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General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (August 12, 1924 - August 17, 1988) ruled Pakistan from 1977 to 1988. Zia-ul-Haq was the third person in the history of Pakistan to enforce martial law and halt civilian rule in the country.
He was born in Jalunder (in present day India) in 1924 as the second child of a school teacher named Mohammad Akram. He completed his initial education in Simla and then in Delhi. He was commissioned in the British Army in 1943 and served during World War II. At independence, Zia joined the Pakistani Army as a major. He trained in the United States 1962 - 1964 at the US Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Zia was stationed in Jordan from 1967 to 1970, helping in the training of Jordanian soldiers. On April 1, 1976, Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto appointed Zia-ul-Haq as Chief of Army Staff ahead of a number of more senior officers.
On July 5, 1977, Zia carried out a coup overthrowing Bhutto's government and enforced Martial Law. He promised elections within three months. Zia released Bhutto and asserted that he could contest new elections in October 1977. However, after it became clear that Bhutto's popularity had survived his government, Zia postponed the elections and began criminal investigations of the senior PPP leadership. Bhutto was sentenced to death. Despite international appeals, Bhutto was hanged on April 6, 1979.
In the mid 1980s, Zia decided to fulfill his promise of holding elections. But before handing over the power, he decided to secure his position. 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 phrased in a way that Zia-ul-Haq's victory was related to the process of Islamization in the country. More than 95% of the vote was cast in favor of Zia-ul-Haq, thus he was elected President for 5 years.
In early 1988, rumors about the differences between the Prime Minister and Zia-ul-Haq were rife. The president, who had enjoyed absolute power for 8 years, was not ready to share it with anybody else. On May 29, 1988, Zia-ul-Haq finally dissolved the National Assembly and removed the Prime Minister under article 58(2) b of the amended Constitution.
After 11 years, Zia-ul-Haq once again made the same promise to the Nation to hold fresh elections within next 90 days. With Benazir Bhutto back in the country and his popularity at all time low, Zia was trapped in the most difficult situation of his political life. The only option left was to repeat history and to postpone the elections once again. However, before taking any decision, Zia-ul-Haq died in an airplane crash on August 17, 1988. His death is still a controversial topic in Pakistan. Many people do not believe that it was a simple accident, and hold either the United States or the Soviet Union responsible for Zia-ul-Haq's death. But no evidence has yet come to light to prove that this is the case.
Zia-ul-Haq's remains are housed in a small shrine outside of the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.
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What is not commonly known, although fully documented in the Pakistan and international press of the day, is that the votes cast in the referendum through which Zia secured his Presidency were a mere 2 per cent of the total registered vote at that time.
Another very important, and equally fully documented fact is that in Bhutto's trial on the charge of allegedly conspiring to murder a political opponent, which alleged conspiracy resulted in the death of the "opponent's" father, due process of law was totally bypassed.
Zia's Islamization too, was widely seen as a ploy to prolong his dictatorship, and many of the edicts and "amendments" to the constitution of the country had literally nothing to do with Islamic Jurisprudence or Sharea.
The most lasting effect of 11 years of Zia's militray rule in Pakistan have been a vast increase in hard drugs consumption, traffic and export, gunn-running, and deep schisms in the body-politic of the country. Exacerbating sectarian, ethnic and linguistic differences was a stock tactic for keeping the people at bay during Zia's rule.
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