General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq staged a coup in 1977 against Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He suspended the constitution and imposed martial law. Zia ruled for over 11 years until his death in a plane crash in 1988. During his rule, Zia pursued the Islamization of laws and society in Pakistan, oversaw the Soviet-Afghan War, and engaged in a power struggle with Prime Minister Junejo before dismissing him in 1988. Zia's rule was the longest period of martial law in Pakistan's history.

1. 1977-88

2. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, was the fourth chief martial law
administrator and sixth President of Pakistan.
He was born on 12 August, 1924 in Jalandhar, India, and died on 17 August,
1988. Zia was born in Jalandhar, India, in 1924 as the second child of
Muhammad Akbar.
He completed his initial education in Simla and then attended St. Stephen’s
College, Delhi for his graduate degree. After graduation from St. Stephen’s
College, Zia joined the British Indian Army in 1943.
Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto appointed him Chief of Army Staff in
1976.

3. During the night between 4 and 5 July, the armed forces led by General
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq staged a coup and took administration of the country.
Bhutto, his colleagues and top PNA members were arrested.
The National and Provincial Assemblies were dissolved.
As a result of elections of 1977, PPP won the elections. But joint opposition
blamed a mass rigging in the election results. They demanded fresh elections.
Bhutto initially was stubborn but later showed inclination to compromise but
history has taken a U-turn. As he refused to negotiate the elected majority
party in 1971, now opposition refused to compromise and took the case to the
streets. Urban shopkeepers, businessmen, students, women and even the
intelligentsia joined hands against the government.

4. On 5 July, 1977 army staged a coup named, “OPERATION
FAIRPLAY”. Bhutto and all other political leaders were
arrested.
The charges against Bhutto was that he conspired to kill Ahmed
Raza Khan Kasuri. The conspiracy failed but Ahmed Raza
Kasuri’s father Nawab Muhammad Ahmed Kasuri was killed.
The trial, which continued for 2 years, resulted in hanging of
Bhutto on 4 April 1979.
By hanging Bhutto, Zia cleared his way to rule without any
resistance. He also enforced his authority.

5. If we hold elections before completing the process of
accountability. It would be a great injustice to the 70
million people of this country.
If we accept that accountability needs to be completed
first, then it is necessary that the elections are postponed.
Bhutto’s govt had been corrupt and those who had misused
govt money would be held accountable.
New elections would be held with 90 days.

6. Chief of Army Staff General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq took
over and imposed Martial Law. He suspended constitution.
It was the longest military Rule in the history of Pakistan.
To justify his rule Zia-ul-Haq presented his Agenda about:
• Effective Administration.
• Islamisation.
• Return to Democracy.

7. Disbanded Federal Security Force(FSF) in
November, 1977. His aim was to remove every
legacy of Bhutto’s regime.
Accountability drive was launched against
politicians, civil servants.

8. Islamization or Islamification is the process of a society’s shift towards Islam.
When Zia came into power he introduced broad spectrum of punishments in
the name of Sharia, flogging over the several crimes e.g. rape, theft, murder,
drinking, prostitution, adultery etc. These punishments were to deter the
criminal elements and to intimidate his opposition.
Cristorpher Jeffrelot discussed that after coming in to power General Zia put
forth the major changes in the basic ideology of army and nation as he
replaced the “Unity, Faith and Discipline” formula by Jinnah into “Iman,
Taqwa and Jihad Fisabilillah”. According to him Zia had religious
temperament and had deeper affinity with the religious groups like Tablighi
Jamat.

9. In 1978 Zia established "Shariat Appellate Benches", "grafted" on to Pakistan's
four High Courts.
The benches were tasked with judging legal cases using the teachings of the Quran and
the Sunnah, and examining the country's laws to determine whether they complied
with sharia law, and bring them into alignment if they did not. A Shariat Appellate
Bench of the Supreme Court was created to be the final authority in Sharia cases.
In 1980 the Shariat Appellate Benches were disbanded and replaced by a Federal Shariat
Court (FSC). Its establishment was less than clean and simple, as between 1980 and
1985, "provisions relating to the FSC's operation were modified 28 times, through the
mechanism of 12 separate presidential ordinances and were incorporated into the
Constitution in 14 subsections covering 11 pages of text.” It has eight judges appointed
by the president, "selected for the most part from judges of the high courts“.

10. Several laws were passed that restricted powers of the courts.
The Constitutional (Amendment) Act was passed to establish
military courts.
Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) was passed in 1980. It
took away right of the courts to challenge any executive order.
Judges who refused to sign PCO were deposed.
The civil service was brought under military control. Fixed
quota of military in civil services.

11. On 12 Aug, 1983 Zia announced that general elections
would be held in March 1985.
Several opposition parties united to form a movement
known as Movement for Restoration of Democracy
(MRD). It campaigned for free and fair elections under
party system.
Zia, however, halted such pressure and conducted elections
without political parties.

12. Referendum is a political process in which a proposed law or policy is referred to the
people for their assent or dissent.
A referendum on the Islamisation policy of President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was held
in Pakistan on 19 December 1984.
Voters were asked whether they supported Zia-ul-Haq's proposals for amending several
laws in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah, whether they wanted this process to
continue, and whether they supported the Islamic ideology of Pakistan.
The referendum also served as way of extending Zia-ul-Haq's presidential term by five
years.
Official results declared it approved by 98.5% of voters, with a turnout of 62.2%.
Independent observers questioned whether voter participation had reached 30% and
noted that there had been widespread irregularities.

13. Elections to the National and Provincial assemblies were
held in February, 1985.
MRD urged people to boycott the elections.
Political parties were banned from contesting elections.
Muhammad Khan Junejo was chosen as Prime minister by
Zia-ul-Haq.

14. Martial law was lifted on 30 Dec, 1985.
Constitution of 1973 was restored.
According to 8th amendment:
President had the power to dismiss National Assembly.
Governors had powers to dismiss Provincial Assemblies.

15. On 25 December, 1979 Soviet Union tanks rolled into Afghanistan.
Soviet Union and USA were engaged in the cold War. Soon after Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, US and Pakistan intelligence agencies started proxy war in Afghanistan.
USA poured billions of dollars into Pakistan. ISI helped created Mujahidin. Mujahedeen
were trained and armed to fight Soviet forces. In the name of Jihad, many Madrasahs
students (Taliban) embraced martyrdom in Afghanistan.
With Soviet invasion, Pakistan became a frontline state. Zia regime, which enjoyed little
support in western capitals, suddenly became a prominent figure on the world stage.
The war continued for a decade when Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

16. Muhammad Khan Junejo was believed as the man of principles as he opposed
Zia’s autocratic orders on many issues including the country’s involvement in
Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.
Differences also grew between the two when Junejo decided to open
investigation of Ojhri camp tragedy. The tragedy took place on 10 April, 1988
when army weapons dump at the Ojhri camp (between Islamabad and
Rawalpindi) blew up killing hundreds of people with more than thousands
injured.
He was dismissed on 29 May, 1988.

17. He died in a C-130 Hercules plane, Pak-1, crashed near the Sutlej
river on 17 August 1988.
Several conspiracy theories exist regarding this incident, as other high-
profile civilian and military personnel's were also died in the crash
including the Chairman Joint Chiefs General Akhtar Abdur
Rehman and the United States Ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Lewis
Raphel, and the military attaché, Brigadier General Herbert M.
Wassom.
The state funeral of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was held on 19 August
1988 in the Shah Faisal Mosque located in Islamabad.