Bhutto was very harsh to opposition. He targeted opposition leader Abdul Wali Khan of NAP and ousted his government in Baluchistan. Many party workers were arrested for alleged secessionist activities. Bhutto was accused of masterminding the murder of Ahmad Raza Khan's Father. The political crisis in the NWFP and Balochistan intensified as civil liberties remained suspended and an estimated 100,000 troops deployed there were accused of human rights abuses and killing large numbers of civilians.
In 1977 Bhutto contested and won the election against an alliance of opposition parties called PNA or Pakistan national alliance. PNA refused to accept the results and blamed Bhutto for heavy rigging. After many talks with PNA leaders Bhutto agreed to form a government of national unity and fresh elections.
At this time when most of the political problems were solved and opponents reached to an agreement, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq imposed martial law and arrested Bhutto and his cabinet. There was no need of this move but who can teach the army chief ?
Zia promised the nation for new elections in 90 days but kept on delaying them. When Nusrat Bhutto challenged the military coup of 1977 in court, our great Supreme Court Of Pakistan invented a new joke to save Dictatorship which is called "Doctrine of Necessity". His coup was declared legal by supreme court.
On September 16, 1978 General Zia declared himself the President of Pakistan. He brought many amendments to the original 1973 constitution, the most prominent was the power to dissolve assemblies.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged, or I will say murdered by Supreme Court of Pakistan on April 4, 1979.
On December 1979 USSR invaded Afghanistan. Zia was advised by many friends to be neutral but he refused to do so on ideological bases and expressed his intentions to support Afghan resistance. He involved Intelligence agencies in that war. This stance brought him in spotlight of western world specially USA. He quickly became champion of the "Free World". By 1981 he was receiving a lot of military and financial aid from America. Many people call it a proxy war of America but its a fact that Zia started it first and America joined it two years later. Its also true that If USA would not have joined at that time, results could be much more different and dangerous for Pakistan. Whether it was a right decision or not can be debated but its a fact that Zia never asked any one before taking this critical decision full of risks.
In 1984 Zia played a drama of referendum and elected himself as the president.
Afghan war left Pakistan with many new headaches. There was a sudden boom to Kalashnikov culture, Our society became less tolerant, Drug trade was at its peak and after the withdrawal of USSR from Afghanistan in 1988, the same Mujahideen started fighting each other which created a huge problem of refugees in Pakistan. Many of these refugees were also involved in smuggling and crimes.
His most prominent and long lasting changes in constitution were the Islamisation. Initially he used it as an excuse to stay in power and buy some more time. Then he started introducing some amendments and new ordinances to achieve this goal. The most notorious one is the Hudood Ordinance. It had many loop holes and was failed to satisfy most of the population. It has received a lot of criticism from human rights organizations. Penalties described in it were very strict and the procedure was not well defined. Drinking of alcohol was banned and a strict code of ethics was imposed on Television.
On May 29, 1988, General Zia dissolved the Senate and the National Assembly and removed the Prime Minister. He once again promised the nation that he would hold elections within the next 90 days. After dismissing Prime Minister he crushed the popular Movement for Restoration of Democracy with brute force. According to some sources 45000 troops were deployed in Sindh alone to crush the movement. These troops committed many human rights violations.
On August 17, 1988 when Zia was returning back from Bahawalpur on a C-130, his plane crashed killing Zia-ul-Haq, American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel, General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the U.S. Military aid mission to Pakistan and many Officers of Pakistan Army.
In 1977 Bhutto contested and won the election against an alliance of opposition parties called PNA or Pakistan national alliance. PNA refused to accept the results and blamed Bhutto for heavy rigging. After many talks with PNA leaders Bhutto agreed to form a government of national unity and fresh elections.
At this time when most of the political problems were solved and opponents reached to an agreement, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq imposed martial law and arrested Bhutto and his cabinet. There was no need of this move but who can teach the army chief ?
Zia promised the nation for new elections in 90 days but kept on delaying them. When Nusrat Bhutto challenged the military coup of 1977 in court, our great Supreme Court Of Pakistan invented a new joke to save Dictatorship which is called "Doctrine of Necessity". His coup was declared legal by supreme court.
On September 16, 1978 General Zia declared himself the President of Pakistan. He brought many amendments to the original 1973 constitution, the most prominent was the power to dissolve assemblies.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged, or I will say murdered by Supreme Court of Pakistan on April 4, 1979.
On December 1979 USSR invaded Afghanistan. Zia was advised by many friends to be neutral but he refused to do so on ideological bases and expressed his intentions to support Afghan resistance. He involved Intelligence agencies in that war. This stance brought him in spotlight of western world specially USA. He quickly became champion of the "Free World". By 1981 he was receiving a lot of military and financial aid from America. Many people call it a proxy war of America but its a fact that Zia started it first and America joined it two years later. Its also true that If USA would not have joined at that time, results could be much more different and dangerous for Pakistan. Whether it was a right decision or not can be debated but its a fact that Zia never asked any one before taking this critical decision full of risks.
In 1984 Zia played a drama of referendum and elected himself as the president.
Afghan war left Pakistan with many new headaches. There was a sudden boom to Kalashnikov culture, Our society became less tolerant, Drug trade was at its peak and after the withdrawal of USSR from Afghanistan in 1988, the same Mujahideen started fighting each other which created a huge problem of refugees in Pakistan. Many of these refugees were also involved in smuggling and crimes.
His most prominent and long lasting changes in constitution were the Islamisation. Initially he used it as an excuse to stay in power and buy some more time. Then he started introducing some amendments and new ordinances to achieve this goal. The most notorious one is the Hudood Ordinance. It had many loop holes and was failed to satisfy most of the population. It has received a lot of criticism from human rights organizations. Penalties described in it were very strict and the procedure was not well defined. Drinking of alcohol was banned and a strict code of ethics was imposed on Television.
On May 29, 1988, General Zia dissolved the Senate and the National Assembly and removed the Prime Minister. He once again promised the nation that he would hold elections within the next 90 days. After dismissing Prime Minister he crushed the popular Movement for Restoration of Democracy with brute force. According to some sources 45000 troops were deployed in Sindh alone to crush the movement. These troops committed many human rights violations.
On August 17, 1988 when Zia was returning back from Bahawalpur on a C-130, his plane crashed killing Zia-ul-Haq, American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel, General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the U.S. Military aid mission to Pakistan and many Officers of Pakistan Army.
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