He is also cited for promoting the early political career of Nawaz Sharif, who would be thrice elected Prime Minister. To this day, Zia remains a polarising figure in Pakistan's history, credited for preventing wider Soviet incursions into the region as well as economic prosperity, but decried for weakening democratic institutions and passing laws encouraging religious intolerance. He was killed along with several of his top military officials and two American diplomats in a mysterious plane crash near Bahawalpur on 17 August 1988. After Junejo signed the Geneva Accords in 1988 against Zia's wishes, and called for an inquiry into the Ojhri Camp disaster, Zia dismissed Junejo's government and announced fresh elections in November 1988. Īfter lifting martial law and holding non-partisan elections in 1985, Zia appointed Muhammad Khan Junejo Prime Minister but accumulated more presidential powers via the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. Averaged over Zia's rule, GDP growth was the highest in the country's history. He also escalated Pakistan's atomic bomb project, and instituted industrialisation and deregulation, helping Pakistan's economy become the fastest-growing in South Asia. Domestically, Zia passed broad-ranging legislation as part of Pakistan's Islamization, curbed civil liberties, and heightened press censorship. On the foreign front, Zia also bolstered ties with China and the United States, and emphasised Pakistan's role in the Islamic world, while relations with India worsened amid the Siachen conflict and accusations that Pakistan was aiding the Khalistan movement. This culminated in the Soviet Union's withdrawal in 1989, but also led to the proliferation of millions of refugees, with heroin and weaponry into Pakistan's frontier province.
Backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, Zia systematically coordinated the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet occupation throughout the 1980s. Īssuming the presidency in 1978, Zia played a major role in the Soviet–Afghan War. Bhutto was controversially tried by the Supreme Court and executed less than two years later, for allegedly authorising the murder of Ahmed Raza Kasuri, a political opponent. Following civil disorder, Zia deposed Bhutto in a military coup and declared martial law on 5 July 1977. In recognition, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed Zia Chief of Army Staff in 1976. In 1970, he led a military training mission to Jordan, proving instrumental to defeating the Black September insurgency against King Hussein. He remains the country’s longest-serving de facto head of state.Įducated at Delhi University, Zia saw action in World War II as a British Indian Army officer in Burma and Malaya, before opting for Pakistan in 1947 and fighting as a tank commander in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He served as the head of state from 1978 until his death in 1988. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a military dictator who became the 6thPresident of Pakistan after declaring martial law in 1977. United States Army Command and General Staff CollegeĢ2 Cavalry, Army Armoured Corps (PA – 1810) Jalandhar, Punjab, British India(Now in Punjab, India)īritish Indian (1924–1947) Pakistani (1947–1988)īegum Shafiq Zia (1950–1988 his death)
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