View source for Pakistan History: Military Rule (1958-1971)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%">
This article is an extract from <br/>
''' A Brief History Of Pakistan ''' <br/> 
'''JAMES WYNBRANDT '''<br/> 
Foreword by Fawaz A.Gerges <br/> 
Copyright © 2009 by James Wynbrandt;  <br/> 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wynbrandt, James. <br/> 
</div>
|}
[[Category:Pakistan |H ]]
[[Category:History|P ]]
'''NOTE 1: ''' ''Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees ''<br/> 
''with the contents of this article.''<br/>

'''NOTE 2: ''' The Pakistanis’ view of their history after 1947 and, more important, of the history of undivided India before that is quite different from how Indian scholars view the histories of these two periods. The readers who uploaded this page did so in order to give others Mr. Wynbrandt’s neutral insight into Pakistan’s history. Indpaedia’s own volunteers have not read the contents of this series of articles (just as it was not possible to read any of the countless other public domain books extracted on Indpaedia). <br/>If you are aware of any facts contrary to what has been uploaded on Indpaedia could you please send them as messages to the Facebook community, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name (unless you prefer anonymity). 
=See also=
''Indpaedia has uploaded an extensive series of articles about the Pakistan Movement, published in ''Dawn '' over the years, and about the various Pakistani wars with India published in the popular media. By clicking the link [http://132.148.25.124/ind/index.php?title=Category:Pakistan&pagefrom=C%0APakistani+Cinema#mw-pages Pakistan] you will be able to see a list of these articles. The Pakistan Movement articles are presently under 'F' (for freedom movement).''
=Military Rule (1958-1971)=
Pakistan's first efforts at civilian rule ended with the imposition of 
martial law under President Iskander Mirza, enforced by General 
Muhammad Ayub Khan. The public, tired of political gridlock and eco- 
nomic stagnation, was ready to welcome change that promised stability 
and forward movement. Ayub Khan, who soon replaced Iskander Mirza 
in a coup d'etat, promised to restore democracy but instead took greater 
authority for himself and failed to deliver democracy or progress. This 
set the pattern for all later military rulers who seized power from 
elected leaders, as Pakistan lurched between democracy and dictator- 
ship for the next half century. 

Pakistan's problems would have been a challenge to any administra- 
tion, with its poor, uneducated population; lack of public services and 
economic development; disparate ethnic and religious groups and sects 
that resisted assimilation; and intensifying estrangement between East 
and West Pakistan. All led to growing disenchantment with Ayub Khan. 
Within a decade of his coup, demands for freedom brought a temporary 
restoration of civilian rule. Yet Pakistan remained unsettled, the violent 
search for its identity and destiny leading to the 1971 secession of the 
nation's East Wing, which proclaimed its independence as Bangladesh. 
The West Wing's use of military force to end the rebellion led to a war 
with India, which came to the aid of the erstwhile East Wing, soundly 
defeating Pakistan's army. The loss of both territory and the war with 
India shook the soul of Pakistanis. Political upheaval would wrack 
what remained of the nation in the wake of these events. 
==Ayub Khan Seizes Power==
Within three weeks after President Iskander Mirza, attempting to retain 
power against a restive legislature, declared martial law on October 7, 
1958, Commander in Chief Muhammad Ayub Khan seized power in a 
military coup. Ayub Khan was a Pashtun from a region of the NWFP 
close to Punjab and its more urban cultural influences. He had joined 
the British Indian Army as had his father, and, by the time of British 
withdrawal in 1947, Ayub Khan was a brigadier general, one of the 
most senior Muslims in the corps. During partition he was appointed 
a member of the boundary commission, responsible for maintaining 
order in disputed territories whose borders had yet to be determined. 
He was later accused of being lax in preventing violence that swept 
these areas during partition. 

After partition Ayub Khan was placed in charge of the army in 
East Pakistan, where he developed a contempt for politics and politi- 
cians, as he later related in his autobiography, Friends Not Masters. 
He believed politicians were corrupt and undisciplined and politi- 
cal institutions inherently inefficient. A professional military man, 
he favored a structure in which commands were obeyed without 
question, a far cry from the fractious world of Pakistan's politics. He 
became convinced that democracy had to be limited in order to avoid 
being counterproductive in a struggling, fledgling nation. This view 
would become a cornerstone of his "Basic Democracies" governing 
policy after 1959. 

In 1950 Liaquat Ali Khan asked Ayub Khan to be the nation's first 
commander in chief, and in 1954 he became minister of defense. 
Unhappy with the civilian government, many Pakistanis supported his 
coup d'etat against Irkander Mirza, and Ayub Khan used this goodwill 
to institute major reforms in the political, social, and economic fabric. 
Corrupt administrators were put on trial as part of his first demonstra- 
tion of government reform. In all, some 3,000 public officials were dis- 
missed, and many more were demoted. The military government also 
promulgated the Elective Bodies Disqualification Order, or E.B.D.O, 
which allowed the government to bar select politicians from serving 
in elective bodies until 1967, some nine years hence. Many politi- 
cians who enjoyed widespread popularity, such as Hussain Shaheed 
Suhrawardy and Abdul Qayyum Khan, former chief minister of the 
NWFP (r. 1947-53), were "E.B.D.O.-ed" from office. 

