Zia-ul-Haq

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was born on 12 August 1924 in Jullundur, Punjab, British India. His father, Muhammad Akbar Ali, worked in the Army General Headquarters in Delhi. Ali was noted for his religiousness which earned him the Muslim clerical title of maulvi. He was admitted to the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, graduating in May 1945 among the last group of officers to be commissioned before the independence of India. == Military service ==

Early career and partition Zia was commissioned into the British Indian Army on 12 May 1943 after graduating from the Mhow Officer Training School. He was posted to the 13th Lancers, a cavalry unit accoutered with tanks. During the Second World War, Zia participated in the Burma campaign of the Pacific War against the Imperial Japanese Army. Zia also participated in Indonesian National Revolution and the Battle of Surabaya. Following the Partition of India in 1947, Zia was the escort officer for the last train of refugees to leave Babina, an armoured corps training centre in Uttar Pradesh, a difficult journey that took seven days, during which the passengers were under constant fire due to communal violence which broke out in the aftermath of the Partition. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Zia is said to have been the Assistant Quartermaster of the 101st Infantry Brigade.. In 1969 he raised the 9th Armoured Brigade in Kharian as the first Brigade Commander of the unit; the brigade is currently stationed in Gujranwala under the 6th Armoured Division. As a young soldier, Zia preferred prayers when "drinking, gambling, dancing and music were the way officers spent their free time." Role in Black September Zia was stationed in Jordan from 1967 to 1970 as the head of a Pakistani training mission to Jordan. He later became involved as an advisor for the Jordanians during the Black September against the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Zia had been stationed in Amman for three years prior to Black September. During the events, according to CIA official Jack O'Connell, Zia was dispatched by Hussein north to assess Syria's military capabilities. The Pakistani commander reported back to Hussein, recommending the deployment of a RJAF squadron to the region. According to Pakistani journalist Raja Anwar, the mission may have been a violation of Zia's original assignment in Jordan by the Pakistani military, even though it helped Jordan repel the Syrian offensive. Ascent to Chief of Army Staff He was then promoted as lieutenant general and was appointed commander of the II Corps at Multan in 1975. On 1 March 1976, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto approved then-three star rank general Lieutenant General Zia to Chief of Army Staff and to be elevated to four-star rank. At the time of his nomination as the successor to the outgoing chief of army staff, General Tikka Khan, the lieutenant generals in order of seniority were: Muhammad Shariff, Akbar Khan, Aftab Ahmed, Azmat Baksh Awan, Ibrahim Akram, Abdul Majeed Malik, Ghulam Jilani Khan, and Zia himself. Bhutto chose the most junior, superseding seven more senior lieutenant-generals. However, the senior most at that time, Lieutenant General Mohammad Shariff, though promoted to General, was made the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Pakistani academic Husain Haqqani argues that Bhutto chose Zia ahead of many senior officers for ethnic and caste reasons, thinking that an Arain would not make an alliance with the predominantly Pashtun and Rajput military officers in order to overthrow him, and this is also the reason why he let Zia push for more Islam in the armed forces. Thus, Bhutto let him change the army's motto to and let him offer books of Abul A'la Maududi, an Islamic scholar and critic of Bhutto, to his officers as prizes during various competitions, despite the strong ideological antagonism between Bhutto and Zia. == Military coup ==

Pre-coup unrest Bhutto began facing considerable criticism and increasing unpopularity as his term progressed; the alliance of socialists in Pakistan who had previously allied with Bhutto began to diminish as time progressed. Bhutto also targeted opposition leader Abdul Wali Khan and his party the National Awami Party (NAP). Despite the socialistic ideological similarity of the two parties, the clash of egos between the two men became increasingly fierce, starting with the Bhutto government's decision to oust the NAP provincial government in Balochistan for alleged secessionist activities and subsequent banning of the NAP with the arrest of much of its leadership after the death of a close lieutenant of Bhutto's, Hayat Sherpao, in a bomb blast in the frontier town of Peshawar. Dissidence also increased within Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and the murder of leading dissident Ahmed Raza Kasuri's father led to public outrage and intra-party hostility because Bhutto was accused of masterminding the crime. PPP leaders such as Ghulam Mustafa Khar openly condemned Bhutto and called for protests against his regime. The political crisis in the North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan intensified as civil liberties remained suspended, and an estimated 100,000 