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Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Pakistan,
one of the largest Muslim states in the world, is a
living and exemplary monument of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah. With his untiring efforts, indomitable will,
and dauntless courage, he united the Indian Muslims
under the banner of the Muslim League and carved out
a homeland for them, despite stiff opposition from the
Hindu Congress and the British Government. |
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Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born in Karachi on December
25, 1876. His father Jinnah Poonja was an Ismaili Khoja of Kathiawar,
a prosperous business community. Muhammad Ali received his early
education at the Sindh Madrasa and later at the Mission School,
Karachi. He went to England for further studies in 1892 at the
age of 16. In 1896, Jinnah qualified for the Bar and was called
to the Bar in 1897.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah started his political career in 1906 when
he attended the Calcutta session of the All India National Congress
in the capacity of Private Secretary to the President of the
Congress. In 1910, he was elected to the Imperial Legislative
Council. He sponsored the Waqf Validating Bill, which brought
him in touch with other Muslim leaders. In March 1913, Jinnah
joined the All India Muslim League.
As a member of the Muslim League, Jinnah began to work for Hindu-Muslim
unity. In 1917, the annual sessions of both the Congress and
the League were held at Lucknow. The League session was presided
over by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It marked the culmination of his
efforts towards Hindu-Muslim unity. Here, both the League and
the Congress adopted a scheme of reforms known as the Lucknow
Pact.
On April 19, 1918, Jinnah married Rutanbai. Their daughter,
Dina was born a year later. In 1919, Jinnah resigned from his
membership of the Imperial Legislative Council as protest against
the "Rowlatt Act".
Until the publication of Nehru Report, Jinnah continued his
efforts for Hindu-Muslim unity. The Nehru Report, published
in 1928, was severely criticized by all sections of the Muslim
community. In December 1928, the National Convention was called
to consider the Report. Jinnah proposed some amendments, but
they were all rejected. He finally parted ways with the Congress.
In
1929, Jinnah presented his famous Fourteen Points in response
to the Nehru Report. When he returned from England, he reorganized
the Muslim League. In 1934, he was elected as its permanent
president.
The Provincial Assembly elections of 1937 swept the Congress
to power in eight provinces. After almost two years of oppressive
rule, Muslims under the leadership of Jinnah, celebrated the
Day of Deliverance at the end of Congress rule.
The Muslim League held its annual session at Lahore in March
1940. This was presided over by Quaid-i-Azam. The demand for
Pakistan was formally put forward here. This goal was realized
on August 14, 1947. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was appointed
as its first Governor General.
The establishment of Pakistan brought even greater responsibilities
for Jinnah. The refugee problem, the withholding of Pakistani
assets by India, and the Kashmir problem were a real test for
the Quaid. However, his indomitable will prevailed. He worked
out a sound economic policy, established an independent currency
and the State Bank for Pakistan. He chose Karachi as the federal
capital.
However, he did not live long to witness the progress of the
state that he had founded. On September 11, 1948, he died after
a protracted illness at Karachi. He was buried in Karachi that
witnessed the entire nation mourning over an irreparable loss.
Allama
Muhammad Iqbal
Allama
Iqbal, great poet-philosopher and active political leader,
was born at Sialkot, Punjab, in 1877. He descended from
a family of Kashmiri Brahmins, who had embraced Islam
about 300 years earlier.
Iqbal received his early education in the traditional
maktab. Later he joined the Sialkot Mission School,
from where he passed his matriculation examination.
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In
1897, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Government
College, Lahore. Two years later, he secured his Masters Degree
and was appointed in the Oriental College, Lahore, as a lecturer
of history, philosophy and English. He later proceeded to Europe
for higher studies. Having obtained a degree at Cambridge, he
secured his doctorate at Munich and finally qualified as a barrister.
He returned to India in 1908. Besides teaching and practicing
law, Iqbal continued to write poetry. He resigned from government
service in 1911 and took up the task of propagating individual
thinking among the Muslims through his poetry.
By 1928, his reputation as a great Muslim philosopher was solidly
established and he was invited to deliver lectures at Hyderabad,
Aligarh and Madras. These series of lectures were later published
as a book "The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam".
In 1930, Iqbal was invited to preside over the open session
of the Muslim League at Allahabad. In his historic Allahabad
Address, Iqbal visualized an independent and sovereign state
for the Muslims of North-Western India. In 1932, Iqbal came
to England as a Muslim delegate to the Third Round Table Conference.
In later years, when the Quaid had left India and was residing
in England, Allama Iqbal wrote to him conveying to him his personal
views on political problems and state of affairs of the Indian
Muslims, and also persuading him to come back. These letters
are dated from June 1936 to November 1937. This series of correspondence
is now a part of important historic documents concerning Pakistan's
struggle for freedom.
On April 21, 1938, the great Muslim poet-philosopher and champion
of the Muslim cause, passed away. He lies buried next to the
Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.
Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan
The
greatest Muslim reformer and statesman of the
19th Century, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was born in Delhi
on October 17, 1817. His family on the maternal and
paternal side had close contacts with the Mughal court.
His maternal grandfather, Khwajah Farid was a Wazir
in the court of Akbar Shah II. His paternal grandfather
Syed Hadi held a mansab and the title of Jawwad Ali
Khan in the court of Alamgir II. His father, Mir Muttaqi,
had been close to Akbar Shah since the days of his prince-hood.
Syed Ahmad's mother, Aziz-un-Nisa, took a great deal
of interest in the education and upbringing of her son.
She imposed a rigid discipline on him and Sir Syed himself
admitted that her supervision counted for much in the
formation of his character. |
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The
early years of Sir Syed's life were spent in the atmosphere
of the family of a Mughal noble. There was nothing in young
Syed's habits or behavior to suggest that he was different from
other boys, though he was distinguished on account of his extraordinary
physique. As a boy he learnt swimming and archery, which were
favorite sports of the well-to-do class in those days.
Sir Syed received his education under the old system. He learnt
to read the Quran under a female teacher at his home. After
this, he was put in the charge of Maulvi Hamid-ud-Din, the first
of his private tutors. Having completed a course in Persian
and Arabic, he took to the study of mathematics, which was a
favorite subject of the maternal side of his family. He later
became interested in medicine and studied some well-known books
on the subject. However, he soon gave it up without completing
the full course. At the age of 18 or 19 his formal education
came to an end but he continued his studies privately. He started
taking a keen interest in the literary gatherings and cultural
activities of the city.