On October 27, 1959, Ayub Khan introduced the Basic Democracies 
Order, a plan that replaced the parliamentary system of democracy of 
the now-suspended 1956 constitution with an indirect elective gov- 
ernment system. The doctrine was based on Ayub Khan's belief that 
Pakistan's largely illiterate population required a more limited form of 
democracy, one with reduced political and social freedoms. The system 
was intended to slowly introduce the population to the workings of the 
government by limiting its decision-making powers to local govern- 
ment and rural development. Ayub Khan called the form of governance 
"Basic Democracies," while others called it representational dictator- 
ship. The order created some 80,000 elective council seats, whose 
holders were charged with electing senior government officials. The 
public voted for the 80,000 representatives, members of village and 
town councils, who then elected members of the national assembly. 
Eighty thousand representatives may seem like a large number, but 
being officials, they were prone to pressure from Ayub Khan and his 
proxies more than anonymous citizens, and they represented less than 
one-thousandth of the population. 

In an effort to curb the influence of landlords, whose concentra- 
tion of wealth and power was deemed a threat to the government 
and an impediment to economic progress, Ayub Khan also undertook 
major land reforms in West Pakistan. The reforms limited the size of 
land holdings to 1,000 acres for nonirrigated lands and 500 acres for 
irrigated lands; for properties exceeding these limits, the excess land 
would be distributed to people chosen by the government. 
[[File: karachi pakistan.PNG | The port of Karachi, Pakistan's commercial center, was initially also the nation's capital. During General Ayub Khan's rule, the decision to relocate the capital to Islamabad was made. (Courtesy Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation)|frame|500px]]
==Islamabad==
After his coup d'etat in 1959, General Ayub Khan was determined to 
relocate the capital from Karachi to an inland location. For Ayub Khan, a 
military leader, Karachi had several drawbacks as a capital. It was 1,000 
miles (1,600 km) from Rawalpindi, the site of the military's general 
headquarters. Karachi was a cosmopolitan city, whose luminaries were 
business and industrial leaders; it was home to many muhajirs (refugees 
from India), who were often better educated and more literate than the 
people of Pakistan's interior, and held more worldly views of events 
and news. Ayub Khan had little in common and no desire to associate 
with such people. And Karachi had little connection to the heartland of 
Punjab, where Ayub Khan had grown up. Ayub Khan appointed a com- 
mission under Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, chief of the army staff 
(1917-80), to recommend a site for a new capital. The commission sug- 
gested a location just north of Rawalpindi. A Greek urban planning firm, 
Doxiadis, designed the city, laying it out in a triangular grid pointing 
toward the Margaila Hills. The name Islamabad, or "city of Islam," was 
chosen in an effort to placate conservative religious figures concerned 
about the secular tilt of the Ayub Khan regime. Work on the new city 
began in 1961, and the first residents arrived in 1963. 

[[File: islamabad.PNG | Islamabad, or "the city of Islam," was created to serve as Pakistan's capital. Residents began arriving in 1963. (Courtesy Pakistan Tourism Developmet Corporation)|frame|500px]]

The Constitution of 1962 officially made Islamabad the federal 
capital. But only the executive branch was based here. The legisla- 
tive branch would inhabit a new city near Dhaka, in East Pakistan, in 
order to demonstrate to the East Wing its importance to Pakistan as a 
whole. 

==Resolving the Indus Water Dispute==
Finally resolving the long-standing dispute between Pakistan and India 
over the Indus River's water, in December 1958 Pakistan uncondition- 
ally accepted the World Bank's plan on the division of the waters. India 
had already accepted these terms. With Pakistan's approval, the Indus 
Waters Treaty was drafted and, on September 19, 1960, signed. It gave 
Pakistan exclusive rights to the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab Rivers, 
which flow through West Punjab; India was granted exclusive rights 
to the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej Rivers up to the point they enter East 
Punjab. Additionally, during a 10-year transition period India was to 
supply Pakistan with waters from the eastern rivers. Pakistan used the 
transitional period to build and renovate massive water projects. These 
included dams at Warsak in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; 
Mangla in Azad Kashmir; and Tarbela, some 30 miles (50 km) north- 
west of Islamabad. The projects, which also linked canals, barrages, 
and other water works, were funded with $900 million in World Bank 
loans, monetary compensation from India, and contributions from 
Australia, Canada, West Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, 
and the United States. 
==The Constitution of 1962==
The Basic Democracies system, with its relatively limited local repre- 
sentation, left council seat holders vulnerable to Ayub Khan's interfer- 
ence and manipulation. Using these council members as electors, Ayub 
Khan held a referendum in February 1960, winning their approval to 
remain as president for five years and draft a new constitution. With 
his victory in hand, Ayub Khan established a commission to draft a new 
constitution and examine the reasons for the failure of the parliamen- 
tary form of government he had terminated. 