troops deployed in the two provinces were accused of abusing human rights and killing large numbers of civilians. On 8 January 1977, a large number of opposition political parties grouped to form the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA). Bhutto called fresh elections, and the PNA participated fully to ouster Bhutto. The PNA managed to contest the elections jointly even though there were grave splits on opinions and views within the alliance. The PNA faced defeat but did not accept the results, alleging that the election was rigged. On 11 March 1977, the alliance called a nationwide strike followed by vicious demonstrations demanding fresh elections. Around 200 people were killed in the encounters between protestors and security forces. They proceeded to boycott the provincial elections. Despite this, there was a high voter turnout in the national elections; however, as provincial elections were held amidst low voter turnout and an opposition boycott, the PNA viewed Bhutto's government as illegitimate. Soon, all the opposition leaders called for the overthrow of Bhutto's regime. On 21 April 1977, Bhutto imposed martial law in the major cities of Karachi, Lahore and Hyderabad. However, a compromise agreement between Bhutto and opposition was ultimately reported. Zia planned the Coup d'état carefully as he knew Bhutto had integral intelligence in the Pakistan Armed Forces, and many officers, including chief of air staff Air Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Major General Tajammul Hussain Malik, Major General Naseerullah Babar, and Vice Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan, were all loyal to Bhutto. Execution of coup d'etat The coup (codenamed Operation Fair Play) transpired in the early hours of 5 July 1977. Before the announcement of any agreement, Bhutto and members of his cabinet were arrested by troops of the military police under the order of Zia. Zia and his military government portrayed the coup as a "spontaneous response to a difficult situation", but his response was a complete contradiction. Soon after the coup, Zia told the British journalist Edward Behr of Newsweek: However, Zia's vice chief of the army staff, General Khalid Mahmud Arif, contradicted Zia's statement when Arif noted that the coup had already been planned, and the senior leadership of the armed forces had solid information. Therefore, Arif met with Bhutto on an emergency basis, stressing and urging Bhutto to "rush negotiations with the opposition". By Arif's account, the talks had not broken down even though the coup was very much in the offing. Zia further argued that the operation against Bhutto had been necessitated by the prospect of a civil war that Bhutto had been planning by distributing weapons to his supporters. However, Arif strongly rejected Zia's remarks on Bhutto, and citing no evidence that weapons were found or recovered at any of the party's election offices, the military junta did not prosecute Bhutto on the charge of planning civil war. After deposing Prime Minister Bhutto on 5 July 1977, Zia declared martial law, and appointed himself Chief Martial Law Administrator, which he remained until becoming president on 16 September 1978. Immediately, the chief of naval staff, Admiral Mohammad Shariff, announced his and the navy's strong support for Zia's military government. But the chief of air staff, Air Marshal Zulfikar Ali Khan, remained unsupportive. General Muhammad Shariff remained neutral, while he silently expressed his support to Prime Minister Zulfikar Bhutto. In 1978, Zia pressured President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry to appoint Air Marshal Anwar Shamim as Chief of Air Staff; and Admiral Karamat Rahman Niazi as Chief of Naval Staff in 1979. On Zia's recommendation, President Illahi appointed Admiral Mohammad Shariff as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hence making the Admiral the highest-ranking officer and principal military adviser overlooking all of the inter-services, including the Chiefs of Staff of the respected forces. In 1979, the Chiefs of Army, Navy, and the Air Force, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff validated the coup as constitutional and legal under the war-torn circumstances, pledging their support to Zia as well. == Dictatorship (1977–1988) ==

Postponement of elections After assuming power as Chief Martial Law Administrator, Zia shortly appeared on national television, promising to hold neutral parliamentary elections within the next 90 days My sole aim is to organise free and fair elections which would be held in October this year. Soon after the polls, power will be transferred to the elected representatives of the people. I give a solemn assurance that I will not deviate from this schedule. He also stated that the Constitution had not been abrogated, but temporarily suspended. Zia did not trust the civilian institutions and legislators to ensure the country's governance; therefore, in October 1977, he announced the postponement of the electoral plan and decided to start an accountability process for politicians. On television, Zia strongly defended his decision for postponing the elections and demanded the "scrutiny of political leaders who had engaged in malpractice in the past". Another