The death of his father in 1838 left the family in difficulties.
Thus young Syed was compelled at the early age of 21 to look
for a career. He decided to enter the service of the East India
Company. He started his career as Sarishtedar in a court of
law. He became Naib Munshi in 1839 and Munshi in 1841. In 1858
he was promoted and appointed as Sadar-us-Sadur at Muradabad.
In 1867 he was promoted and posted as the judge of the Small
Causes Court. He retired in 1876. He spent the rest of his life
for Aligarh College and the Muslims of South Asia.
Sir Syed's greatest achievement was his Aligarh Movement, which
was primarily an educational venture. He established Gulshan
School at Muradabad in 1859, Victoria School at Ghazipur in
1863, and a scientific society in 1864. When Sir Syed was posted
at Aligarh in 1867, he started the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental
School in the city. Sir Syed got the opportunity to visit England
in 1869-70. During his stay, he studied the British educational
system and appreciated it. On his return home he decided to
make M. A. O. High School on the pattern of British boarding
schools. The School later became a college in 1875. The status
of University was given to the college after the death of Sir
Syed in 1920. M. A. O. High School, College and University played
a big role in the awareness of the Muslims of South Asia.
Unlike other Muslim leaders of his time, Sir Syed was of the
view that Muslims should have friendship with the British if
they want to take their due rights. To achieve this he did a
lot to convince the British that Muslims were not against them.
On the other hand, he tried his best to convince the Muslims
that if they did not befriend the British, they could not achieve
their goals. Sir Syed wrote many books and journals to remove
the misunderstandings between Muslims and the British. The most
significant of his literary works were his pamphlets "Loyal
Muhammadans of India" and "Cause of Indian Revolt". He also
wrote a commentary on the Bible, in which he attempted to prove
that Islam is the closest religion to Christianity.
Sir Syed asked the Muslims of his time not to participate in
politics unless and until they got modern education. He was
of the view that Muslims could not succeed in the field of western
politics without knowing the system. He was invited to attend
the first session of the Indian National Congress and to join
the organization but he refused to accept the offer. He also
asked the Muslims to keep themselves away from the Congress
and predicted that the party would prove to be a pure Hindu
party in the times to come. By establishing the Muhammadan Educational
Conference, he provided Muslims with a platform on which he
could discuss their political problems. Sir Syed is known as
the founder of Two-Nation Theory in the modern era.
In the beginning of 1898 he started keeping abnormally quiet.
For hours he would not utter a word to friends who visited him.
Medical aid proved ineffective. His condition became critical
on 24th of March. On the morning of March 27, a severe headache
further worsened it. He expired the same evening in the house
of Haji Ismail Khan, where he had been shifted 10 or 12 days
earlier. He was buried the following afternoon in the compound
of the Mosque of Aligarh College. He was mourned by a large
number of friends and admirers both within and outside South
Asia.
Liaquat Ali Khan
The
second son of Nawab Rustam Ali Khan, was born on October
1, 1896, in a Madal Pathan (Nausherwan) family. He graduated
in 1918 from M. A. O. College, Aligarh. He married his
cousin, Jehangira Begum in 1918. After his marriage,
he went to London for higher education. In 1921, he
obtained a degree in Law from Oxford and was called
to Bar at Inner Temple in 1922.
On his return from England in 1923, Liaquat Ali Khan
decided to enter politics with the objective of liberating
his homeland from the foreign yoke |
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Right
from the very beginning, he was determined to eradicate the
injustices and ill treatment meted out to the Indian Muslims
by the British.
Liaquat Ali started his parliamentary career from the U. P.
Legislative Assembly in 1926 as an independent candidate. Later
he formed his own party, The Democratic Party, within the Legislative
Assembly and was elected as its leader. He remained the member
of the U. P. Legislative Council till 1940 when he was elected
to the Central Legislative Assembly.
Liaquat Ali's second marriage took place in 1933. His wife Begum
Ra'ana was a distinguished economist and an educationist who
stood by her husband during the ups and downs of his political
career.
When Quaid-i-Azam returned to India, he started reorganizing
the Muslim League. Liaquat was elected as the Honorary Sectary
of the party on April 26, 1936. He held the office till the
establishment of Pakistan in 1947. In 1940,
Liaquat Ali Khan won the Central Legislature election in 1945-46
from the Meerut Constituency in U. P. He was also elected Chairman
of the League's Central Parliamentary Board.
After
independence, Quaid-i-Azam and Muslim League appointed Liaquat
to be the head of the Pakistan Government. Being the first Prime
Minister of the country, He had to deal with a number of difficulties
facing Pakistan in its early days. Liaquat Ali Khan helped Quaid-i-Azam
in solving the riot and refugee problem and setting up an effective
administrative system for the country. After the death of Quaid-i-Azam,
Liaquat tried to fill the vacuum created by the departure of
the Father of the Nation. Under his premiership, Pakistan took
its first steps in the field of constitution making, as well
as foreign policy. He presented the Objectives Resolution in
the Legislative Assembly. The house passed this on March 12,
1949. Under his leadership a team also drafted the first report
of the Basic Principle Committee. His efforts in signing the
Liaquat-Nehru pact pertaining to the minority issue in 1950
reduced tensions between India and Pakistan. In May 1951, he
visited the United States and set the course of Pakistan's foreign
policy towards closer ties with the West.
On October 16, 1951, Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated. He had
been scheduled to make an important announcement in a public
meeting at Municipal Park, Rawalpindi.
