Contents

Topic Page#
 General Muhammad Zia ul haq 3
 Martial Law 3,4
 The Case of Zulifkar Ali Bhutto 4,5
 General Zia ul Haq Islamaisation 5,6
 Referendum of 1984 6,7
 Law Against Ahmadiyya in 1984 7
 Dismissal of Junejo Governmt and call for new election 7,8
 Death 9
 Biblography 10
General Muhammad Zia ul haq.
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the sixth President of Pakistan from July
1977 to his death in August 1988. Distinguished by his role in the Black
September in Jordan military operation in 1970, he was appointed as Chief of
Army Staff in 1976. After widespread civil disorder, he overthrew ruling Prime
Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 5 July 1977 and became the state's third ruler to
impose martial law. He initially ruled as Chief Martial Law Administrator, but
later installed himself as the President of Pakistan in September 1978.

Zia major domestic initiatives included the consolidation of the fledgling nuclear
program, which was initiated by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, denationalization and
deregulation and the state's Islamization. His tenure saw the disbanding of the
Baloch insurgency. His endorsement of the Pakistan Muslim League the
founding party of Pakistan initiated its mainstream revival. However, he is most
remembered for his foreign policy; the subsidizing of the Mujahideen movement
during the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which led to the Soviet Russian
withdrawel from Afghanistan.

Martial Law .
On 8 January 1977 a large number of opposition political parties grouped to form
the PNA. Bhutto called fresh elections, and PNA participated in those elections
in full force. They managed to contest the elections jointly even though there
were grave splits on opinions and views within the party. The PNA faced defeat
but did not accept the results alleging that the election was rigged. First they
claimed rigging for 14 seats and finally for 40 seats in the National Assembly.
They proceeded to boycott the provincial elections. Despite this there was high
voter turn out in national elections however as provincial elections were held
amidst low voter turn out and an opposition boycott the PNA declared the
newly elected Bhutto government as illegitimate. Firebrand Islamic leaders such
as Abul Ala Maududi called for the overthrow of Bhutto's regime.Political and
civil disorder intensified which led to more unrest. Nevertheless a compromise
agreement between Bhutto and opposition was ultimately reported. Yet on July
5, 1977, Bhutto and members of his cabinet were arrested by troops under the
order of General Zia.
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 of Pakistan had not been abrogated but had been temporarily
suspended. However in October 1977. He announced the postponement of the
electoral plan and decided to start an accountability process for the politicians.
Zia said that he changed his decision due to the strong public demand for the
scrutiny of political leaders who had engaged in malpractice in the past . Thus
the "retribution first, elections later" PNA policy was adopted. This severely
tainted his credibility as many saw the broken promise as malicious.
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.

The case of Zulifkar Ali Bhutto.

On 4 April 1979 the former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged after
the supreme court upheld the death sentence as passed by the Lahore high court.
The Supreme court ruled four to three in favour of execution. The High Court
had given him the death sentence on charges of the murder of the father of
Ahmed Raza Kasuri a dissident PPP politician. Despite many clemency appeals
from foreign leaders requesting Zia to commute Bhutto's death sentence Zia
dismissed the appeals as trade union activity and upheld the death sentence. The
hanging of an elected prime minister by a military man was condemned by the
international community and by lawyers and jurists across Pakistan. Today it is
widely accepted as a politically motivated judicial murder. Despite the case
where by Bhutto was held behind the murder of Ahmed Raza Kasuri the trial is
considered to have been biased against Bhutto who it is generally believed to
have been framed in the case.

General Zia ul Haq Islamaisation.

On 2 December 1978 on the occasion of the first day of the Hijra to enforce the
islamic system in Pakistan in a nationwide address Zia accused politicians of
exploiting the name of Islam: "Many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of
Islam."