motive was that Zia widely suspected that once out of power, the size of PPP allies would swell and result in better electoral performances. This led to request for postponement of elections by right-wing Islamists as well as left-wing socialists, formerly allied with Bhutto, who displaced Bhutto in the first place. Zia dispatched an intelligence unit, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)'s Political Wing, dispatching Brigadier General Taffazul Hussain Siddiqiui to Bhutto's native province, Sindh, to assess whether people would accept martial law. The Political Wing also contacted the several Islamists and conservatives, promising an election, with the PNA power-sharing the government with Zia. The military government successfully divided and separated secular political forces from right-wing Islamists and conservatives, and later purged each member of the secular front. A disqualification tribunal was formed, and several individuals who had been members of parliament were charged with malpractice and disqualified from participating in politics at any level for the next seven years. The Supreme Court ruled four-to-three in favour of execution. The Lahore High Court gave him the death sentence on charges of the murder of the father of Ahmed Raza Kasuri, a dissident PPP politician. Appointment of martial law administrators Martial law judges The appointments of senior justices to the Supreme Court was one of the earliest and major steps that were taken out by the military government under Zia-ul-Haq. After calling for martial law, Zia pressured President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry to appoint Justice Sheikh Anwarul Haq to chief justice on 23 September 1977. After completing his term, and despite Zia's insistence to accept an extension as President, Chaudhry resigned, and Zia took the office of President of Pakistan on 16 September 1978. Domestic policy Formation of Majlis-e-Shoora Although ostensibly only holding office until free elections could be held, General Zia, like the previous military governments, disapproved of the lack of discipline and orderliness that often accompanies multiparty "parliamentary democracy." He preferred a "presidential" form of government The 350 members of the Shura were to be nominated by the President and possessed only the power to consult with him, and in reality served only to endorse decisions already taken by the government. Most members of the Shoora were intellectuals, scholars, ulema, journalists, economists, and professionals in different fields. Zia's parliament and military government reflected the idea of "military-bureaucratic technocracy" (MBT) where professionals, engineers, and high-profile military officers were initially part of his military government. His antipathy for the politicians led the promotion of bureaucratic-technocracy which was seen a strong weapon of countering the politicians and their political strongholds. Senior statesman and technocrats were included physicist-turned diplomat Agha Shahi, jurist Sharifuddin Perzada, corporate leader Nawaz Sharif, economist Mahbub ul Haq, senior statesmen Aftab Kazi and Roedad Khan, and chemist-turned diplomat Ghulam Ishaq Khan, were a few of the leading technocratic figures in his military government. 1984 referendum After Bhutto's execution, momentum to hold elections began to mount both internationally and within Pakistan. But before handing over power to elected representatives, Zia-ul-Haq attempted to secure his position as the head of state. A referendum was held on 19 December 1984 with the option being to elect or reject the General as the future President, the wording of the referendum making a vote against Zia appear to be a vote against Islam. Most of the major opposing political parties decided to boycott the elections but election results showed that many victors belonged to one party or the other. Critics complained that ethnic and sectarian mobilisation filled the void left by banning political parties (or making elections "non-partisan"), to the detriment of national integration. The General worked to give himself the power to dismiss the Prime Minister dissolve the National Assembly, appoint provincial governors and the chief of the armed forces. His prime minister Muhammad Khan Junejo was known as an unassuming and soft-spoken Sindhi. Before handing over the power to the new government and lifting the martial law, Zia got the new legislature to retroactively accept all of Zia's actions of the past eight years, including his coup of 1977. He also managed to get several amendments passed, most notably the Eighth Amendment, which granted "reserve powers" to the president to dissolve the Parliament. However, this amendment considerably reduced the power he'd previously granted himself to dissolve the legislature, at least on paper. The text of the amendment permitted Zia to dissolve the Parliament only if the government had been toppled by a vote of no confidence and it was obvious that no one could form a government or the government could not function in a constitutional manner. In 1977, before the coup, the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims, along with nightclubs, and horse racing was banned by Prime Minister Bhutto to stem the tide of street Islamisation. Zia