Since Pakistan had been founded in the name of the Muslims of 
India, appealing to religion was akin to appeals to Pakistani nationalism 
itself, and politicians often aligned themselves with Islam as a way to 
win over voters. The ulama, meanwhile, tried to wield influence over 
the political process, using their sway over the masses and the politi- 
cians' need of their support to maintain power. General Ayub Khan was 
the first ruler to attempt to counter the power of the religious establish- 
ment, setting the government on a secular course. In his book Friends 
Not Masters Ayub Khan accused the ulama of fomenting discontent and 
anger at the government: "They succeeded in converting an optimistic 
and enthusiastic people into a cynical and frustrated community," he 
wrote (Ayub Khan 1967, 209). 

The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, passed in 1961, made religious 
law subservient to secular rules. For example, the ordinance made it 
more difficult for men to take more than one wife, requiring the consent 
of the first wife for such a union. Ayub Khan discouraged the wearing of 
the burqa, the body-covering garment associated with religious conserva- 
tism, and he sought to reduce the birth rate through family planning. 

The commission's recommendations for the constitution, delivered in 
May 1961, did not match Ayub Khan's views. He consigned the recom- 
mendations to a series of committees, and, by the time the document 
emerged for approval by the legislature, the constitution conformed to 
Ayub Khan's blueprint. 

The constitution of 1962, adopted in March of that year, consoli- 
dated authority in the hands of the nation's president. The president 
was to be a Muslim, his term would last five years, and he could serve a 
maximum of two consecutive terms. As head of state, head of the gov- 
ernment, and commander of the armed forces, the president enjoyed 
absolute power. He had the power to appoint federal ministers and 
department heads, members of administrative commissions, and pro- 
vincial governors. He anointed chief justices and judges of the supreme 
and high courts. 

The constitution also mandated that Pakistan be renamed the Republic 
of Pakistan and the word Islamic be dropped from the nation's name, 
hewing to Ayub Khan's preference for a secular government. However, 
the majority of the National Assembly favored restoring Islamic to the 
republic's name, and the first amendment to the 1962 constitution, 
passed in December of that year, made the nation the Islamic Republic 
of Pakistan once again. The constitution mandated the establishment 
of the Advisory Council of Islamic Ideology to generate ideas for ways 
Muslim citizens could hew more closely to Islamic principles. The con- 
stitution also incorporated Ayub Khan's Basic Democracies plan and its 
system of indirect representational government. 

The unicameral legislature consisted of a National Assembly of 156 
members. The president had veto power over any legislation approved 
by the assembly and had the power to dismiss its members. He could 
also make law when the legislature was not in session. And though 
these laws needed the eventual approval of the assembly the president 
also had absolute power to declare a state of emergency which abro- 
gated the need for legislative approval. 

Any future constitutional amendment would require a two-thirds 
majority of the National Assembly and presidential approval. The 
Constitution of 1962 retained the principle of parity from the 1956 
constitution, providing for equal representation for each of the two 
wings of the nation. It retained the One Unit concept for West Pakistan. 
Urdu and Bengali remained national languages, and English the official 
language for 10 years. 

With the new constitution in place in March 1962, martial law was 
ended. A civilian government took the place of the military leaders who 
had ruled since Ayub Khan had gained power.

==The Economy==
The new decade marked the conclusion of the country's first five-year 
plan, which had been belatedly implemented more than halfway into 
its intended time span. Economic growth had fallen short of its goals 
during the 1955-60 period. Per capita income had increased by less 
than 1 percent. The growth in the industrial, agricultural, housing and 
settlement, transport, and communications sectors was below the very 
modest targets. 

Ayub Khan had promised Pakistan an improved economy, but 
failed to deliver results. Having not achieved his initial objective, he 
appointed himself chairman of the planning commission overseeing 
the second five-year economic plan. The staff was strengthened, and 
more foreign advisers were added to the roster of those already provid- 
ing planning assistance. Approved in June 1960, a few days prior to the 
start of the 1961 fiscal year, the new plan was focused on accelerated 
economic growth. It contained no provisions for increasing social ser- 
vices or alleviating poverty. The plan's budget of 29 billion rupees ($6.1 
billion), allotted just under half (48 percent) of expenditures to public 
services such as water and power, agriculture, transport, and communi- 
cation. Only 8 percent was earmarked for health, education, and social 
welfare, though Ayub Khan stressed the need for educational reform. 
"There exists a fundamental justification for inequality of income if it 
raises production for all and not consumption for a few," the commis- 
sion's chief economist, Mahbubul Haq, wrote in the plan "The road 
to eventual equalities may inevitably be through initial inequalities" 
(Burki 1980, 73). 