After assuming power the government began a program of public

commitment to enforce Nizam-e-Mustafa a significant turn from Pakistan
predominantly Anglo-Saxon law. Inherited from the British. As a preliminary
measure to establish an Islamic society in Pakistan.General Zia announced the
establishment of Sharia Benches.
Under the offences against Property (Hudood Ordinance) Ordinance 1979 the
punishment of imprisonment or fine or both as provided in the existing Pakistan
Penal Code for theft was substituted by the amputation of the right hand of the
offender from the joint of the wrist by a surgeon. For robbery the right hand of
the offender from the wrist and his left foot from the ankle should be amputated
by a surgeon. Although the punishments were imposed the due process
witnesses and prosecution system remained un-Islamic Anglo-Saxon. As in
Islamic law Hudud can only be given if four witnesses saw the crime happen in
reality hardly anyone can be punished by Islamic Hud laws as very rarely can
the conditions for punishment be met.
In legal terms Islamic law being usually referred to as Sharia. The term is used to
describe laws that define a certain level of crime classification. Crimes classified
under Hudud are the most severe of crimes such as murder theft and adultery.
There are minor differences in views between the four major Sunni madhhabs
about sentencing and specifications for these laws. It is often argued that since
Sharia is God's law and states certain punishments for each crime. they are
immutable. It has been argued by some that the Hudud portion of Sharia is
incompatible with humanism or human rights. Although the hud punishment
were imposed but the Islamic law of evidence was not implemented and
remained British in origin.
Drinking of wine and all alcoholic drinks was not a crime under the PPC. In 1977
however the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims was banned in Pakistan
and imprisonment of six months or a fine of Rs. 5000 . Both was provided in that
law.
Under the zina rdinance the provisions relating to adultery were replaced so that
the women and the man guilty will be flogged each of them with one hundred
lashes if unmarried. And if they are married they shall be stoned to death
provided 4 impeccable witnesses can witness the act of penetration.
The Pakistan penal code and the Criminal Procedure code were amended
through ordinances in 1980 1982 and 1986 to declare anything implying
disrespect to the Islamic prophet Muhammad Ahl al-Bayt Sahaba and Shaar-i-
Islam. A cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment or fine or with both.

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 on 1 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 favour 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 technical violations of the laws and ethics of
democratic elections. Also despite pressure from the government to vote only
10% of those eligible to vote . Zia had the overwhelming majority of the votes
cast. But in reality the referendum was an embarrassing failure.

After being elected Presiden, Zia-ul-Haq decided to hold elections in the country
in February 1985 on a non-party basis. Most of the opposing political parties
decided to boycott the elections but election results showed that many victors
belonged to one party or the other. To make things easier for himself the General
nominated the Prime Minister from amongst the Members of the Assembly. To
many his nomination of Muhammad Khan Junejo as the Prime Minister was
because he wanted a simple person at the post who would act as a puppet in his
hands. Before handing over the power to the new Government and lifting
martial law Zia got the new legislature to retroactively accept all of Zia actions of
the past eight years including his coup of 1977. He also managed to get several
amendments passed most notably the Eighth Amendment which granted reserve
powers to the president to dissolve the National Assembly. However, this
amendment considerably reduced the power he'd previously granted himself to
dissolve the legislature at least on paper. The text of the amendment permitted
Zia to dissolve the Assembly only if 1 the Cabinet had been toppled by a vote of
no confidence and it was obvious that no one could form a government or 2. The
government could not function in a constitutional manner

Law Against Ahmadiyya in 1984 .