went much further, committing himself to enforce Nizam-e-Mustafa ("Rule of the Prophet" or an Islamic System, i.e. establishing an Islamic state and sharia law In the past, he complained, "Many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam." Zia established "Sharia Benches" in each high court (later the Federal Sharia Court) to judge legal cases using the teachings of the Quran and the Sunna, and to align Pakistan's legal statutes with Islamic doctrine. Zia bolstered the influence of the ulema and the Islamic parties. Thousands of activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami party were appointed to government posts to ensure the maintenance of his Islamist agenda. Zia defended his policies in an interview in 1979 given to British journalist Ian Stephens: Secular and leftist activists and politicians in Pakistan accused Zia of manipulating Islam for political ends. According to Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady of Pakistan: The Zakat and Ushr Ordinance was implemented in 1980. The measure called for a 2.5% annual deduction from personal bank accounts on the first day of Ramadan, with the revenue to be used for poverty relief. Zakat committees were established to oversee the distribution of the funds. The measure was opposed by Shia Muslims, who do not consider the collection of Zakat an obligation. In the first days of the tax, Shia Muslims who followed the Ja'fari school raised strong opposition, and in April 1981, the government made an exemption allowing Shia to file for exemptions. Among Sunni Muslims, Deobandis, and Barelvis also had disputes. Zia favoured the Deobandi doctrine, which led to Barelvis joining the anti-Zia Movement for the Restoration of Democracy. Pakistani Canadian Sufi scholar Syed Soharwardy states that Zia "changed Pakistan from a Sufi-dominated state to a Salafi-dominated state", estimating that if 70% of mosques were Sufis due to Zia they were reduced, and in the army, this change has been even more radical, as he estimates that military mosques went from 90% Sufi in the 70s to 85% Deobandi under Zia. Islamic Law Under Zia, the order for women to cover their heads while in public was implemented in public schools, colleges, and state television. Women's participation in sports and the performing arts was severely restricted. Following Sharia law, women's legal testimony was given half the weight of a man's, . In 1981, interest payments were replaced by profit and loss sharing accounts; however, profit and loss sharing was simply viewed as another name for the practice of interest . Textbooks were overhauled to remove un-Islamic material, and un-Islamic books were removed from libraries. Eating and drinking during Ramadan were outlawed, and attempts were made to enforce praying of salah five times a day. Hudood Ordinance One of his first and most controversial measures to Islamise Pakistani society was the replacement of parts of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) with the 1979 Hudood Ordinance. The Ordinance added new criminal offences of adultery and fornication to Pakistani law, and new punishments of whipping, amputation, and stoning to death. For theft or robbery, the PPC punishments of imprisonment fine, or both, were replaced by amputation of the right hand of the offender for theft, and amputation of the right hand and left foot for robbery. For Zina (extramarital sex), the provisions relating to adultery were replaced by the Ordinance with punishments of 100 lashes for those unmarried offenders, and stoning to death for married offenders. All these punishments were dependent on the proof required for hadd being met. In practice, the Hudd requirement—four Muslim men of good repute testifying as witnesses to the crime—was seldom met. As of 2014, no offenders have been stoned or had limbs amputated by the Pakistani judicial system. To be found guilty of theft, Zina, or drinking alcohol by less strict tazir standards—where the punishment was flogging and/or imprisonment—was common, and there have been many floggings. More worrisome for human rights and women's rights advocates, lawyers, and politicians was the incarceration of thousands of rape victims on charges of Zina. Although Sharia punishments were imposed, the due process, witnesses, law of evidence, and prosecution system remained inherited from British-era penal codes. The hybridisation of Pakistan's penal code with Islamic laws was difficult because of the difference in the underlying logic of the two legal systems. In 1982 the small Ahmadiyya religious minority were prohibited from saying or implying they were Muslims. In 1986, stating or doing anything that implied disrespect to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Ahl al-Bayt, Sahabah, or ''Sha'ar-i-Islam'' was made a cognisable offence, punishable with imprisonment, a fine, or death. Madrassa expansions Traditional religious madrassas in Pakistan received state sponsorship for the first time, under General Zia-ul-Haq's administration, their number grew from 893 to 2,801. Most were Deobandi in doctrinal orientation, while one-quarter of them were Barelvi. They received funding from Zakat councils and provided free religious training, room, and board to impoverished Pakistanis. The schools, which banned