Of the rest of the development budget, the private sector would 
receive 39 percent of available funds, and 10 percent would be spent 
on Indus waterworks. Local councils established under the Basic 
Democracies would get 3 percent to spend on rural works programs of 
their choosing. 

The plan achieved its goal of accelerating economic growth. Between 
1960 and 1965 the nation's gross national product (GNP) grew at an 
annual rate of 5.2 percent. However, population growth was greater 
than anticipated, resulting in a small growth in income — barely a 2.7 
percent per capita annual increase. Notably, East Pakistan's economy 
grew slightly faster than the more industrialized and prosperous West 
Wing. (West Pakistan's increase in per capita income for this period was 
a slight 2.4 percent.) The economic expansion and superficial political 
tranquility made the Ayub Khan regime a model for third world devel- 
opmental success, cited by many international experts and chroniclers 
of the era. 
==1965 Presidential Elections==
The 1965 elections were not only a presidential contest but a ref- 
erendum on the autocratic government Ayub Khan instituted and 
embodied. The Convention Muslim League, of which Ayub Khan was 
president, and the Combined Opposition Parties were the two political 
parties in the election. The Combined Opposition Parties consisted of 
five different opposition groups. Its platform included a return to direct 
democracy and restoration of constitutional democratic principles. But 
the parties were combined in name alone. Unable to select a candidate 
from the party leaders among them, they turned to Fatima Jinnah, 
sister of Pakistan's first president and father of the nation, Muhammad 
Ali Jinnah, the Quaid. Fatima Jinnah, herself a veteran of the Freedom 
Movement, was known as the Madar-i-Millat, or Mother of the Nation. 
She had been absent from the political landscape since independence 
and largely quiescent to Ayub Khan's rule, despite her support of demo- 
cratic ideals. The only other presidential contestants were two largely 
unknown candidates unidentified with any political party. 

The names of the presidential candidates were made public before 
the Basic Democracies elections took place. The 80,000 electors (a 
number that would grow to 120,000 under the eighth amendment to 
the constitution) chosen in that contest would vote for the president 
and legislators. One month was allotted for the campaign, which was 
restricted to nine meetings open only to electors and the press. The 
campaign process hobbled the candidates. Nonetheless, Fatima Jinnah's 
campaign generated great public enthusiasm. Large crowds greeted 
her as she traveled through the East and West Wings of the nation. 
She declared Ayub Khan a dictator and claimed he had signed over 
Pakistan's water to India in the Indus Waters Treaty. Some major ortho- 
dox religious parties, which had previously maintained a woman could 
not lead an Islamic republic, supported Jinnah's candidacy. But despite 
her popular appeal, the Basic Democracy system of electors almost 
guaranteed Jinnah's defeat, due to the president's ability to influence 
and manipulate the votes of the 80,000 Basic Democrats who elected 
National Assembly members. This assured Khan's backers gained the 
majority of seats in the assembly, whose members in turn elected the 
president. Ayub Khan was reelected president on January 2, 1965. 
==A New Foreign Policy and the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War==
At the beginning of the 1960s Pakistan and the United States main- 
tained their military alliance. The United States had leased three air 
bases from Pakistan that played a key part in the cold war. However, 
Pakistan's interest in the alliance was not so much to counter commu- 
nism but to offset India's might. Relations deteriorated when leaders in 
Islamabad began to feel a U.S. tilt toward India; to address the military 
disparity Pakistan began to explore relations with China and the Soviet 
Union. 

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928-79), then Ayub Khan's minister of fuel, 
power, and natural resources, was the first government official to turn 
Pakistan toward the Soviet axis. Bhutto believed Pakistan had large 
reserves of oil and gas and was frustrated that the Western oil compa- 
nies with concessions in Pakistan were not exploring and finding these 
resources. In 1961 Bhutto negotiated an exploration agreement with the 
Soviet Union. The Soviets also agreed to provide technical and financial 
assistance to Pakistan's Oil and Gas Development Corporation. The 
agreement had little lasting impact on Pakistan or its energy industry. 

