HISTORY
The British ruled the Indian subcontinent for
nearly 200 years—from 1756 to 1947. After a revolt between 1857 and 1859, the
British initiated political reforms, allowing the formation of political
parties. The Indian National Congress, representing the overwhelming majority of
Hindus, was created in 1885. The Muslim League was formed in 1906 to represent
the Muslim minority. When the British introduced constitutional reforms in 1909,
the Muslims demanded and acquired separate electoral rolls. This guaranteed
Muslims representation in the provincial as well as the national legislatures
until independence was granted in 1947.
By 1940, however, the Muslim League had resolved
to seek the partitioning of the subcontinent and the creation of a separate
Muslim state—Pakistan. During preindependence talks in 1946, therefore, the
British government found that the stand of the Muslim League on separation and
that of the Congress on the territorial unity of India were irreconcilable. The
British then decided on partition and on August 14, 1947, transferred power to
Pakistan. India gained its independence the next day. Pakistan came into
existence in two parts: West Pakistan, coextensive with the country's present
boundaries, and East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh. The two were separated
by 1,600 km (1,000 mi) of Indian territory.
The division of the subcontinent caused tremendous
dislocation of populations. Some 3.5 million Hindus and Sikhs moved from
Pakistan into India, and about 5 million Muslims migrated from India to
Pakistan. The demographic shift caused an initial bitterness between the two
countries that was further intensified by each country's accession of a portion
of the princely states. Nearly all of these 562 widely scattered polities joined
either India or Pakistan; the princes of Hyderabad, Junagadh, and Kashmir,
however, chose not to join either country.
On August 14 and 15, 1947, these three states had
become technically independent, but when the Muslim ruler of Junagadh, with its
predominantly Hindu population, joined Pakistan a month later, India annexed his
territory. Hyderabad's Muslim prince, ruling over a mostly Hindu population,
tried to postpone any decision indefinitely, but in September 1948 that issue
was also settled by Indian arms. The Hindu ruler of Kashmir, whose subjects were
85 percent Muslim, decided to join India. Pakistan, however, questioned his
right to do so, and a war broke out between India and Pakistan. Although the
United Nations (UN) subsequently resolved that a plebiscite be held under UN
auspices to determine the future of Kashmir, India continued to occupy about
two-thirds of the state and refused to hold a plebiscite. Pakistan administered
the northwestern portion as Azad (Free) Kashmir and the Northern Areas. This
deadlock, which still persists, has intensified suspicion and antagonism between
the two countries.
The first government of Pakistan was headed by
Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, with Muhammed Ali Jinnah as governor-general,
and it chose Karachi as its capital. From 1947 to 1951 the country functioned
under chaotic conditions. The government endeavored to create a new national
capital, organize the bureaucracy and the armed forces, resettle refugees, and
contend with provincial politicians who often defied its authority. Failing to
offer any program of economic and social reform, however, it did not gain
popular support.
In foreign policy, Liaquat established friendly
relations with the United States when he visited President Harry S. Truman in
1950, but he overlooked the geographical closeness of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR) to Pakistan and the implications of that fact for the
future security of the country. The visit to the United States injected
bitterness into Soviet-Pakistani relations because Liaquat had previously
accepted an invitation from Moscow that never materialized in a visit. The
United States gave no substantial aid to Pakistan until three years later.
After Liaquat was assassinated in 1951, Khwaja
Nazimuddin, an East Pakistani who had been governor-general since Jinnah's death
in 1948, became prime minister. Unable to prevent the erosion of the Muslim
League's popularity in East Pakistan, however, he was forced to yield to another
East Pakistani, Muhammad Ali Bogra, in 1953. When the Muslim League was
nevertheless routed in East Pakistani elections in 1954, the governor-general
dissolved the constituent assembly as no longer representative. The new assembly
that met in 1955 was not dominated by the Muslim League. Muhammad Ali Bogra was
then replaced by Chaudhri Mohammad Ali, a West Pakistani. At the same time,
General Iskander Mirza became governor-general.
