Military Coup As Bhutto's autocratic government became increasingly violent with its detractors and opponents, its popularity greatly fell. Eventually, Bhutto's ruling Pakistan People's Party faced a bloody deadlock with the opposing Pakistan National Alliance. On July 5, 1977, Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq led a bloodless coup against Bhutto's government. The military coup, named Operation Fairplay, was successful, and Zia enforced Martial Law, effectively putting an end to the deteriorating law-and-order situation. Shortly after, Zia promised to hold elections in October and restore power to civilian representatives. He thus became the third person in the history of Pakistan to impose Martial Law. Postponement of Elections and Call for Accountability After assuming power as Chief Martial Law Administrator, General Zia promised to hold National and Provincial Assembly elections in the next 90 days and to hand over power to the representatives of the nation. He also stated that the constitution had not been abrogated whatsoever, but had been temporarily suspended. However, in October 1977, he announced the postponement of the electoral plan and decided to start an accountability process of the politicians. Zia said that he changed his decision due to the strong public demand for the scrutiny of political leaders who had indulged in malpractice in the past (a large number of both PNA and PPP members had asked General Zia to postpone the elections). Thus the "retribution first, elections later," PNA policy was adopted. A Disqualification Tribunal was formed and several individuals who were once 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. Stabilization of Balochistan Declaration of an Amnesty On assuming power, General Zia inherited armed secessionist uprisings in Pakistan's largest province, Balochistan, from the Bhutto era. Tribal unrest and feudal clashes were moving the province towards a precarious position. The general acted quicky, offering a general amnesty to those who gave up arms and moving for the appeasement of the tribals. When this had little effect on the prevailing situation there, Zia withdrew troops from the province, ending much of the civil disobedience movements. Appointment of Rahimuddin Khan as Martial Law Governor Zia then appointed General Rahimuddin Khan, whose previously distinguished career made him stand out among his peers, to the post of Martial Law Governor of Balochistan (and later Governor of Sindh). General Rahimuddin then embarked on a provincial policy that completely isolated feudal families from the government. His authoritarian rule crushed any remaining civil unrest within Balochistan. This garnered controversy over Zia's appointing of the dictatorial Rahimuddin, as the latter would go on to concentrate power solely with the provincial military regime and mostly act independently of the central government. The controversy eventually dissipated after the impressive progress Balochistan went through during Rahimuddin's lengthy rule (1978-1984), which was to remain characterized by the isolation of feudal families from provincial policy. Reign as President of Pakistan Formation of Majlis-e-Shoora In the absence of a Parliament, General Zia decided to set up an alternative system. He introduced Majlis-e-Shoora in 1980. Most of the members of the Shoora were intellectuals, scholars, ulema, journalists, economists and professionals belonging to different fields of life. The Shoora was to act as a board of advisors to the President. The idea of establishing this institution was not bad, but the main problem was that all 284 members of the Shoora were to be nominated by the President and thus there was no room for opposition Referendum of 1984 General Zia eventually decided to hold elections in the country. But before handing over the power to the public representatives, he decided to secure his position as the head of state. A referendum was held in December 1984, and the option was to elect or reject the General as the future President. The question asked in the referendum was whether the people of Pakistan wanted Islamic Sharia law enforced in the country. According to the official result, more than 95% of the votes were cast in favor of Zia-ul-Haq, thus he was elected as President for the next five years. However, they were marred by allegations of widespread irregularities and techinical violations of the laws and ethics of democratic elections. The Eighth Amendment and Elections of 1985 Under Zia, the previous ruler Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's nationalization policies were slowly reversed, and gradual privatization took place. General Zia greatly favored egalitarianism and industrialization. His reign saw, between 1980 and 1988, the increase of industrial production by nine percent, as well as an annual growth in Gross Domestic Product by six percent, among the highest in the world. Consolidation of Pakistan's Nuclear Programme President Zia sought and substantially contributed to the attaining of nuclear capability for Pakistan. Accordingly, the country was made a subject of attack on platforms of international organizations for not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Zia deftly neutralized international pressure by tagging Pakistan's nuclear programme to the nuclear designs of neighbouring India. The President then drew a five-point proposal as a practical rejoinder to world pressure on Pakistan to sign the NPT, the points including the renouncing of the use of nuclear weapons. Despite this, he also openly funded a uranium-enrichment plant based in Kahuta under Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan of Nowshera Cantt.. Involvement in the Soviet-Afghan War The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan On December 25, 1979, the Soviet Union, a superpower at the time, invaded Afghanistan. General Zia, as President of neighboring Pakistan, was asked by several cabinet members to not interfere in the war, owing to the military power of the USSR at the time. The Islamist General Zia, however, was ideologically opposed to Communism taking over a neighboring country, and made no secret about his intentions of monetarily and militarily aiding the Afghan resistance, or Mujahideen. International Standing Enhancement and Resumption of Aid President Zia's international standing greatly rose after his declaration to fight the Soviet invaders, as he went from being portrayed as just another military dictator to a champion of the free world by the Western media. Indeed, Pakistan-United States relations, which had hit a low-point after the burning down of a Pakistan-based US Embassy by fundamentalists in 1979, took a much more positive turn. U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, cut off U.S. aid to Pakistan on the grounds that Pakistan had not made sufficient progress on the nuclear issue. Then, on December 27, 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, and Carter offered Pakistan $325 million in aid over three years. Zia rejected this as "peanuts." Carter also signed the finding in 1980 that allowed less than $50 million a year to go to the Mujahideen. After Ronald Reagan came to office, defeating Carter for the US Presidency in 1980, all this changed. Aid to the Afghan resistance, and to Pakistan, increased substantially. The United States, faced with a rival superpower looking as if it were to create another Communist bloc, now engaged Zia to fight a US-aided war by proxy in Afghanistan against the Soviets. Fighting the War by Proxy President Zia now found himself in a position to demand billions of dollars in aid for the Mujahideen from the Western states, famously dismissing a United States proposed 325 million dollar aid package as "peanuts". Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and Special Service Group now became actively involved in the conflict, and in cooperation with the CIA and the United States Army Special Forces supported the armed struggle against the Soviets. After succeeding Jimmy Carter in 1980, Ronald Reagan became the new President of the United States of America. Reagan was completely against the Soviet Union and its Communist satellites, dubbing it "the Evil Empire". Reagan now increased financial aid heading for Pakistan. Then, in 1981, the Reagan Administration sent the first of forty F-16 jet fighters to the Pakistanis. But the Soviets kept control of the Afghan skies until the Mujahideen received Stinger missiles in 1986. From that moment on, the Mujahideen's strategic position steadily improved. Accordingly, the Soviets declared a policy of national reconciliation. In January they announced that a Soviet withdrawal was no longer linked to the makeup of the Afghan government remaining behind. Pakistan, therefore, played a large part in the eventual withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1988.
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