Chaudhry
Rahmat Ali
Chaudhry
Rahmat Ali, founder of the Pakistan National Movement,
was born in 1895. From his early childhood, Rahmat Ali
showed signs of great promise as a student. After completing
his schooling, he joined the Islamia College of Lahore
in order to get his Bachelor of Arts degree. Rahmat
Ali finished education in England, obtaining MA and
LLB with honors from the universities of Cambridge and
Dublin. |
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It was during the years 1930 through 1933, that he seemed to
have established the Pakistan National Movement, with its headquarter
at Cambridge. On January 28, 1933, he issued his first memorable
pamphlet "Now or Never; Are we to live or perish forever?" He
coined the word "Pakistan" for 30 million Muslims who live in
the five northern units of India; Punjab, North West Frontier
(Afghan) Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan. The pamphlet
also gave reasons for the establishment of Pakistan as a separate
nation. He spoke of an independent homeland for Muslims, Pakistan,
in the northern units of India, "Bang-i-Islam" for Muslims in
Bengal, and "Usmanistan" for the Muslims in Hyderabad-Deccan.
Chaudhry
Rahmat Ali propagated the Scheme of Pakistan with a missionary
zeal since its inception in 1933. In August 1947, Pakistan came
to be established and in 1948 Chaudhry Rahmat Ali visited Pakistan.
Later he proceeded to England to champion the cause of Kashmir
through the United Nations.
Sick
and weak, he died on February 12, 1951.
Miss
Fatima Jinnah
Miss
Fatima Jinnah, younger sister of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah, was born in 1893. Of his seven brothers
and sisters, she was the closest to the Quaid. Jinnah
became her guardian upon the death of their father in
1901. Due to her brother's keen interest, and despite
strident family opposition, Miss Fatima received excellent
early education. She joined the Bandra Convent in 1902.
In 1919 she got admitted to the highly competitive University
of Calcutta where she attended the Dr. Ahmad Dental
College. |
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After she qualified, Jinnah went along with her idea of opening
a dental clinic in Bombay and helped her set it up in 1923.
Miss Fatima Jinnah initially lived with her brother for about
eight years till 1918, when he got married to Rutanbai. Upon
Rutanbai's death in February 1929, Miss Jinnah wound up her
clinic, moved into Jinnah's bungalow, and took charge of his
house; thus beginning the life-long companionship that lasted
till Jinnah's death on September 11, 1948.
In all, Miss Jinnah lived with her brother for about 28 years,
including the last 19 tiring years of his life. The Quaid would
discuss various problems with her, mostly at the breakfast and
dinner table. Paying tribute to her sister, the Quaid once said,
"My sister was like a bright ray of light and hope whenever
I came back home and met her. Anxieties would have been much
greater and my health much worse, but for the restraint imposed
by her".
Miss Jinnah not only lived with her brother but also accompanied
him on his numerous tours. In 1932, she joined him in London
when he remained there after the Second Round Table Conference.
When the All India Muslim League was being organized, Miss Fatima
Jinnah was taken on as a member of the Working Committee of
the Bombay Provincial Muslim League, and worked in that capacity
until 1947.
In March 1940, she attended the Lahore session of the MuslimLeague.
Fatima was convinced that the Hindus intended to subjugate and
dominate the Muslims completely. It was primarily due to her
initiative that the All India Muslim Women Students Federation
was organized in February 1941 at Delhi.
During the transfer of power in 1947, she was an inspiration
to Muslim women. She formed the Women's Relief Committee, which
later formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women's Association.
She also played a significant role in the settlement of refugees
in the new state of Pakistan.
Despite her old age, she continued to help social and educational
associations. During the Quaid's illness, she remained passionately
attached to him. After his death, she often issued important
statements on important occasions, as a reminder to the nation
of the ideals on which Pakistan had been established.
In 1965, Miss Fatima Jinnah ran for President as a candidate
of the Combined Opposition Party. Even a conservative party
like the Jamaat-i-Islami accepted her as a woman presidential
candidate. Miss Jinnah's greatest advantage was that she was
sister of the Founder of Pakistan and had been detached from
the political conflicts that had plagued Pakistan after the
Founder's death. The sight of this dynamic lady moving in the
streets of big cities, and even in the rural areas of a Muslim
country, was both moving and unique. She proclaimed her opponent
presidential candidate, Ayub Khan, a dictator. Miss Jinnah's
line of attack was that by coming to terms with India on the
Indus Water dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers
over to India. Her campaign generated such tremendous public
enthusiasm that most of the press agreed that if the contest
were by direct election, she would have won against Ayub.
It seems that the thought of doing a biography of her illustrious
brother came to Miss Jinnah about the time when Hector Bolitho's
"Jinnah Creator of Pakistan" was first published in 1954. It
was felt that Bolitho had failed to bring out the political
aspects of Jinnah's life in his book. Miss Jinnah started looking
for a Pakistani author to do a biography of the Quaid. G. Allana
was her choice. G. Allana assisted Miss Jinnah on the assignment
but they parted company due to reasons undisclosed. Later both
carried on their independent works on Jinnah. Her book "My Brother"
was published by the Quaid-i-Azam Academy in 1987.
The people of Pakistan hold Miss Fatima in high esteem. Due
to her selfless work for Pakistan, the nation conferred upon
her the title of Madar-i-Millat, or "Mother of the Nation".
She died in Karachi on July 8, 1967. Some historians indicate
that the date of her death was actually July 2, 1967.
Khawaja
Nazimuddin
Khawaja
Nazimuddin was born on July 19, 1894, at Dhaka. He was
educated at M. A. O. College, Aligarh, and Trinity Hall,
Cambridge. He remained as Chairman of Dhaka Municipality
from 1922 to 1929. After becoming the Provincial Education
Minister in 1929, he piloted the Bengal Rural Primary
Education Bill in 1930, which was strongly opposed by
the Hindu members. |
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He continued as Education Minister till 1934 and then became
an Executive Councilor. In that capacity two important Bills
were passed to improve the lot of Bengal peasantry that showed
his steady levelheaded outlook.
In 1937, he was appointed as the Home Minister. He remained
an active member of Coalition Cabinet of the Chief Minister,
Fazl-ul-Haq, during 1937-1941. After Fazl-ul-Haq's resignation,
Khawaja Nazimuddin, who had been the Leader of Opposition from
1941 to 1943, became Chief Minister on April 24, 1943. In August
1947, he was elected as the leader of the Muslim League Party
of East Bengal.
When Muhammad Ali Jinnah passed away on September 11, 1948,
Khawaja Nazimuddin was designated as the Governor General of
Pakistan. After the assassination of Liaquat Ali, Khawaja Nazimuddin
was asked to step in as the Prime Minister as there was no other
person found suitable for the post, while Malik Ghulam Muhammad
was elevated to the post of Governor General.