The new constituent assembly enacted a bill, which
became effective in October 1955, integrating the four West Pakistani provinces
into one political and administrative unit. The assembly also produced a new
constitution, which was adopted on March 2, 1956. It declared Pakistan an
Islamic republic. Mirza was elected provisional president.
The new charter notwithstanding, political
instability continued because no stable majority party emerged in the National
Assembly. Prime Minister Ali remained in office only until September 1956, when
he was succeeded by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, leader of the Awami League of
East Pakistan. His tenure lasted for slightly more than a year. When President
Mirza discovered that Suhrawardy was planning an alliance between East and West
Pakistani political forces by supporting Firoz Khan Noon, leader of the
Republican Party, for the presidency, Mirza forced Suhrawardy to resign. The
succeeding coalition government, headed by Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar, lasted
only two months before it was replaced by a Republican Party cabinet under Noon.
President Mirza, however, found that his influence among the Republicans was
diminishing and that the new prime minister had come to an understanding with
Suhrawardy. Against such a coalition Mirza had no chance of being reelected
president. Dissatisfied with parliamentary democracy, he proclaimed martial law
on October 7, 1958, dismissed Noon's government, and dissolved the National
Assembly.
The president was supported by General Muhammed
Ayub Khan, commander in chief of the armed forces, who was named chief
martial-law administrator. Twenty days later Ayub forced the president to resign
and assumed the presidency himself.
Ayub ruled Pakistan almost absolutely for more
than ten years, and his regime made some notable achievements, although it did
not eliminate the basic problems of Pakistani society. A land reforms commission
appointed by Ayub distributed some 900,000 hectares (about 2.2 million acres) of
land among 150,000 tenants. The reforms, however, did not erase feudal
relationships in the countryside; about 6,000 landlords still retained an area
three times larger than that given to the 150,000 tenants. Ayub's regime also
increased developmental funds to East Pakistan more than threefold. This had a
noticeable effect on the economy of the eastern part, but the disparity between
the two sectors of Pakistan was not eliminated.
Perhaps the most pervasive of Ayub's changes was
his system of Basic Democracies. It created 80,000 basic democrats, or union
councilors, who were rural influentials or leaders of urban areas around the
country. They constituted the electoral college for presidential elections and
for elections to the national and provincial legislatures created under the
constitution promulgated by Ayub in 1962. The Basic Democratic System had four
tiers of government from the national to the local level, and each tier was
assigned certain responsibilities in administering the rural and urban areas,
such as maintenance of elementary schools, public roads, and bridges.
Ayub also promulgated an Islamic marriage and
family laws ordinance in 1961, imposing restrictions on polygamy and divorce and
reinforcing the inheritance rights of women and minors.
For a long time Ayub maintained cordial relations
with the United States, stimulating substantial economic and military aid to
Pakistan. This relationship deteriorated, however, in 1965, when another war
with India broke out over Kashmir. The United States then suspended military and
economic aid to both countries, thus denying Pakistan badly needed weapons. The
USSR intervened to mediate the conflict, inviting Ayub and Prime Minister Lal
Bahadur Shahstri of India to Toshkent. By the terms of the so-called Toshkent
Agreement of January 1966 the two countries withdrew their forces to prewar
positions and restored diplomatic, economic, and trade relations. Exchange
programs were initiated, and the flow of capital goods to Pakistan increased
greatly.
The Toshkent Agreement and the Kashmir war,
however, generated frustration among the people and resentment against President
Ayub. Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto resigned his position and agitated
against Ayub's dictatorship and the loss of Kashmir. Ayub tried unsuccessfully
to make amends, and in March 1969 he resigned. Instead of transferring power to
the speaker of the National Assembly, as the constitution dictated, he handed it
over to the commander in chief of the army, General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan.
Yahya assumed the presidential office and declared martial law.
