirs and the Pushtuns. The
Sindhis, the Baluchis and the Bengalis were
greatly under represented.

15. Modernization of Economy
The decade of 1960s in Pakistan also witnessed
modernization under General Ayub Khan, who
passionately believed in the progressive-liberal
and modernist version of Islam. However, the
modernization process was forced as well as
highly selective and authoritarian in nature. The
military regime pushed its modernization agenda
despite opposition and resentment from many
sections of the society. Nonetheless, the second
half of the regime 1965-69, which was ‘quasi-
authoritarian in nature’, saw a reversal of his
official policy towards Islam.

16. Modernization has affected a number of
societies all across the globe. In many instances,
modernization processes initiated by the
states in many countries have been quite rapid
and forced. In Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha
(1805-48) initiated a program of forced
modernization in the first half of the
nineteenth century. In the decade of 1920s,
Turkey underwent modernization under
Mustafa Kamal Ataturk (1881-1938). In the
decade of 1930s, Iran witnessed modernization
under Emperor Mohammad Reza Shah (1919-
1980).

17. In the decade of 1960s, Pakistan undertook the path of
modernization under General Ayub Khan. The
modernization he envisioned for the country was to
be achieved not only through constitutional and
legal means, but through social reforms as well.
Ayub Khan tried to introduce the modernist version
of Islam through public policies.
Landholders retained their dominant positions in the
Pakistani social hierarchy. Some 4 million hectares of
land in West Pakistan, much of it in Sindh, was
released for public acquisition between 1959 and
1969 and sold mainly to civil and military officers,
thus creating a new class of farmers having medium-
sized holdings.

18. These farms became immensely important for
future agricultural development, but the
peasants were scarcely benefited.
In 1958, a legal commission was set up to suggest
reforms of the family and marriage laws. Ayub
Khan examined its report and in 1961 issued the
Family Laws Ordinance. Among other things, it
restricted polygamy and 'regulated' marriage and
divorce, giving women more equal treatment
under the law than they had before. However, this
law which was similar to the one passed on
family planning, was relatively mild and did not
seriously transform the patriarchal pattern of
society.

19. Ayub Khan adopted an energetic approach
toward economic development that soon bore
fruit in a rising rate of economic growth. Land
reform, consolidation of holdings, and stern
measures against hoarding were combined with
rural credit program and work program, higher
procurement prices, augmented allocations for
agriculture, and, especially improved seeds to
put the country on the road to self-sufficiency
in food grains in the process described as the
Green Revolution. The Export Bonus Vouchers
Scheme (1959) and tax incentives stimulated
new industrial entrepreneurs and exporters.

20. Bonus vouchers facilitated access to foreign
exchange for imports of industrial machinery
and raw materials. Tax concessions were offered
for investment in less-developed areas. These
measures had important consequences in the
development of industry and gave rise to a new
class of small industrialists.
Ayub Khan’s economic policies were based on
the model of capitalism and followed free-
market economics principles. The
industrialization that took place in his term is
often regarded as "Great Decade" in the history
of the Pakistan.

21. The Ayub policies brought 15% GNP growth of
the country that was three times greater than that
of India. Despite the increase in the GNP growth,
the profit and revenue was gained by the famous
22 families of the time that controlled 66% of the
industries and land of the country and 80% of the
banking and insurance of Pakistan.

22. Foreign Policy
Ayub Khan articulated his foreign policy on
several occasions, particularly in his
autobiography, Friends not Masters. His
objectives were the security and development of
Pakistan and the preservation of its ideology as
he saw it. He sought to improve or normalize
relations with Pakistan's immediate and looming
neighbors, India, China, and the Soviet Union.
While retaining and renewing the alliance with
the United States, Ayub Khan emphasized his
preference for friendship, not subordination, and
bargained hard for higher returns to Pakistan.

23. Ayub Khan was the architect of Pakistan's policy
of close alignment with the United States, and
his first major foreign policy act was to sign
bilateral economic and military agreements
with the United States in 1959. Nevertheless,
Ayub Khan expected more from these
agreements than the United States was willing
to offer and thus remained critical of the role the
United States played in South Asia. Especially
troublesome to Pakistan was United States'
neutrality during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.
Pakistan did not extend the ten-year agreement
signed in 1959.

24. When the United States began to rearm India
after China’s invasion of northern India in 1962,
Ayub established close relations with China and
received substantial military aid from it. In the
meantime, Pakistan’s dispute with India over
Jammu and Kashmir worsened, culminating in
the outbreak of war in 1965.
Pakistan’s friendship with China intensified in
1959 when China occupied Tibet and Dalai
Lama fled to India, which ended five years of
Chinese-Indian friendship. An entente between
Pakistan and China evolved in inverse ratio to
Sino-Indian hostility, which climaxed in a border
war in 1962.

25. 1960
1965

27. Discriminative Policy towards Bengalis
The Ayub regime did not adopt any special policy to
make the military more nationally representative,
though by 1958 Bengali demands for participation in
the military had become both numerous and
vociferous. Bengali demands ranged from shifting of
the navel head quarters to East Pakistan to the
raising of an autonomous Bengali paramilitary for
East Pakistan’s defense.
According to Herbert Feldman,
“Sixty percent of the army consisted of the
Punjabis, 35 percent were Pushtuns and other
constituted the remaining 5 percent.

31. The Bengalis were greatly underrepresented in
the Central Civilian Services (CSP). Apart from
the disparity in Armed forces, East Pakistanis
demanded parity in the Civil Service. Their
representation in (CSP) was less than West
Pakistan.
Bengalis participation in the central policy
making institutions, commissions of inquiry,
the central secretariat and public cooperation
was marginal. Out of 280 members of the
commissions of inquiry, only 75 were form East
Pakistan that is only 27 percent.

32. The civil services play a decisive role in
determining economic policies and the military
monopolized the formulation of defense
policies. The location of administrative
authorities in West Pakistan meant a relief to
the investors, as they would need less time for
approaching the government and could also
manipulate more pressures as compared to their
counter part in East Pakistan.

33. The people of East Pakistan demanded parity in
the Civil Service. They were convinced that
economic disparity could not be corrected
unless a greater number of East Pakistanis were
placed in senior positions in Secretariat. The
Bengali position in the civil service even in 1964
was that there were only two Bengali officers
who held the rank of acting secretaries, West
Pakistan not only hosted the central government
but also held nearly 90 percent of its position.
This exploitative and discriminative policy
continued over the years and thus 6 points
movement emerged as the political destiny of
the Bengalis.