Khawaja Nazimuddin died in 1964.
Maulana Muhammad Ali
Maulana
Muhammad Ali was born in Rampur state in 1878, in a
wealthy and enlightened family of Pathans. His father
died when he was two years old. He and his family suffered
financial problems after the death of his father. Due
to the efforts, determination and sacrifice by his mother,
he and his brothers were able to get good education.
He did his graduation from Aligarh University with honors
and then went to Lincoln College Oxford, England, in
1898 to study modern history. |
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On his return he was appointed Director of Education in Rampur
State, and later joined the Baroda Civil Service and served
there for seven years. Maulana Muhammad Ali was a brilliant
and impressive writer, an orator of the first magnitude and
a farsighted political leader. He wrote articles in various
newspapers like "The Times", "The Observer" and "The Manchester
Guardian". Maulana Muhammad Ali wrote both in English and Urdu.
He launched his famous English weekly "Comrade" from Calcutta
in 1911. After shifting to Delhi in 1913, he, in addition to
his English weekly, also launched his Urdu weekly, "Hamdard".
The "Comrade" became an internationally famous journal and secured
many subscribers in numerous foreign countries. He also worked
hard towards making M. O. A. College a Muslim University. He
assisted in setting up Jami'ah Milliyah Islamia, which was later
transferred to Delhi. For four years after 1911, he remained
involved in the Kanpur Mosque affair. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar
was one of the cofounders of All India Muslim League. He attended
the first session of All India Muslim League at Dhaka in 1906,
and was later elected as its President in 1918. He remained
active in the affairs of the All India Muslim League till 1928.
The famous English weekly "Comrade" was launched from Calcutta
in 1911
During the Khilafat Movement, Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar led
a delegation to England in 1919, in order to present the view
of the Muslims. Although the delegation was not successful in
its aim, he still kept on working for the Muslims. He also wholeheartedly
joined the non-cooperation movement organized by Gandhi. In
1921, after the British refused to honor their promises in regard
to Turkey, he toured the whole of India in order to gather support
for the success of the non-cooperation movement. At the end
of the movement he was arrested and jailed for two years.
In
1924, he renewed the publication of "Hamdard". In 1928, he left
the Indian National Congress, opposed the Nehru Report tooth
and nail, and supported the Fourteen Points of Quaid-i-Azam.
Despite his ill health, he attended the First Round Table Conference
in 1930, where he effectively argued the case of the Indian
Muslims. He delivered a memorable, fiery speech against the
domination of India and in favor of immediate independence.
Soon after the first session was over, he collapsed and died
in London on January 4, 1931, and was buried in Jerusalem according
to his own wish
Malik
Ghulam Muhammad
Malik
Ghulam Muhammad was the first leader to be installed
in Pakistan's hall of shame. He was chosen by the Quaid
as the fledgling state's first finance minister, one
of the few Muslim who had some experience of audit and
accounts, as well as dash and drive. That his skills
in financial management had been recognised by the topmost
non-Muslim industrialist was an additional qualification.
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What
was not noted was his outsized personal ambition and exposure
to intrigues common in princely durbars. A rapid advance in
career had sharpened his arrogance and the applause he received
from the ignorant for balancing the first state budget and for
scoring a point over India by not devaluing the currency when
the latter did so, eroded whatever capacity he had for being
a responsible team player.He might have secretly envied fellow
professionals (Mumtaz Husain, Zahid Husain, Mohammad Ali, et
al) but he had little respect for fellow ministers, or even
the head of the Cobinet. Few noticed that, like his colleagues
in p power, he did not understand the political and social needs
of the new state's population, nor the effects of the peculiar
demographic and economic disparities between its two separate
parts. No one perhaps found the colonial model of state wanting
in any respect. He had little to do with Islam or socialism
but did not hesutate to offer their mixture as a popular ideal.
Ghulam Muhammad will be remembered for founding the tradition
of authoritarianism in Pakistan. As the leading actor in three
major sequences -- the dismissal of prime Minister Nazimuddin,
the dissolution of the Constituent assembly, and the imposition
of the non-unit sceme -- he was primarily responsible for launching
East Bangal on the path of alienation from Pakistan, for bringing
the armed forces into politics, for confirming the country's
subservience to Cold War operation, for creating bad blood between
Punjab and the other federating units, and for devaluing democratic
norms. Taken together his actions created crises that got aggravated
year after year and which have dogged the state to this day
with enormous costs to the people.
Muhammad Ayub Khan
Muhammad
Ayub Khan was born on May 14, 1907, in the village of
Rehana near Haripur, in Hazara District. For his basic
education, he was enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh,
which was about 4 miles from his village. He used to
go to school on a mule's back. Later he was shifted
to a school in Haripur, After passing his Matriculation
Exams Ayub was sent to Aligarh University where he spent
four years. However, before appearing in his B. A. exams,
he was selected for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.
He sailed for England in 1926. |
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Ayub's
performance in Sandhurst was exemplary and he won several scholarships.
After the completion of training, he got commissioned in the
Indian Army in 1928. He fought at different fronts during World
War II, first as a Major and then Colonel. During the communal
riots of 1947, he was assigned to assist General Pete Rees in
the Punjab Boundary Force. At the time of Independence, Ayub
Khan opted to join the Pakistan Army, where as a Brigadier,
he was the senior-most Muslim officer. In 1951, he was raised
to the status of a four-star General and was appointed as the
first local Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army.
The first time military was directly involved in politics of
the country was when Ayub Khan, a serving Commander-in-Chief,
was inducted into Muhammad Ali Bogra's Federal Cabinet in 1954,
and was given the portfolio of Defense. Ayub Khan was designated
as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. On October 7, 1958,
Iskander Mirza enforced the first Martial Law in Pakistan with
the help of Ayub Khan. Ayub Khan was designated as the Chief
Martial Law Administrator. However, the two leaders couldn't
work together for long. Ayub Khan snatched away Mirzas' powers
and assumed charge as the President of Pakistan, in addition
to his role as Chief Martial Law Administrator. Later on he
gave himself the rank of Field Marshal.