In an attempt to make his martial-law regime more
acceptable, Yahya dismissed almost 300 senior civil servants and identified 30
families that were said to control about half of Pakistan's gross national
product. To curb their power Yahya issued an ordinance against monopolies and
restrictive trade practices in 1970. He also made commitments to transfer power
to civilian authorities, but in the process of making this shift, his intended
reforms broke down.
The greatest challenge to Pakistan's unity,
however, was presented by East Pakistan, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, leader of
the Awami League, who insisted on a federation under which East Pakistan would
be virtually independent. He envisaged a federal government that would deal with
defense and foreign affairs only; even the currencies would be different,
although freely convertible. His program had great appeal for many East
Pakistanis, and in the election of December 1970 called by Yahya, Mujib, as he
was generally called, won by a landslide in East Pakistan, capturing a clear
majority in the National Assembly. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP)
emerged as the largest in West Pakistan.
Suspecting Mujib of secessionist politics, Yahya
in March 1971 postponed indefinitely the convening of the National Assembly.
Mujib in return accused Yahya of collusion with Bhutto and established a
virtually independent government in East Pakistan. Yahya opened negotiations
with Mujib in Dhaka in mid-March, but the effort soon failed. Mujib was arrested
and brought to West Pakistan to be tried for treason. Meanwhile Pakistan's army
went into action against Mujib's civilian followers, who demanded that East
Pakistan become independent as the nation of Bangladesh.
There were a great many casualties during the
ensuing military operations in East Pakistan, as the Pakistani army attacked the
poorly armed population. India claimed that nearly 10 million Bengali refugees
crossed its borders, and stories of West Pakistani atrocities abounded. The
Awami League leaders took refuge in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and established a
government in exile. India finally intervened on December 3, 1971, and the
Pakistani army surrendered 13 days later. On December 20, Yahya relinquished
power to Bhutto, and in January 1972 Bangladesh established an independent
government. When the Commonwealth of Nations admitted Bangladesh later that
year, Pakistan withdrew its membership, not to return until 1989. However, the
Bhutto government gave diplomatic recognition to Bangladesh in 1974.
Under Bhutto's leadership a diminished Pakistan
began to rearrange its national life. Bhutto nationalized the basic industries,
insurance companies, domestically owned banks, and schools and colleges. He also
instituted land reforms that benefited tenants and middle-class farmers. He
removed the armed forces from the process of decision making, but to placate the
generals he allocated about 6 percent of the gross national product to defense.
In 1973 the National Assembly adopted the country's fifth constitution. Bhutto
became prime minister, and Fazal Elahi Chaudry replaced him as president.
Although discontented, the military remained
silent for some time. Bhutto's nationalization programs and land reforms further
earned him the enmity of the entrepreneurial and capitalist class, and the
religious elements saw in his socialism an enemy of Islam. His decisive flaw,
however, was his inability to deal constructively with the opposition. His rule
grew heavy-handed. In general elections in March 1977 nine opposition parties
united in the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) to run against Bhutto's PPP.
Losing in three of the four provinces, the PNA alleged that Bhutto had rigged
the vote. The PNA boycotted the provincial elections a few days later and
organized demonstrations throughout the country that lasted for six weeks.
When the situation seemed to be deadlocked, the
army chief of staff, General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, staged a coup on July 5, 1977,
and imposed another martial-law regime. Bhutto was tried for political murder
and found guilty; he was hanged on April 4, 1979.
Zia formally assumed the presidency in 1978 and
announced that Pakistan's laws should conform to Islamic law. The constitution
of 1973 was amended accordingly in 1979, and Sharia (Islamic law) courts
were established to exercise Islamic judicial review. Interest-free banking was
initiated, and maximum penalties were provided for adultery, defamation, theft,
and consumption of alcohol.
On March 24, 1981, Zia issued an order for a
provisional constitution, operative until the lifting of martial law in the
future. It envisaged the appointment of two vice presidents and allowed
political parties approved by the election commission before September 30, 1979,
to function. All other parties, including the PPP, now led by Bhutto's widow and
daughter, were dissolved.
