Zia-Ul-Haq, Mohammad
(1924–1988), president of Pakistan. Zia was born on 12 August 1924 in Jalandhar in Punjab. He graduated from the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun, in 1945, and served with the British army in Southeast Asia. Upon India's independence from Britain and the partition of the Indian subcontinent, Zia chose to live in Pakistan. He became a major general in 1972 and four years afterwards was made army chief of staff by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928–1979), who was at that time prime minister. Next year Zia deposed Bhutto and became Pakistan's chief martial-law administrator.
Zia became president in 1978 and had Bhutto executed the following year, despite international appeals. Zia banned all political parties and imposed censorship of the press. Norms of shari ʿa (Islamic law) were strictly adhered to; the Islamic Ahmadiya sect, regarded as heterodox by the Islamic mainstream, was suppressed. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan strengthened his position, and he collaborated with the United States administration fully in its opposition to the Soviets. In return, he received generous financial and military assistance from the United States. Under Zia there was no sign of substantial improvement of ties with India, and Zia launched Operation Topac in Kashmir. The operation was an attempt to stir up anti-Indian sentiment with a view to ultimately wresting Kashmir from Indian control. Ghulam Ishaq Khan (b. 1915) succeeded Zia after the latter died in a plane crash near Bahawalpur on 17 August 1988.
Further Reading
Baxter, Craig, and Shahid Javed Burki, with contributions by Robert LaPorte, Jr., and Kamal Azfar. (1991) Pakistan under the Military: Eleven Years of Zia ul-Haq. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Burki, Shahid Javed. (1991) Historical Dictionary of Pakistan. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
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