On
June 8, 1962, Martial Law was lifted from Pakistan and the new
Constitution was introduced. According to this new Constitution,
Presidential form of government and the principle of Basic Democracy
were introduced. The imposition of the Constitution made no
change in the powers of Ayub Khan and he remained President
even under the new setup. Presidential elections were held in
1965. The Combined Opposition Party nominated Fatima Jinnah
as their candidate in the election but Ayub Khan managed to
sweep the polls.
Ayub Khan's era is known for the industrialization in the country.
He created an environment where the private sector was encouraged
to establish medium and small-scale industries in Pakistan.
This opened up avenues for new job opportunities and thus the
economic graph of the country started rising.He planned a new
city and moved the capital from Karachi to Islamabad in 1962.
Every thing was moving in the right direction for Ayub Khan
till the start of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. The performance
of the Pakistani army was good but the war caused a rapid decline
of the country's economy. He is also criticized his role at
the Tashkent Declaration. . The rest of the political parties
formed an alliance, the Democratic Action Committee, with a
one-point agenda, i.e. the removal of Ayub Khan's government.
In
addition, Ayub's policies of concentrating political power in
his own hands, his control over the press and media, imposing
state of emergency in the country, and his interference in religion
were also responsible for his downfall. Adding insult to injury,
Ayub Khan decided to celebrate a decade of his rule in 1968
and made exaggerated claims about the development in the country.
By
the end of 1968, the public resentment against the Ayub's regime
touched a boiling point and an anti-Ayub movement was launched
by the urban-middle class; including students, teachers, lawyers,
doctors, and engineers. The Joint Labor Council called for a
labor strike. Demonstrations and agitation swept the whole country.
Law and order broke down and Ayub was left with no other option
but to step down.
On
March 25, 1969, he resigned and handed over the power to the
Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, General Muhammad Yahya
Khan.
Mian Mohammad Iftikharuddin
Mian Mohammad Iftikharuddin is a unique character in Pakistan's
political history. He consistently served his people without
any opportunity of rulling over them. Thus he belongs to that
category who help shape their society by the ideas they foster
and the causes they uphold, as distinguishable from those whose
actions in authority determine the nature and functioning of
the collective. Gifted with a board vision of life, derived
from the ideals of democracy, pease, secularism and egalitarianism,
he occupies a prominent place in a small group of eminent Pakistais
who offered an alternative to objectives and practices that
militated against the spirit of the age, because of which, among
other things, dictators and philistines have never gone completely
unchallenged. Iftikharuddin raised his voice of sanity whenever
the state took a wrong turn. His brave attempt to find a settlement
between the Muslim Leauge and the Congress on the eve of partition
is well known, as is his role in triggering off the Muslim Leauge
civil disobedience movement early in 1947. He called for land
reforms not only the grounds of economic and social necessity
but also to ensure a rational stellement of the refugees and
painless national integation. Struggles for civil liberties,
a federation or confederation based on the rights of nationalities,
and independence foreign policy were permanent features of the
creed. When martial law was enforced in Lahore in 1953 he warned
that the way was being prepared for military rule; he warned
Ghulam Mohammad against relying on the army to dissolve the
Constituent Assembly; he denounced the one-unit as being against
provincial rights; and the rejected the 1956 Constitution as
being against both national interest and Islam. This record
established him as one of the most perceptive politicians Pakistan
has had. There is very little in his debit column -- his failure
to respond seriously to the Objectives Resolation, his election
and business tricks, and his inability to convince his radical
supporters that his lifestyle did not compromise his convictions.
Perhaps his most durable contribution came in the from of Progressive
Papers which not only set standards in conscious and responsible
journalism but also served as a nursery for a whole generation
of journalista and defined the framework for a few press that
has been one of the nation's saving graces.
Bacha Khan
The
real name of this great leader was Abdul-Ghaffar Khan.
The title of Bacha Khan was given by the nation. Bacha
in Pushtu/Afghani means "The King". In afghan society
this title is awarded to someone who is willing to sacrifice
every thing for a cause. Indeed Bacha Khan Baba was
one such man. |
 |
Origon
Bacha Khan was born in the land of Afghans/Pukhtuns. This land
is known as Greater Afghanistan or Pukhtunistan.(For more information
go to www.pukhtunistan.4t.com). Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was
born in 1890 in Charsadda. He got his early education at his
home and near by mosque and Islamic Madrassa (school). After
comming to his age,he was shocked by the illiteracy of Pathans/Pukhtuns.
He started a movement for the education of Pathan. The other
problem of pathan was unity among them. So he opened a school
in charsadda to educate the poor Pukhtuns. This school was later
demolished by explosions by the provincial govt. of Qayyum Khan.
His movement became very popular among the Pukhtuns. In 1920s
he joined Congress Party of India. Due to him Congress party
became very popular in NWFP(North West Frontier Province, now
known as Pukhtunkhua). He was made member of the central executive
committee of Congress party. During British Govt. he was sent
several time to prison. He spent 52 years of his 99 years of
life in jail of exile. Congress party was always winning election
in NWFP till creation of Pakistan. During referendom in NWFP
for Joining India or Pakistan Congress Party byocotted the referendom
so most of the people did not vote in the referendom. At that
time Congress party was the ruling party in NWFP.
Muhammad
Ali Bogra
Muhammad
Ali was born in Bogra in an aristocratic Nawab family.
Officialy he was carring the family name Bogra. He studied
at the Calcutta University and in 1937 he was elected
to the Bengal legislative assembly.
In 1943, Muhammad Ali became parliamentary secretary
to Khawaja Nazimuddin, the then Chief Minister of Bengal.
Later in 1946, he became Finance and Health Minister
of the province. |
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After the formation of Pakistan, he was appointed Ambassador
to Burma in 1948 High Commissioner to Canada in 1949 and finally
Ambassador to USA in 1952. Muhammad Ali Bogra was appointed
Prime Minister on April 17, 1953 by the Governor General.
Muhammad Ali Bogra was very renowned diplomat but almost unknown
as a politician. His appointment as Prime Minister came as a
surprise to political observers and public alike, and it was
widely suspected that his transfer from Washington to Karachi,
elevation to the office was a prelude to closer relations between
the US and Pakistan.