Closer ties to China were also forged in the early 1960s. China 
and Pakistan shared a common border, and China was eager to foster 
improved relations, neutralizing whatever threat SEATO (Southeast 
Asia Treaty Organization) member Pakistan, at its back door, rep- 
resented. Throughout these years Pakistan had continued efforts to 
resolve the Kashmir crisis, primarily by seeking the long-promised 
plebiscite, which had been approved by the United Nations and agreed 
to by Pakistan and India. But India refused to schedule a plebiscite, find- 
ing reason upon reason for its intransigence. A former Indian defense 
minister, Krishna Menon, once candidly explained why: "Kashmir 
would vote to join Pakistan and no Indian government responsible for 
agreeing to plebiscite would survive" (Mahmood 2000, 191). In fall 
1962 a long-standing border dispute between India and China turned 
into open warfare. Western nations pressured Pakistan to assure India 
it would not use the distraction of the conflict with China to engage in 
any military adventures in Kashmir. At the same time India used the 
border war with China, an archenemy of the United States, to leverage 
more military assistance from the United States. Pakistan feared the 
purpose of the massive buildup in the Indian military was to create an 
army capable of conquering Pakistan. Seeking to counter India's sus- 
pected intentions, Pakistan began efforts to normalize relations with 
China. Angered at what it saw as Pakistan's new communist partiality, 
the United States suspended economic aid to Pakistan, though not 
all military assistance. During its war with China, India invited Ayub 
Khan to discuss a resolution to the Kashmir situation. The two sides 
met in November 1962, but soon after China announced a unilateral 
cease-fire following a quick defeat of the Indian army. With an end to 
the Sino-Indian border dispute, the talks over Kashmir stalled, ending 
in May 1963. 

Upon the death of Foreign Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra in 1963, 
Zulfikar Bhutto convinced Ayub Khan to appoint him foreign minis- 
ter. Under Bhutto's foreign-policy leadership, a border agreement with 
China was reached, and closer commercial links were established. 
Scheduled airline service between the two countries was instituted, and 
China pledged to build a major military-industrial complex near Wah, 
in Punjab. In February 1964 Ayub Khan made a state visit to China and 
won its support for a plebiscite in Kashmir. 

In March 1965 Kashmir's legislative assembly adopted constitutional 
amendments that ceded the power to select the region's ruler to India. 
Kashmir's Muslim majority strenuously objected and set up a govern- 
ment of their own, a national government of the people of Jammu and 
Kashmir. In April confrontations between India and Pakistan erupted at 
the Rann of Kutch. Occupying some 3,500 square miles (9,100 sq. km) 
between Sind and the princely state of Kutch, the Rann (Hindi for "salt 
marsh") had been disputed territory before joining India at the time of 
partition. Pakistan easily defeated India and a United Nations-brokered 
cease-fire ended the conflict. 
Encouraged by its military success in southern Pakistan and 
believing that the population of Kashmir could be incited to rise up 
against Indian occupiers, the Pakistani government decided to seek 
a military solution to Kashmir. Starting on August 5, 1965, under a 
plan code named "Operation Gibraltar," thousands of mujahideen 
were infiltrated into Kashmir. The mujahideen were to provide weap- 
ons and leadership once the revolt began. But the operation failed 
to incite an insurrection and only escalated tensions in the region. 
Indian prime minister Lai Bahadur Shastri (r. 1964-66) tried to 
control contested Kashmir by imposing presidential rule and assert- 
ing the right to enforce legislation. Kashmir's Muslim ruler, Sheikh 
Muhammad Abdullah (1905-82), was arrested for trying to block 
India's efforts. Protests against India's attempt to impose rule erupted 
in Azad Kashmir. In response, the Indian army crossed the cease-fire 
line to battle Muslim forces. 

Full-scale war began on September 6, when India launched a mas- 
sive air, armor, and infantry attack on Lahore, Sialkot, and Rajasthan. 
Pakistani troops invaded India at several points along the border. 
Seeking to contain the conflict, both the United States and the Soviet 
Union sought UN intervention. In Pakistan much of the public was 
in favor of going to war with India over Kashmir, particularly since 
Pakistanis thought they had the upper hand in the conflict and would 
defeat the Indian forces. The United Nations arranged a cease-fire, 
which took effect on September 23, 1965. Afterward, the Soviet Union 
sponsored a peace conference at Tashkent, in what is today Uzbekistan. 
Attended by Ayub Khan and Indian prime minister Shastri as well as 
Soviet premier Aleksey Kosygin (r. 1964-80), the Tashkent Conference 
commenced on January 4, 1966. Under the Tashkent Declaration, 
issued at its conclusion, Pakistan and India agreed to withdraw their 

forces by February 25 to positions held prior to August 5, 1964, and 
agreed to attempt to normalize relations and renounce the use of force 
to settle disagreements. The agreement, which favored neither nation, 
stunned many Pakistanis, who felt they were winning the war. For 
them the declaration represented a humiliation. Public protest and riots 
broke out across Pakistan. On January 14 Ayub Khan addressed the 
nation on the reasons for signing the declaration. Though he was able 
to make his case to the majority of Pakistanis, his position was greatly 
weakened in the wake of the peace negotiations.

