General+Mohammed+Zia+ul-Haq

= General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq =

August 12, 1924: Born in Jalandhar, British India. He was the second child of a school teacher. Went to Government High School  Simla B.A. Honors from St. Stephen College in Delhi 1951: Married Shafiq Jahan **Army:** May 1943: Began service in British Indian Army, where he served during World War II. 1947: Joined the Pakistan Army after the Independence 1962-1964: Came to USA to train in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas at the US Army Command and General Staff College 1965: Assistant Quarter Master of 101 Infantry Division 1967-1970: Stayed in Jordan where he trained the Jordanian military, which helped with the Black September operations, which in turn helped King Hussain retain power 1975: Appointed as Corps Commander of Multan April 1, 1976: Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, appointed Zia-ul-Haq as Chief of Army Staff before five more senior officers. Idea was to put someone in position who would not risk Bhutto’s power.
 * Early Life:**

http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P020 http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Mohammad_Zia_ul-Haq.aspx http://www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/AWPReview/TextContent.aspx?pId=150 http://pakistanherald.com/Profile/General-Muhammad-Zia-ul-Haq-1183

1977-1983

**__1977:__** July 5th Zia became Chief of Martial law administrator when the military had removed and arrested Butto the Prime Minister. Zia had banned Butto’s political party members from taking part in elections for 5 years. He took control of Pakistan by declaring martial law which began the longest period of rule by a single leader in Pakistan’s history. Zia had promised free and fair elections within 90 days.  **__1978:__** On March 1 Zia cancelled elections, and he banned all political activity however he didn’t ban political parties. He also banned labor strikes, and applied strict censorship on the press. In July Zia reconstituted the Cabinet and changed the status of advisors to ministers.  **__1979:__** Zia held elections for local politicians only on a non party basis. On April 6th he had sentenced Butto the former Prime Minister to death. Zia had decided that national and provisional elections would be held on November 17th, however he then cancelled those elections.  **__1980:__** The U.S. offered Pakistan $400 million in aid and military help to ally with them and invade the Soviet Union. However Zia denied the offer because he felt it would detract from Pakistan’s security.  **__1981:__** Zia announced that the Pakistani army would aid Saudi Arabia in the in the Gulf war. Many were against this decision. **__1982:__** 480 people from Afghanistan were arrested for wanting to overthrow Zia. On January 16th, one of the people named for the Federal Advisory Council had not yet taken his seat because his father had threatened to go on a hunger strike. This affected Zia’s politics **__1983:__** Zia announced new elections in Pakistan. Zia announced that he would ban Butto’s party members from taking part in elections for another 10 years.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

1983-1988 (death) Pakistan’s constitution required that new elections for the national and provincial assemblies be held within ninety days of the bodies’ dissolution. Zia, however, announced that elections would be held on November 17, 1988.
 * 1984**: Succumbing to domestic and international pressure Zia said that legislative elections would be held in 1985.
 * 1984**: Although he made the decision to reinstate the electorates, Zia disallowed political parties.
 * December 19, 1984**: Zia held a national referendum, in which he sought a mandate that would keep him in office. 98 of the votes cast were in favor of Zia holding the office of President for another five-year term. There is a lot of speculation that the voting was rigged.
 * February 1985**: Non-party elections are held.
 * March 1985**: Zia issued the Revival of the Constitution of 1973 Order in which he amended the constitution to give the President more power such as the ability to dissolve the National Assembly at his discretion.
 * March 1985**: Zia appointed Mohammad Khan Junejo to the position of Prime Minister. However, the Revival of the Constitution of 1973 Order took away much of the Prime Minister’s power and put it in the hands of the President.
 * December 1985**: Zia had promised the Pakistani people that he would put an end to martial law by the end of 1985 and although he did so in December of 1985, his new amendments to the constitution stated that martial law regulations and orders were still valid.
 * May 29, 1988**: Junejo was dismissed from his position as Prime Minister of Pakistan and Zia disbanded the national and provincial assemblies on May 30th. Zia explained that Junejo’s departure was due to his inability to carry through Zia’s goals of the Islamization of Pakistan (making all of Pakistan’s laws, new and old, compliant with Islamic law). Zia also disliked that Junejo allowed for the reemergence of political parties, which was contrary to a unified Islamic nation.
 * August 17, 1988**: The C-130 airplane that Zia was traveling on crashed shortly after take off, killing everyone on board. It is believed that Zia’s death was not an accident but a planned assassination. Several conspiracy theories are currently circulating. Some believe that the American government played a role in the matter while others believe it was the work of a terrorist group led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s son. These are just two of the many theories.

Sources: