Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a 1977 military coup. He suspended the constitution and imposed martial law. Zia worked to Islamize Pakistani society and supported the US-backed mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War. While this strengthened Pakistan's economy and military, it also increased religious extremism and the power of Islamic groups. Zia delayed elections multiple times and centralized power under his authoritarian rule until his death in a 1988 plane crash.

1. The Jihadist
Zia-ul-Haq
1977-1988

2. Political scene before Zia
• Bhutto began facing considerable criticism and increasing unpopularity as his term
progressed, the democratic socialists alliance became his critics
• Bhutto’s targeting of National Awami Party (NAP) started with the Federal governments
decision to oust the NAP provincial government in Baluchistan 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 Sherpo in a bomb blast in Peshawar
• Dissidence also increased within the 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 the
crime
• The NWFP and Balochistan repression has intensified as civil liberties remained suspended,
and an estimated 100,000 troops deployed. There were abuses human rights and killing large
numbers of civilians
• On 8 January 1977 a large number of opposition political parties grouped to form the
Pakistan National Alliance (PNA). Bhutto called elections and PNA participated fully in the NA
elections. The PNA faced defeat but did not accept the results, alleging that the election was
rigged
• They proceeded to boycott the provincial elections. There was a high voter turnout in the
national elections; however, as provincial elections were held amidst low voter turnout
• The PNA declared the newly elected Bhutto government as illegitimate

3. Violence and Coup
• All the opposition leaders called for the overthrow of Bhutto's regime and political
and civil disorder intensified, which led to more unrest
• On 21 April 1977, Bhutto imposed martial law in the major cities of Karachi, Lahore
and Hyderabad. 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 and Major-General Tajammul Hussain Malik, GOC of 23rd Mountain
Division, Major-General Naseerullah Babar, DG of Directorate-General for the Military
Intelligence (DGMI) and Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan, were loyal to Bhutto
• The coup, (“Operation Fair Play") transpired in the morning 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"

4. Violence and Coup
• Zia and his military government portrayed the coup as a "spontaneous response to a difficult
situation", but his response was a complete contradiction
• 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 had solid information. Arif had met with Bhutto on an emergency basis, stressing and urging
Bhutto to "rush negotiations with the opposition“
• 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
• Immediately, the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Shariff announced his and the navy's
strong support for Zia and his military government. But, the Chief of Air Staff General Zulfikar Ali
Khan remains unsupported while the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Muhammad
Shariff remains neutral, while he silently expressed his support to Prime minister Zulfikar Bhutto.
• In 1978, Zia pressured President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry to appoint General Anwar Shamim as Chief of
Air Staff; and Admiral Karamat Rahman Niazi as Chief of Naval Staff in 1979.
• 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

5. Bhutto losses support
• Bhutto had emotional hold on the poor masses who had voted him
overwhelmingly in 1970s elections but his enemies were many
• The socialist economics and nationalization of private industries had upsets
the Business circles. An ill-considered decision to take over the wheat-
milling, rice-husking, sugar mills, and cotton-gining, industries in July of
1976 had angered the small business owners and traders
• Both leftists—socialists and communists, intellectuals, students, and trade
unionists—felt betrayed by Bhutto's shift to centre-right wing conservative
economics policies and by his growing collaboration with powerful feudal
lords
• After 1976, Bhutto's aggressive authoritarian personal style and often high-
handed way of dealing with political rivals, dissidents, and opponents had
also alienated many

6. Election & Accountability
• After assuming power as Chief Martial Law Administrator, Zia shortly appeared on national
television, PTV promising to hold new and neutral parliamentary elections 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 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
• 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
• 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 and disqualified from participating in politics at
any level for the next seven years. A white paper document was issued, incriminating the
deposed Bhutto government on several counts

7. Back ground
• Lived from 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988
• He was four star general and the 6th President of Pakistan, who ruled from
1977 until his death in 1988 longest in Pakistan after Ayub Khan
• Educated at Delhi University. He served in British Indian Army in the WW II. He
saw action in 1965
• In 1970, he led the Pakistan army training mission in Jordan proving
instrumental to putting down the Black September insurgency againt King
Hussain
• In recognition, ZAB approved Zia's promotion and appointment as COAS in
1976
• After civil disorder, Zia deposed Bhutto and declared Martial Law on 5 July
1977
• Bhutto was tried by the Supreme Court and executed less than two years later,
for authorising the murder

8. Zia’s Rule
• Zia played a major role in the Jihad against Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
Pakistan was helped by the US and Saudi Arabia
• Zia systematically coordinated the jihad through out 1980s that led to Soviet
defeat in 1989. It resulted in arrival of 4 millions of refugees, heroin and
weaponry into Pakistan
• On the foreign policy, Zia improved ties with China, the EU, the United States,
and emphasized Pakistan's role in the Islamic countries
• Relations with India suffered amid the Siachen conflict and Pakistan’s support
for the Khalistan movement
• Internally, Zia pushed for wide ranging legislation for Islamization that led to
religious intolerance
• He supported Pakistan’s nuclear program, instituted industrialization
and deregulated economy helping Pakistan's economy become the fastest-
growing in South Asia. The average GDP growth in Zia’s period was highest in
history

9. Zia & Democracy
• 1985, Zia held non-party elections and appointed Muhammad Khan Junejo as
the Prime Minister
• Zia through Presidential Order has accumulated more powers through 8th
Amendment to the Constitution
• When Junejo signed the Geneva Accord in 1988 against Zia's wishes, and called
for an inquiry into the Ojhri Camp disaster, Zia dismissed Junejo's government
and announced fresh elections in November 1988
• He was killed along with several of his top military officials and two American
diplomats in a mysterious plane crash on 17 August 1988
• To this day, Zia remains an important figure credited for preventing Soviet
incursions into the region as well as economic prosperity, but decried for
weakening democratic institutions and passing laws encouraging religious
intolerance

10. The US support
• The Reagan Administration, 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, Henry
Kissinger, Charlie Wilson, Joanne Herring, and the military and intelligence
officers 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.
• Bhutto’s socialist orientation had greatly alarmed the capitalist forces in
Pakistan and as well as raised alarm to the United States who feared the loss of
Pakistan
• Many of Pakistan's political analyst suspected that the riots and coup against
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was CIA’s work because US growing fear of Bhutto's socialist
policies which were seen pro Soviet Union and could get Soviet Union access to
warm water port of Baluchistan

11. Zia and Jihad
• Concept Jihad in modern era
• Modalities of Afghan Jihad
• The strategy
• Pakistan’s Islamisation and role in Jihad
• Economy of jihad
• Jihad’s fall out on Pakistan