==Economic Fallout==
The Indo-Pakistan War was disastrous for Pakistan. It strained Pakistan's 
economy and drained the treasury at a time when the country was 
preparing to implement the Third Five-Year Plan. Eager to improve 
upon Pakistan's economic record, the Second Five-Year Plan became 
the model for the third, covering the years 1965-70. In addition to 
accelerating economic growth, the plan sought to reduce the economic 
disparity between the East and West Wings. By the end of the Second 
Five-Year Plan, East Pakistan was getting half of all Pakistan's invest- 
ment in public-sector development. But when the war with India over 
Kashmir broke out in the first year of the third plan, developmental 
resources were diverted to the military. The drain slowed even the 
development of the new capital, Islamabad. The presidency and sev- 
eral departments took temporary offices in Rawalpindi. Ultimately the 
plan's basic economic goals were realized. By the last year of the plan 
the GNP increased at the rate of 5.5 percent annually, and per capita 
income rose 2.7 percent. But the rising income was not shared equally, 
and many Pakistanis were experiencing economic stagnation. 

Meanwhile, the failure to unite the two wings successfully and 
widespread corruption plaguing Pakistan's institutions left the public 
disillusioned with the government. The war also convinced many in 
the East Wing that their country was incapable of providing adequate 
military protection, bolstering supporters of greater rights and even 
independence for Bengal. 
==Growing Unrest==
People were looking for new leadership, and it came from a charismatic, 
energetic populist, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. One of Ayub Khan's key aides, 
at age 30 Bhutto became the youngest cabinet minister in the nation's 
history, holding several posts. Born in Sind in 1928 on the banks of 
the Indus, Zulfikar Bhutto was the only son of a wealthy landowner 
and noted politician, Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto (d. 1949), a supporter 
of Pakistani independence. His mother was a Hindu of lower social 
standing who converted to Islam before her marriage. Zulfikar Bhutto 
inherited most of the landholdings upon his father's death. He attended 
the University of California at Berkeley and Oxford University, earning 
a law degree. Returning to Karachi in 1953, he began to practice at the 
bar. Two of his four children, daughter Benazir (1953-2007) and son 
Shahnawaz (1958-85), named for his grandfather, would themselves 
play large roles in Pakistan's politics. 

Zulfikar Bhutto became the first politician to turn Pakistan toward 
the Soviet Union. In 1961 he engineered an oil and mineral exploration 
agreement with the Soviet Union. Bhutto's ability to get Ayub Khan to 
agree to his plan was a sign of Bhutto's growing influence. The project 
itself had little lasting impact on Pakistan or its energy industry. In 
1963, he was appointed foreign minister. In a book he published after 
resigning from Ayub Khan's government, The Myth of Independence, 
Bhutto made a case for his foreign policy, asserting any relationship 
between unequal powers such as Pakistan and the United States was 
destined to produce autocratic, subservient leaders in the weaker coun- 
try. It was Bhutto who championed Operation Gibraltar, the failed effort 
to stir an uprising in Kashmir that preceded the war with India over 
the disputed territory. He adamantly opposed the Tashkent Declaration, 
and left Ayub Khan's government and party in 1966 over its acceptance. 
After weighing offers from several opposition groups, in 1967 Bhutto 
founded his own party the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). It was already 
a tradition in the short history of Pakistani politics for noted opposition 
figures to found their own parties rather than play a secondary role in 
someone else's organization. The cult of personality and lack of party 
strength and durability contributed to the fractious history of Pakistani 
politics then as it does now. 

Despite public anger over the war's aftermath, Ayub Khan felt secure 
enough in office to schedule elections. He also arranged a celebration 
in 1968 to mark a decade of his rule. But he failed to grasp the depth 
of opposition to his government. Zulfikar Bhutto's populist platform of 
nationalism, socialism, and Islamic revivalism generated vigorous sup- 
port. Making the defeat of Ayub Khan his priority, Bhutto embarked on 
a nationwide tour, denouncing Ayub Khan along the way. In November 
1968, Bhutto and several supporters were arrested for their campaign 
activities and incarcerated for three months. The detentions further 
inflamed the opposition. The Awami League in East Pakistan also 
stood against Ayub Khan, accusing him of being unconcerned with 
East Pakistan's problems. The nation's other political parties banded 
together in an alliance, the Democratic Action Committee, to bring 
down Ayub Khan's regime. By the end of 1968, dissatisfaction with 
Ayub Khan's regime had spread across the middle class. The Joint Labor 
Council called for a labor strike to protest Ayub Khan's rule. 

Ayub Khan tried to diffuse the growing opposition by releasing sev- 
eral jailed political figures in 1969, including East Pakistan's most pop- 
ular politician, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-75). In 1966 Mujibur 
Rahman had proposed a six-point program for provincial autonomy 
and had been imprisoned since being implicated in a 1968 conspiracy 
to gain independence for the East Wing. 