televisions and radios, have been criticised by authors for stoking sectarian hatred both between Muslim sects and against non-Muslims. New taxes were levied on the film industry and most of the cinemas in Lahore were shut down. New tax rates were introduced, further decreasing cinema attendances. Welfare of the people with disabilities During his tenure, he oversaw the passing of an ordinance for the welfare of people with disabilities. The ordinance is called "The Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance, 1981" and it was passed into law on 29 December 1981. It provides measures for the employment, rehabilitation, and welfare of people with disabilities. Nuclear weapons programme One of the earliest initiatives taken by Zia in 1977, was to militarise the integrated atomic energy programme which was founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1972. During the first stages, the programme was under the control of Bhutto and the Directorate for Science, under Science Advisor Dr. Mubashir Hassan, who was heading the civilian committee that supervised the construction of the facilities and laboratories. Expansion Even though Zia had removed the Bhutto sentiment in the nuclear energy project, Zia did not completely disband Bhutto's policy on nuclear weapons. After the retirement of Zahid Ali Akbar, Zia transferred control of the nuclear weapons programme to Bhutto's close aide Munir Ahmad Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Soon, Zia promoted Khan as the technical director of the entire programme as well as appointing Khan as his Science Adviser. Zia also launched the work on the country's first satellite, Badr-1, a military satellite. Economic policy In general, Zia gave economic development and policy a fairly low personal focus (aside from Islamisation), and delegated its management to technocrats such as finance minister Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Aftab Qazi and Vaseem Jaffrey. However, the average GDP growth rate was 5.88% during Zia's eleven years in office, the highest in Pakistani history. Between 1977 and 1986, the country experienced an average annual gross national product (GNP) growth of 6.8%—the highest in the world at that time—thanks in large part to remittances from the overseas workers, rather than government policy alone. By the time General Zia initiated his coup against Prime Minister Zulfikar Bhutto, the nationalisation programme had been completed. The socialist orientation and nationalisation programme of Bhutto was slowly reversed; the idea of corporatisation was heavily favoured by President Zia-ul-Haq to direct the authoritarianism in the nationalised industries. One of his well-known and earliest initiatives aimed to Islamise the national economy which featured an interest-free economic cycle. No actions towards privatising the industries were ordered by President Zia; only three steel mill industries were returned to their previous owners. By the end of 1987, the finance ministry had begun studying the process of engaging the gradual privatisation and economic liberalisation. Foreign affairs Soviet–Afghan War On 25 December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Following this invasion, Zia chaired a meeting and was asked by several cabinet members to refrain from interfering in the war, owing to the vastly superior military power of the USSR. Zia, however, was ideologically opposed to the idea of communism taking over a neighbouring country, supported by the fear of Soviet advancement into Pakistan, particularly Balochistan, in search of warm waters, and made no secret about his intentions of monetarily and militarily aiding the Afghan Mujahideen with major assistance from the United States. American president Jimmy Carter offered $400 million aid package to Pakistan; Zia ridiculed the offer as "peanuts". Zia ultimately succeeded in winning an increased aid of $3.2 billion provided by Carter's successor Ronald Reagan. During this meeting, the Director-General of the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) then-Lieutenant-General Akhtar Abdur Rahman advocated for a covert operation in Afghanistan by arming Islamic Extremists. After this meeting, Zia authorised this operation under General Rahman, and it was later merged with Operation Cyclone, a programme funded by the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In November 1982, Zia travelled to Moscow to attend the funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, the late General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and new Secretary General Yuri Andropov met with Zia there. Andropov expressed indignation over Pakistan's support of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union and its satellite state, Socialist Afghanistan. Zia took his hand and assured him, "General Secretary, believe me, Pakistan wants nothing but very good relations with the Soviet Union". Zia reversed many of Bhutto's foreign policy initiatives by first establishing stronger links with the United States, Japan, and the Western world. Zia broke off relations with the socialist state and state capitalism became his major economic policy. US politician Charlie Wilson claims that he worked with Zia and the CIA to channel weapons to fighters in