Only three days after the new premier's nomination, the US President
Eisenhower asked Congress for authority to ship hundreds and
thousands of tons of wheat to Pakistan. The US was at that time
conducting a vigorous anti-Communist policy and looking for
friends in Asia. Pakistan entered into defense pacts with it.
After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in 1954 by
the governor-general, Muhammad Ali was again invited to form
a new cabinet call "ministry of all talents."
Muhammad Ali Bogra was replaced by Chaudhary Muhammad Ali in
August 1955 after the second constituent Assembly was elected.
Muhammad Ali again resumed his assignment as ambassador to the
USA. He died in the year 1969
Iskander
Mirza
Iskander
Mirza was born on November 15, 1899, in a feudal family
of Bengal,Being the senior-most Muslim Civil Servant
in the Indian Ministry of Defense, Iskander Mirza was
appointed as the first Defense Secretary of Pakistan
at the time of Independence. He served at this position
for about seven years. With the dismissal of the United
Front's Ministry in East Pakistan, Governor General
Ghulam Muhammad decided to enforce Governor's Rule in
the province and appointed Iskander Mirza as Governor
in May 1954. |
 |
From
October 1954 to August 1955, Iskander Mirza served as the Interior
Minister, and then as the Minister of States and Frontier Regions
in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra. Ghulam
Muhammad, due to his illness, went on a two months leave and
left the ground for Iskander Mirza to assume the post of acting
Governor General on August 7, 1955. However, this temporary
charge was soon made permanent. He appointed Chaudhry Muhammad
Ali, another bureaucrat, as the Prime Minister of the country.
Iskander Mirza felt threatened by the reorganization of the
Muslim League and the alliance of the Awami League with the
Punjabi groups in mid 1958. On October 7, he issued a proclamation
abrogating the 1956 Constitution. According to the proclamation,
the Central and the Provincial Assemblies were dissolved and
the first Martial Law was enforced in the country. Iskander
Mirza himself remained President and appointed Ayub Khan as
the Martial Law Administrator and the Supreme Commander of the
armed forces. Ayub Khan proved to be smarter than the politicians
and refused to act as puppet in the hands of the President.
On October 27, 1958, Ayub Khan compelled Iskander Mirza to leave
the country, assumed himself the title of President, and announced
that Martial Law would continue in order to give legal cover
to certain reforms he wanted to put through.
Iskander Mirza spent rest of his life in a hotel room in London.
He died on November 15 1969.
Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan.
Nawabzada
Nasrullah Khan who is known for making various successful
political alliances against the military rulers since
creation of the country. |
 |
He
heads Alliance for restoration of Democracy (ARD) which include
Pakistan Peoples Party of Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim
League (Nawaz) of Mian Nawaz Sharif.
The
90-year old veteran politician known as “Baba-e-Jamhooriyatâ€
(Father of the democracy) is still fighting for democracy.
Aga khan
Aga
khan (1877-1957) came from a very illustrious family,
which has left its mark in the pages of history. The
history of the Aga Khan family in India begins from
the year 1842, when his grandfather, Aga Khan, Aga Hassan
Alyshah reached with his band of followers from Kandhar,
as a political refugee, and later settled in Bombay.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, Alyshah Aga Khan
II, who met an untimely death in 1895. |
 |
Aly Shah was succeeded by his son, Sultan Mohammed Shah, as
Agha Khan III, at the age of seven. Educated in both traditions,
the Aga Khan showed special aptitude for philosophy, theology
and Persian poetry.
In his presidential address to the Mohammadan Educational Conference,
held in Dehli in 1902, he promoted the idea of establishing
a great central Muslim University at Aligarh.
In 1906, Sir Aga Khan led the Simla deputation and very adequately
represented the Muslim demands for separate electorates, later
reflected in the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909. When All-India
Muslim League was established in 1906, Aga Khan was elected
its first President and continued to hold this post until 1912,
when he submitted his resignation.
On
January 1929, All-Parties Muslim conference, which met in Dehli
with Aga Khan in the chair, made efforts to forge unity amongst
the two warring parties of the Muslim league (the Shafi Group
and Jinnah Group.) In his presidential address the Aga Khan
advised Muslim leaders to sink their differences and to join
hands.
In the Round Table conferences held in London 1930-1932, His
Highness the Aga Khan played his cards remarkably as a skillful
negotiator and a far-sighted statesman. In 1932, Aga Khan was
nominated to represent India at the League of Nations and was
unanimously elected President of the League of Nations in July
1937.
At the age of eighty, he died on July 11, 1957 in Geneva.
Maulana
Sayyid Abu Ala Maududi
| Maulana
Sayyid Abu Ala Maududi was born on the 3rd rajab 1321
AH (25th September 1903) in the city of Aurangabad in
the princely state of Hyderabad Deccan in Southern India. |
 |
The
real worth of Maulana Abul A'ala Mawdudi's work has been somewhat
eclipsed by the prominence his Jamaat Islami came to enjoy in
the politics of a country whose creation he had originally opposed.
Mawdudi's real work, as researchers in and outside Pakistan
have been pointing out, is his developing a modern political
Islamic ideology.
Mawdudi put emphasis on revolation through education. This entailed
a process of "Islamising society by impressing Islamic values.."
but he himself later opted to take part in the electoral process.
Far from accelerating the process of Islamition the jamaat had
commited itself to' this shift led to sullying the name of its
founder. The style of politics the Jamaat, more so its student
wing Islami Jamaat Tulaba, has been associated with has invariably
led to criticism of the plan of action he gave.However, in practice,
say analysts, Jamaat did not actually follow his formula. In
fact the diversion has led to the formation of other revivalist
groups, such as the Tanzeem Islamic of one-time JI member Dr
Israr Ahmad, on the original Jamaat model
Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy
Hussain
Shaheed Suhrawardy is one of the most complex characters
Pakistan's historians have to deal with. His understanding
of history, politics and the people was exceptionally
high. A brilliant, articulate advocate, he was accepted
as a mature liberal. He derived his political strength
from the democratic support of the people and opposed
dictatorship. |
 |
These
qualities enabled him to contribute to some heaithy trends in
politics. He was among the first to protest against the way
the 1940 resulation was being interperted and the attempts to
keep the two-nation theory alive after its period had expired.