Attempting to rein in the growing political unrest, Ayub Khan 
scheduled a Round Table Conference in Rawalpindi in March 1969, 
bringing together all the major Pakistani political figures. But opposi- 
tion remained steadfast. With protests and demonstrations convulsing 
the country, he resigned on March 25, 1969, turning power over to the 
army's commander in chief, General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (r. 
1969-71). Yahya Khan proclaimed martial law, but soon announced 

"22 FAMILIES" 
In a speech in April 1968, noted economist and member of the 
planning board Mahbub ul Haq (1934-98) spoke out about the con- 
centration of wealth that had occurred during Ayub Khan's regime. He 
presented data regarding ownership of companies listed on the Karachi 
Stock Exchange and suggested that 22 families, which he named, 
controlled two-thirds of the nation's industrial assets. Though he 
ignored the small- to medium-sized firms that had played a large role 
in Pakistan's economic growth during the decade, his underlying thesis 
that the rich had gotten much richer and the poor much poorer during 
the 1960s struck a responsive chord. From this speech the expression 
"22 families" entered the political lexicon, shorthand for the income 
concentration and economic exploitation upon which the economy 
was built. Zulfikar Bhutto bolstered his populist appeal with frequent 
blistering verbal attacks against the industrialist families. Haq's speech 
helped set in motion the thinking and action that led to the nationaliza- 
tion of heavy industries that would occur on January I, 1972. 
general elections would be held in October 1970. However, since the 
Constitution of 1962 had been voided, there was no legal basis for 
holding an election. 

Talks were held with political figures in April and July 1969 to deter- 
mine a way to proceed. Most opposition politicians favored a return to 
the constitution of 1956, believing that it had been illegally abrogated. 
However, the Awami League opposed this solution, as they did not feel 
East Pakistan was treated fairly under the Constitution of 1956. Yahya 
Khan appointed a commission to develop a new plan for a constitution, 
which was presented in March 1970. Known as the Legal Framework 
Order 1970, its highlights included the dissolution of the One Unit 
arrangement in West Pakistan and a restoration of direct balloting in 
place of parity, which would give the more populous East Pakistan 
greater representation. Though representatives who won seats in the 
election were to draft the constitution, the document was to be based 
on principles defined by the Legal Framework Order. 
==East Pakistan==
Ayub Khan's departure did little to quell the unrest in East Pakistan. 
The constitution of 1956 had been accepted in the East Wing in the 
belief that the federal government would take genuine steps to end the 
economic and political disparities between the two wings. The consti- 
tution of 1962 had been forced on the East Wing under Ayub Khan's 
martial law that prevailed at the time. But as Ayub Khan's power weak- 
ened, Bengalis became more restive and vocal. 

In an effort to assure fairness in the economic planning process, the 
economic planning commission developing the Fourth Five-Year Plan 
established parallel panels of economic experts, one from East Pakistan 
and one from West Pakistan. Each was to study changes in the nation's 
economy during the preceding five years and recommend policies and 
tactics in response. The economists from East Pakistan presented evi- 
dence of a widening disparity, requiring profound shifts in policy to 
reverse the trend. The West Pakistan panel's data indicated the disparity 
between East and West was quickly evaporating and would be greatly 
reduced if not eliminated without intervention by the mid-1980s. The 
opposing views were not reconciled before the draft of the five-year 
plan was presented in the spring of 1970. But the issue of regional dis- 
parity would soon become moot. 

As the National Assembly's 1970 elections approached, the Awami 
League Party presented a six-point program aimed at restoring democ- 
racy and advancing East Pakistan's position. It called for a restoration 
of a parliamentary form of government and for limiting the federal 
government's role to defense and foreign affairs. It also called for eco- 
nomic and legal reforms to erase the disparities between East and West 
Pakistan, and for East Pakistan, which had no military force of its own, 
to have a militia or paramilitary force. 
==General Elections==
No general elections had been held in Pakistan since 1947. The govern- 
ment faced the challenge of registering all eligible voters and prepar- 
ing for nationwide balloting. Campaigning began on January 1, 1970. 
When registration was completed in March, 56,941,500 people were on 
the voter rolls, 31,211,220 of them from East Pakistan, and 25,730,280 
from West Pakistan. A total of 1,579 candidates from 24 political par- 
ties ran for the 300 National Assembly seats. The Awami League and 
Zulfikar Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party drew the most public support 
as the campaign intensified. The Awami League campaigned on its 
six-point program, while the PPP represented socialistic ideals under 
the banner of "Rotti, Kapra aur Makan" (Food, Clothing, and Shelter). 
Bhutto also called for a 1,000-year war against India. Religious parties 
such as Jamaat-i-Islami, or Islamic Party, campaigned on a platform 
of greater Islamization for the country, while leftist parties promoted 
regional and socialist agendas. 

Elections for the National Assembly were scheduled for October 5, 
and for provincial assemblies, October 19. However, due to floods and 
cyclones in East Pakistan, elections had to be rescheduled and were 
not completed until January 17, 1971. When the election results were 
tabulated, the Awami League, led by Mujibur Rahman, won a stunning 
victory and emerged as Pakistan's major political power, winning 160 
of the National Assembly's 300 seats. The Awami League also won 288 
of the 300 seats in the East Pakistan assembly, though it won no seats 
in any of West Pakistan's four provincial assemblies. The PPP won 81 
of the 138 seats in the National Assembly reserved for West Pakistan, 
making it the dominant power in that wing. 