Afghanistan. Iran–Iraq War On 22 September 1980, the Iraqi invasion of Iran initiated a nearly eight-year long war between Iran and Iraq. In an effort to end the war and maintain unity of the Islamic world, Zia visited Tehran on 27 September and Baghdad on 29 September. Despite declaring neutrality, Zia maintained close relations with Iran and Pakistan sold weapons to Iran, which proved to be a main factor for the Iranian victory in the Tanker War. Relationship with the United States and Bill Clark meeting with President Zia-ul-Haq, 1982 The United States, notably the Ronald Reagan administration, was an ardent supporter of Zia's military regime and a close ally of Pakistan's conservative-leaning ruling military establishment. The Reagan administration declared Zia's regime as the "front line" ally of the United States in the fight against the threat of Communism. American legislators and senior officials most notable were Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger, Charlie Wilson, Joanne Herring, and the civilian intelligence officers Michael Pillsbury and Gust Avrakotos, and senior US military officials General John William Vessey, and General Herbert M. Wassom, had been long associated with the Zia military regime where they had made frequent trips to Pakistan advising on expanding the idea of establishment in the political circle of Pakistan. Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark widely suspected the United States' involvement in bringing down the Bhutto's government, and publicly accused the United States' Government after attending the trial. After Zia's death, his successor General Mirza Aslam Beg, as Chief of Army Staff, encouraged Abdul Qadeer Khan and gave him a free hand to work with some like-minded nations such as North Korea, Iran and Libya which also wanted to pursue their nuclear ambitions for a variety of reasons. In 2004, Abdul Qadeer Khan's dismissal from the nuclear weapons programme was considered a face-saving exercise by the Pakistan Armed Forces and political establishment under the then Chief of Army Staff and President General Pervez Musharraf. Zia's nuclear proliferation policy had a deep impact on the world, especially anti-western states, most nominally North Korea and Iran. In the 2000s (decade), North Korea would soon follow the same suit after it was targeted by the international community for its on-going nuclear programme. In the 2000s (decade), North Korea attempted to aid the Syrian and Iranian nuclear programme in the 1990s. The North Korean connection to the Syrian nuclear programme was exposed in 2007 by Israel in its successful strategic operation, Orchard, which resulted in them sabotaging the Syrian nuclear programme as well as the deaths of 10 senior North Korean scientists who were aiding the nuclear programme. Dismissal of the Junejo government and call for new elections As time passed, the legislature wanted to have more freedom and power and by the beginning of 1988, rumours about the differences between Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo and Zia were rife. It is said by some that Zia-Junejo rift was encouraged by late Mahboob-ul-Haq and Junejo's insistence on signing the Geneva Accords without deciding the composition of next government of Afghanistan before Soviet withdrawal. Junejo also gave Benazir a seat next to him in parleys before that. Junejo did not strengthen the Islamisation drive and rather weakened it. His era led to serious disturbances in Karachi and ultimately Karachi went into the secular control of MQM from Jamaat-e-Islami. The Ojhri Camp disaster had irreversibly weakened Zia. Junejo was committed to conducting an investigation into the camp disaster. After the defeat of the Soviets, the United States wanted to audit the ammunition and missiles supplied to Pakistan for the Mujahideen, most of which has been stored by Pakistan for future targets against India or for other military purposes. On 29 May 1988, Zia dissolved the National Assembly and removed the prime minister. Junejo's decision to sign the Geneva Accord against the wishes of Zia, and his open declarations of removing any military personnel found responsible for an explosion at a munitions dump at Ojhri Camp, proved to be some of the major factors responsible for his removal. Zia promised to hold elections in 1988 after the dismissal of Junejo government. He said that he would hold elections within the next 90 days. The late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir Bhutto had returned from exile earlier in 1986, and had announced that she would be contesting the elections. With Bhutto's popularity somewhat growing, and a decrease in international aid following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Zia was in an increasingly difficult political situation. == Family and personal life ==

On 10 August 1950, he married his cousin Shafiq Jahan in Lahore. Begum Shafiq Zia died on 6 January 1996. Zia is survived by his sons, Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq, (born 1953), who went into politics and became a cabinet minister in the government of Nawaz Sharif, and Anwar-ul-Haq (born 1960) and his daughters, Zain (born 1972), a special needs child, Rubina Saleem, who is married to a Pakistani banker and has been living in the United States since 1980, and Quratulain Zia who currently lives in London, and is married to Pakistani doctor, Adnan Majid. His cousin Mian Abdul Waheed has served as diplomat, being Pakistan's ambassador to Germany and Italy, also playing a major role in the country becoming a nuclear power. == Death ==

