In the 1970s, the events leading to the success of
right-wing alliance,
PNA, toppled and overthrow the government of left-oriented
PPP. At the time of death of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, nearly 3,000 PPP activists and supporters were jailed, many of whom remained imprisoned for the next decade. President General
Zia-ul-Haq was particularly unpopular in the
Sindh Province, where support for the PPP remained relatively strong. In 1979,
President General
Zia-ul-Haq announced the implementation of
Islamisation program and pressed his
ultraconservatism policies in the country. Following the invasive
Russian invasion of
Afghanistan, President Zia exercised more repressive policies to curb the
communist influence in the country, whilst
escalating the
insurgency in
Pashtun-domaniated Khyber province in
Western Pakistan. In response, the former rivals,
ANP and
CPP, decided to oppose President Zia's actions in the country, ultimately the left-wing sphere formed an alliance with the
PPP which was the most influential of all left-wing parties. In 1980, PPP persuasively reached out to left-wing organisations in the country and started its political function after calling for the end of the
military regime of President Zia-ul-Haq. Negotiations between PPP leaders and the political parties that had formed the Pakistan National Alliance in 1977 started in October 1980. They led to the formation of the MRD on 6 February 1981, at 70 Clifton, the Bhuttos' family house in Karachi. The alliance was dissolved on 24 August 1988. The alliance launched a struggle against the regime of Zia ul-Haq: in the first weeks, 1999 people were arrested, 189 killed and 126 injured. The movement is generally thought of as two separate outburst, one in August and September 1983, and one in 1986. It was particularly strong in rural Sindh, where it was fuelled by people's resentment against the state, and it finally took 3 army divisions and helicopters to bring the uprising down. Military force and repression was used against agitators and the movement was crushed. Despite its set backs, the MRD was significant for mounting a political pressure on President Zia to hold the elections. Convinced that party-based elections would not bring the "positive results" he had been talking of, he decided to hold non-party elections in 1985. But before doing so, he secured his election as president through a referendum. In 1984, Benazir Bhutto and the MRD notably boycotted the
1984 presidential referendum, following making another call for
boycotting the
1985 general elections, to be held under
President Zia-ul-Haq. Successfully boycotting the
1984 referendum and
1985 election, proved to be a serious miscalculation despite confident of enjoying huge popular support. In response, the communist party leader,
Jam Saqi, was brought to a
secret trial in
Sindh High Court, later directed to
military courts. The MRD had united the left-wing mass of the country and the most prominent leaders of the MRD were:
Nusrat Bhutto, her daughter
Benazir Bhutto,
Rasool Bux Palijo,
Abdul Wali Khan,
Jam Saqi,
Syed Muhammad Kaswar Gardezi,
Syed Kabir Ali Wasti among others. Thousands of the activists were jailed across the country especially in Sindh.
MRD Composition Pakistan Muslim League Qasim Group ()||
Syed Kabir Ali Wasti ||
centre Left || || ==Responses==