History has yet to give its final judgment on his plan to fight
the threat posed to post-independent India and P akistan by
the partition of provinces. But his character combined several
mutually contradictory elements. The image of the man who walked
by Gandhi's side to console victims of sommunal rioting could
not be reconciled with the image of the chief minister under
whom Calcutta suffered one of the wrost carnasges in history.His
plea that after the provincial elections in Wast Bengal the
Constituent Assembly had lost its representative character was
sound, but it did not justify collusion with Ghulam Mohammad
in its sacking or his advocacy of a convention to frame a new
constitution. He was strong on the rights of nationalities,
yet failed to recognise them in the case of West Pakistan entities
when as law minister he piloted the one-unit bill. He might
have been right in describing alliances of Muslim states as
zero plus zero but that furnished no reason for joining those
who had committed agression against Nasser's Egypt. perhaps
suhrawardy's political career reflects the bigger tragedy of
Pakistan's politics. Neither he nor anyone possibilities of
tacking the problems rooted in the Indian Muslims freedom movement
and in the premises on which the state of Pakistan was founded.
Suhrawardy's brief stint as prime minister became controversial
partly because by then denigators of demacratic rights had firmly
entrenched themselves and he was unable to defy the marching
orders issued by Iskander mirza. His final contribution to the
people's consciousness came in the from of a steady effort to
mobilise democratic forces against Ayub; that is the image that
survive and is worth preserving.
General
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan
General
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan was born at Chakwal in February
1917. His father, Saadat Ali Khan hailed from Peshawar.
After completing his studies from the Punjab University,
Yahya Khan joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehra
Dun. He was commissioned in the Indian Army in 1938.
|
 |
His
early postings were in the North West Frontier Province. During
World War II, he performed his duties in North Africa, Iraq
and Italy. After Independence, Yahya Khan played a major role
in setting up the Pakistan Staff College at Quetta. During the
war of 1965, he commanded an infantry division. He was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army in 1966 with the rank of
General.
When, in 1969, countrywide agitation rendered the situation
out of control, Ayub Khan decided to hand over power to the
Army Chief, General Yahya Khan. Immediately after coming to
power, Yahya Khan declared Martial Law in the country on March
25, 1969, and assumed the title of Chief Martial Law Administrator.
He terminated the Constitution and dissolved the National and
Provincial Assemblies. On March 31, he also became President
of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Unlike
Pakistan's other military rulers, Yahya Khan was not interested
in prolonging his rule. Immediately after taking charge of the
country, he started looking for options through which he could
hand over power to the elected representatives. On March 29,
1970, through an Ordinance, he presented an interim Constitution,
the Legal Framework Order. It was actually a formula according
to which the forthcoming elections were to be organized. It
goes to the credit of Yahya Khan that the first general elections
in the history of Pakistan were held during his regime in December
1970.
The
trouble started when the results of the elections were announced.
The Awami League, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman,
swept 160 out of 162 seats allocated to East Pakistan. However,
the party failed to get even a single seat from any province
of the Western Wing. On the other hand, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's
Pakistan Peoples Party emerged as the single largest party from
Punjab and Sindh and managed to win 81 National Assembly seats,
all from the Western Wing. This split mandate resulted in political
chaos where neither Bhutto nor Mujib was ready to accept his
opponent as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. When Bhutto and
Mujib failed to reach an understanding about convening a session
of the newly elected National Assembly, the ball fell in Yahya
Khan's court. He handled the situation badly. He used army and
paramilitary forces in East Pakistan to crush the political
agitation. This resulted in the beginning of the war between
Pakistan and India in the winter of 1971.
Yahya
Khan, as President as well as the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan
Army, failed to plan the war. This ultimately resulted in the
defeat of Pakistan, dismemberment of the country and imprisonment
of more than 90,000 Pakistanis. Surrender of Pakistani forces
without any resistance and the fall of Dhaka made Yahya Khan
the greatest villain in the country. People from all walks of
life started criticizing him and thus he was left with no other
option but to hand over the power to the leader of the most
popular party of the remaining part of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto, on December 20, 1971. Later Bhutto placed Yahya Khan
under house arrest in 1972.Yahya Khan died on August 10, 1980,
in Rawalpindi.
Fazal
Ilahi Chaudhry
Fazal
Ilahi Chaudhry was born on January 1, 1904, in Gujrat.
He received his early education from his hometown and
went to Aligarh University for higher education. He
did his M. A. in Political Science in 1925 and took
his degree of Law from the University of Punjab in 1927.
After completing his education, he went back to Gujrat
and started practicing Law. He took part in the election
of Gujrat District Board and was elected unopposed.
|
 |
He joined the Muslim League in 1942. In 1945, he was elected
from Gujrat as the President of Muslim League. He took part
in the 1946 elections on Muslim League's ticket and played an
important role in propagating the ideas of Muslim League among
the people of his area.
After
Independence, he was given the post of Parliamentary Secretary.
He was later appointed Minister for Education and Health. In
1951, he contested the elections of the Punjab Legislative Assembly
on the Muslim League ticket and was elected as a member of the
Punjab Assembly. In 1952, he represented Pakistan in the United
Nations. In the 1956 elections, he was elected as member of
the Assembly and later as the Speaker of the National Assembly.
He remained as Speaker till 1958. In 1962, when Ayub Khan announced
the elections, he was selected as the Deputy Opposition Leader
of the House on the basis of his experience and knowledge about
parliamentary proceedings. He joined the Convention Muslim League,
and after the 1956 elections, he was elected as the Deputy Speaker
of the National Assembly.
He
was elected as member of the National Assembly in 1970 on the
ticket of Pakistan Peoples Party and was later elected as the
Speaker of the National Assembly. After the 1973 Constitution,
Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry was made the President of Pakistan for
five years on August 14, 1973. On July 5, 1977, the army took
over the reigns of power in the country. Fazal Ilahi, however,
completed his tenure as President of Pakistan. He resigned on
September 16, 1978.
He
died on June 2, 1982.
Malik
Meraj Khalid
Malik
Meraj Khalid was born in 1916, in a small village near
Lahore. He studied Law and began his practice in 1948.