Zia died in a plane crash on 17 August 1988. After witnessing a US M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur, Zia had left the city in the Punjab province by C-130B Hercules aircraft. The aircraft departed from Bahawalpur Airport and was expected to reach Islamabad International Airport. Shortly after a smooth takeoff, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air afterward claim it was flying erratically, then nosedived and exploded on impact. In addition to Zia, 29 others died in the plane crash, including Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, close associate of Zia, Brigadier Siddique Salik, the American ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the US military aid mission to Pakistan. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the Senate chairman, announced Zia's death on radio and TV. Conditions surrounding his death have given rise to many conspiracy theories. There is speculation that the Soviet Union (in retaliation for Pakistani support of the mujahideen in Afghanistan) or an alliance of them and internal groups within Zia's military were behind the incident. A board of inquiry was set up to investigate the crash. It concluded 'the most probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated in the aircraft'. It also suggested that poisonous gases were released which incapacitated the passengers and crew, which would explain why no Mayday signal was given. There was also speculation into other facts involving the details of the investigation. A flight recorder (black box) was not located after the crash even though previous C-130 aircraft did have them installed. His funeral was held on 19 August 1988 near Islamabad. Nearly one million mourners joined in chants of "Zia ul-Haq, you will live as long as the sun and moon remain above." His remains were laid to rest in a dirt grave in front of the Faisal Mosque that Zia and the Saudi government had built as a symbol of Pakistani-Saudi friendship. Also in attendance was his successor President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, chiefs of staff of armed forces, chairman joint chiefs, and other high military and civil officials. Former US Secretary of State George P. Shultz also laid a floral wreath at Zia's grave. ==Legacy==

In Pakistan Even after his death, Zia-ul-Haq remained a highly polarising figure in the country's history. He is also praised for defeating the Soviets. Indian journalist Kallol Bhattacherjee, an author of a book on Afghanistan, said:"There will not be another Zia in South Asia. He was unique and multidimensional like all complex characters of South Asian history. I admire Zia's guts, though not his methods, especially in regards to Islam. He successfully took on nuclear India and changed the balance of power that Indira Gandhi created in the 1971 war and broke all rules to acquire nuclear weapons for Pakistan."Historians and political scientists widely discussed and studied his policy making skills, some authors noting him as "The Ringmaster", "Master of Illusion" and "Master Tactician". However, his most remembered and enduring legacy was his indirect involvement and military strategies, by proxy supporting the Mujahidin, against the USSR's war in Afghanistan. His reign also helped the conservatives to rise at the national politics against Benazir Bhutto. During his regime, western styles in hair, clothing, and music flooded the country. and depreciating the rupee with managed float policies. He is also cited for promoting the early political career of Nawaz Sharif, who would be thrice elected Prime Minister. With the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (2010), the executive powers General Zia had legislated were permanently removed from the Constitution of Pakistan. Outside Pakistan Zia is credited with stopping an expected Soviet invasion of Pakistan. Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal, who worked with Zia during the 1980s against the Soviets, described Zia in the following words: "He was a very steady and smart person with a geo-strategic mind, particularly after the invasion by Soviets. He was very dedicated in preventing the Soviet invasion of Pakistan." Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and author specializing in the Middle East, wrote that "in many ways, the Afghan war was Zia's war", • The oppressive regime of Zia and the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was referenced in the book Songs of Blood and Sword (2010), a non-fiction memoir by Murtaza Bhutto's daughter Fatima Bhutto. • Zia is portrayed by Indian actor Kavi Raz in the 2021 spy thriller film Bell Bottom. • Zia is portrayed by Indian actor Ashwath Bhatt in the 2023 Netflix action-thriller film Mission Majnu. • Zia is portrayed by Indian actor Mukesh Rishi in the 2025 JioHotstar series Salakaar based on National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval's covert mission in Pakistan in the 1970s. == Awards and decorations ==