Another addition to the laws was Ordinance in 1984. Under this the Ahmadiyya
were barred from calling themselves Muslims or using Islamic terminology or
practising Islamic rituals. This effectively resulted in classifying the Ahmadiyya
community of Pakistan into a minority group in law. Zia was also considered
anti-Shia. Because during his reign many Shia Muslims personalities and
politicians were killed. Most prominently the judicial killing of Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

General Zia-ul-Haq promulgated Ordinance on 26 April 1984 banning members

of the Ahmadiyya community from performing some of their religious
ceremonies and prayers. He declared This Ordinance may be called the anti-
Islamic activities of the Ahmadis Ordinance, 1984. Although before Zia rule in
1974 Pakistans National Assembly under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto it was declared that
Ahmadis are classified as non-Muslims for the definition of the law. But it was
not sufficient in stopping the missionary activities of the Ahmadiyya community.
Article 298-C of the new law states. Any person of the Quadiani group or the
Lahori group who call themselves Ahmadis or by any other name who directly
or indirectly poses himself as Muslim or calls or refers to his faith as Islam or
preaches or propagates his faith or invites others to accept his faith by words
either spoken or written or by visible representations or in any manner
whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years
and shall also be liable to fine.

Dismissal of Junejo Governmt and call for new election.

As time passed the legislature wanted to have more freedom and power and by
the beginning of 1988.Rumors about the differences between Prime Minister
Muhammad Khan Junejo and Zia were rife.

On 29 May 1988 General Zia dissolved the senate and the National Assembly
and removed the Prime Minister under article 58(2)b of the amended
Constitution. Apart from many other reasons Prime Minister Junejo decision to
sign the Geneva Accord against the wishes of General Zia and his open
declarations of removing any military personnel found responsible for an
explosion at a munitions dump at Ojhri Camp on the outskirts of army
headquarters in Rawalpindi earlier in the year proved to be some of the major
factors responsible for his removal.

Zia played the Islam card to defend himself and the generals against any
accusations of misrule and corruption. Gen Zia-ul-Haq and his generals had
made millions from the illicit heroin trade and underhand weapons deals besides
huge embezzlement in funds diverted towards the Afghan war. However since
media in Pakistan was brutally gagged in his days none of his corruption could
be documented and brought to lime light by the print media. When accused of
trying to cover-up the Ojari camp incident on May 29, 1988 he invoked an
amendment that he had recently added to the Pakistani Constitution that
allowed him to dismiss the Prime Minister or dissolve the National Assembly
and all provincial assemblies basically the entire legislative portions of the
government outside of the Presidency. Zia loyalists in the military were called to
form an interim government. Zia justified his actions and diverted attention from
his corruption by focusing on how the further Islamization of Pakistan had been
negligently delayed by Junejo and his government.
General Zia-ul-Haq promised to hold elections in 1988 after the dismissal of
Junejo government. He said that he would hold elections within the next 90 days.
The late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto daughter Benazir Bhutto had returned from exile
earlier in 1986 and had announced that she would be contesting the elections.
With Bhutto popularity somewhat growing and a decrease in international aid
following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan Zia was in a repetitively
difficult political situation.

Death.

General Zia-ul-Haq died in a plane crash on 17 August 1988. After witnessing a

US M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur. Zia had left the small town
in the Punjab province by C-130 Hercules aircraft. Shortly after a smooth take-off
the control tower lost contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in
the air afterward claim it was flying erratically then nosedived and exploded on
impact. In addition to Zia 31 others died in the plane crash including Chairman
Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Akhtar Abdur Rehman close associate of
General Zia Brigadier Siddique Salik the American Ambassador to Pakistan
Arnold Raphel and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the U.S. Military
aid mission to Pakistan. Ghulam Ishaq Khan the Senate Chairman announced
Zia death on radio and TV. The manner of his death has given rise to many
conspiracy theories. There is speculation that America india or an alliance of
them and internal groups were behind the attack.

A board of inquiry was set up to investigate the crash. It concluded the most
probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated in the
aircraft. It also suggested that poisonous gases were released which incapacitated
the passengers and crew which would explain why no Mayday signal was given.

Biblography
Burki,Shahid javed Pakistan Fifty year of Nationhood Publisher
Vanguard Books pvt Ltd.
Hussain,Shabir syed AYUB,BHUTTO and ZIA. sang-e-meel
Publication.