He was elected to the Provincial Assembly in 1965. He
joined the Pakistan Peoples Party soon after its inception
in 1968 and was appointed President of Lahore P. P.
P. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1970.
|
 |
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto included Meraj Khalid in his Cabinet as
Minister for Food and Agriculture and Under-Developed Areas
in December 1971. In November 1972, he was appointed Chief of
the Party's Parliamentary Affairs, and in 1975 he was given
the portfolios of Social Welfare, Local Government and Rural
Development. Later he was elected Speaker of the National Assembly.
After
the execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in April 1979, he was nominated
member of the P. P. P. Central Committee. But he resigned in
January 1988. He was again appointed as Speaker of the National
Assembly in 1988. He lost the elections in 1993, and remained
aloof from politics for sometime and served as the Rector of
International Islamic University.
He
was nominated as the Prime Minister of the interim Government
in November 1996 and remained in power till February 1997
Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto
Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto was born on January 5, 1928. He was the only
son of Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto completed
his early education from Bombay's Cathedral High School.
In 1947, he joined the University of Southern California,
and later the University of California at Berkeley in
June 1949. After completing his degree with honors in
Political Science at Berkeley in June 1950, he was admitted
to Oxford. |
 |
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto married Nusrat Isphahani on September 8,
1951. He was called to Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1953, and the
same year his first child, Benazir Bhutto, was born on June
21. On his return to Pakistan, Bhutto started practicing Law
at Dingomal's.
In
1958, he joined President Iskander Mirza's Cabinet as Commerce
Minister. He was the youngest Minister in Ayub Khans Cabinet.
In 1963, he took over the post of Foreign Minister from Muhammad
Ali Bogra.
His
first major achievement was to conclude the Sino-Pakistan boundary
agreement on March 2, 1963. In mid 1964, Bhutto helped convince
Ayub of the wisdom of establishing closer economic and diplomatic
links with Turkey and Iran. The trio later on formed the R.
C. D. In June 1966, Bhutto left Ayub's Cabinet over differences
concerning the Tashkent Agreement.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto launched Pakistan Peoples Party after leaving
Ayub's Cabinet. In the general elections held in December 1970,
P. P. P. won a large majority in West Pakistan but failed to
reach an agreement with Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman, the majority
winner from East Pakistan. Following the 1971 War and the separation
of East Pakistan, Yahya Khan resigned and Bhutto took over as
President and Chief Martial Law Administrator on December 20,
1971.
In early 1972, Bhutto nationalized ten categories of major industries,
and withdrew Pakistan from the Commonwealth of Nations and S.
E. A. T. O. when Britain and other western countries recognized
the new state of Bangladesh. On March 1, he introduced land
reforms, and on July 2, 1972, signed the Simla Agreement with
India, which paved the way for the return of occupied lands
and the release of Pakistani prisoners captured in East Pakistan
in the 1971 war.
After
the National Assembly passed the 1973 Constitution, Bhutto was
sworn-in as the Prime Minister of the country.
On December 30, 1973, Bhutto laid the foundation of Pakistan's
first steel mill at Pipri, near Karachi. On January 1, 1974,
Bhutto nationalized all banks. On February 22, 1974, the second
Islamic Summit was inaugurated in Lahore. Heads of States of
most of the 38 Islamic countries attended the Summit.
Following a political crisis in the country, Bhutto was imprisoned
by General Zia-ul-Haq, who imposed Martial Law on July 5, 1977.
On
April 4, 1979, the former Prime Minister was hanged, after the
Supreme Court upheld the death sentence passed by the Lahore
High Court. The High Court had given him the death sentence
on charges of alleged murder of the father of a dissident P.
P. P. politician.
Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto was buried in his ancestral village at Garhi Khuda
Baksh, next to his father's grave.
Muhammad Khan Junejo was born on August 18, 1932, at Sindhri,
Sindh. After completing his Senior Cambridge, he went to United
Kingdom for a Diploma in Agriculture.
General
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
| General
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the one who enforced Martial Law
for the third time in the brief history of Pakistan. Second
child and eldest son of Muhammad Akram, a teacher in the
British Army, Zia-ul-Haq was born on August 12, 1924,
at Jalandhar. |
 |
He was commissioned in the British Army in 1943 and served in
Burma, Malaya and Indonesia during World War II. When the war
was over, he decided to join the armored corps. At the time
of Independence, like most of the Muslim officers in the British
Army, Zia-ul-Haq opted to join the Pakistan Army.
On April 1, 1976, in a surprise move the then Prime Minister
of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, appointed Zia-ul-Haq as Chief
of Army Staff, superseding five senior Generals. Bhutto probably
wanted somebody as the head of the armed forces who would not
prove to be a threat for him, and the best available option
was the simple General who was apparently interested only in
offering prayers and playing golf. However, history proved that
General Zia-ul-Haq proved to be much smarter than Bhutto thought.
When political tension reached its climax due to the deadlock
between Bhutto and the leadership of Pakistan National Alliance
on the issue of general elections, Zia-ul-Haq took advantage
of the situation. On July 5, 1977, he carried out a bloodless
coup overthrowing Bhutto's government and enforced Martial Law
in the country.
After assuming power as Chief Martial Law Administrator, Zia-ul-Haq
promised to hold National and Provincial Assembly elections
in the next 90 days and to hand over power to the representatives
of the Nation. However, in October 1977, he announced the postponement
of the electoral plan.
With the retirement of Fazal Ilahi, Zia-ul-Haq also assumed
the office of President of Pakistan on September 16, 1978. In
the absence of a Parliament, Zia-ul-Haq decided to set up an
alternative system. He introduced Majlis-i-Shoora in 1980.
In the mid 80s, Zia-ul-Haq decided to fulfill his promise of
holding elections in the country. But before handing over the
power to the public representatives, he decided to secure his
position. Referendum was held in the county in December 1984,
and the masses were given the option to elect or reject the
General as the future President of Pakistan. The question asked
in the referendum was phrased in a way that Zia-ul-Haq's victory
was related to the process of Islamization in the country. According
to the official result, more than 95 percent of the votes were
cast |
Pakistan
Politics Leading Personalities
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