==Civil War==
With a clear majority in the National Assembly, the Awami League was 
entitled to form the government. But Zulfikar Bhutto refused to per- 
mit Mujibur Rahman to become prime minister, or to accept Mujibur 
Rahman's Six Points. Bhutto also refused to take part in scheduled 
meetings in the National Assembly to frame a new constitution. Finally, 
in an effort to find a solution, Mujibur Rahman and Bhutto, along 
with Yahya Khan, met in Dhaka on March 3, 1971. They failed to find 
common ground. Mujibur Rahman immediately mounted a noncoop- 
eration movement. The action paralyzed the government in the east. 
Public transportation was brought to a halt, and factories and busi- 
nesses closed. Citizens withheld taxes. The Awami League established 
a shadow government to take the place of the state's administrative 
apparatus. A provisional Awami League army, the Mukti Bahini, incited 
public protest and violence. 

The floods that had devastated Bengal and caused the postpone- 
ment of elections in the East Wing brought worldwide attention to the 
impoverished and backward region and helped foster the view in the 
international community that East Pakistan had suffered from the indif- 
ference and rapacious policies of West Pakistan. 

Seeking to defuse the growing crisis, General Yahya Khan announced 
the National Assembly would convene in Dhaka, East Pakistan, in 
March. In answer, Mujibur Rahman called for an immediate end to mar- 
tial law and a transfer of power to newly elected representatives before 
the assembly convened as well as other demands. The demands led to 
the postponement of the meeting of the National Assembly. In its place 
the Awami League called for a Resistance Day to take place on March 
23, the Republic Day of Pakistan. 

Yahya Khan traveled to Dhaka during this period, ostensibly to 
negotiate a resolution to the crisis with Mujibur Rahman and West 
Pakistani political leaders, but making no real effort to reach a politi- 
cal settlement with the East Pakistani leadership. By then the excesses 
committed by the military against East Pakistani citizens under 
martial law had poisoned the atmosphere for a peaceful resolution. 
Without proclaiming the negotiations fruitless, Yahya Khan left Dhaka 
secretly on March 25, leaving orders for the armed forces to launch an 
offensive to restore order as soon as he arrived back in Karachi. That 
night Pakistani forces launched Operation Searchlight, a rampage 
through the East Wing. Thousands were killed, and Mujibur Rahman 
was arrested and taken to West Pakistan. The next day, March 26, an 
Awami League official announced that the East Wing was claiming 
independence under the name Bangladesh. This is now the nation's 
Independence Day. Awami League militants took up arms, and on 
March 27 Yahya Khan sent in troops to put down the revolution. 
Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis were killed as a result of the 
conflict, and some 10 million refugees fled to the neighboring Indian 
state of West Bengal. 

In response to the refugee crisis India invaded the former East 
Pakistan to engage the Pakistani armed forces on November 21, 1971. 
Members of the Mukti Bahini allied themselves with the Indian forces 
against the Pakistani troops. Yahya Khan failed to appreciate the vigor 
with which India would try to take advantage of the instability, a 
weakness that contributed to his lackadaisical attitude toward finding 
a political solution to the crisis. Even before their full-scale invasion, 
Indian troops trained the Mukti Bahini and launched guerrilla raids 
into East Pakistan to take on Pakistani forces. Additionally, a military 
alliance treaty India concluded with the Soviet Union in August 1971 
gave the Indian armed forces greater power. 

Pakistan's army found itself in an unwinnable conflict from the 
beginning, but Yahya Khan made no effort to seek relief from the UN 
Security Council. Indian troops were advancing on Dhaka, but the 
Pakistani army had no defensive plan in place. The conflict spread to 
Kashmir, where Indian and Pakistani troops crossed the cease-fire line, 
and into West Pakistan itself as Indian troops invaded Punjab and Sind. 
With the situation deteriorating daily, on December 6, 1971, Yahya 
Khan resigned and appointed a civilian government. Nurul Amin, a 
prominent politician from Bengal and opponent of the Awami League, 
was named prime minister (r. Dec. 1971). 

Later that December Bengali freedom fighters aided by Indian forces 
entered Dhaka, surrounding the main Pakistani forces under the com- 
mand of General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi (1915-2004). While it was 
later determined the Pakistan army could have held out for at least two 
weeks, General Niazi chose to surrender. On December 17 a formal 
offer of surrender was agreed upon by the United Nations. Some 45,000 
troops from West Pakistan and a similar number of civilians from the 
west were taken as prisoners of war. The majority of the killings of civil- 
ians by the Mukti Bahini occurred after the army's surrender. So did a 
wave of discontent in what remained of Pakistan over the miscalcula- 
tions and mismanagement of the civil war by its leaders.