Pakistan was greatly affected by the Soviet
intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979; by 1984 some 3 million Afghan
refugees were living along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, supported by the
government and by international relief agencies. In September 1981 Zia accepted
a six-year economic and military aid package (worth $3.2 billion) from the
United States. After a referendum in December 1984 endorsed Zia's Islamic-law
policies and the extension of his presidency until 1990, Zia permitted elections
for parliament in February 1985. A civilian cabinet took office in April, and
martial law ended in December. Zia was dissatisfied, however, and in May 1988 he
dissolved the government and ordered new elections. Three months later he was
killed in an airplane crash possibly caused by sabotage, and a caretaker regime
took power.
A civil servant, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, was appointed
president, and Benazir Bhutto became prime minister after her PPP won the
general elections in November 1988. She was the first woman to head a modern
Islamic state. In August 1990 President Ishaq Khan dismissed her government,
charging misconduct, and declared a state of emergency. Bhutto and the PPP lost
the October elections after she was arrested for corruption and abuse of power.
The new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, head of the Islamic Democratic Alliance (a
coalition of Islamic parties including the Pakistan Muslim League), introduced a
program of privatizing state enterprises and encouraging foreign investment. He
also promised to bring the country back to Islamic law and to ease continuing
tensions with India over Kashmir. The charges against Bhutto were resolved, and
she returned to lead the opposition. In early 1993 Sharif was appointed the
leader of the Pakistan Muslim League.
In April 1993 Ishaq Khan once again used his
presidential power, this time to dismiss Sharif and to dissolve parliament.
However, Sharif appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and in May the court
stated that Khan's actions were unconstitutional, and the court reinstated
Sharif as prime minister. Sharif and Khan subsequently became embroiled in a
power struggle that paralyzed the Pakistani government. In an agreement designed
to end the stalemate, Sharif and Khan resigned together in July 1993, and
elections were held in October of that year. Bhutto's PPP won a plurality in the
parliamentary elections, and Bhutto was again named prime minister.
Relations between India and Pakistan became more
tense beginning in the early 1990s. Diplomatic talks between the two countries
broke down in January 1994 over the disputed Jammu and Kashmir territory. In
February Bhutto organized a nationwide strike to show support for the militant
Muslim rebels in Indian Kashmir involved in sporadic fighting against the Indian
army. She also announced that Pakistan would continue with its nuclear weapons
development program, raising concerns that a nuclear arms race could start
between Pakistan and India, which has had nuclear weapons since the 1970s. In
January 1996, despite some controversy, the United States lifted economic and
some military sanctions imposed against Pakistan since 1990. The sanctions,
imposed to protest Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, were lifted to allow U.S.
companies to fulfill contracts with Pakistan and to help foster diplomatic
relations between the two countries. Pakistan was beset by domestic unrest
beginning in the mid-1990s. Violence between rival political, religious, and
ethnic groups erupted frequently within Sind Province, particularly in Karachi.
Federal rule was imposed on the province in late 1998 due to increasing
violence.
In 1996 Bhutto's government was dismissed by
President Farooq Leghari amid allegations of corruption. New elections in
February 1997 brought Nawaz Sharif back to power in a clear victory for the
Pakistan Muslim League. One of Sharif's first actions as prime minister was to
lead the National Assembly in passing a constitutional amendment stripping the
president of the authority to dismiss parliament. The action triggered a power
struggle between Sharif, Leghari, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Sajjad Ali
Shah. When the military threw its support behind Sharif, Leghari resigned and
Shah was removed. Sharif's nominee, Rafiq Tarar, was then elected president.
In early 1997 Sharif resumed talks with India over
the Kashmir region; however, negotiations quickly broke down when armed
hostilities erupted again. Tensions escalated further in 1998, when India
conducted several nuclear tests. Pakistan responded with its own tests,
detonating nuclear weapons for the first time in its history. The Pakistani
government then declared a state of emergency, invoking constitutional
provisions that operate when Pakistan's security comes under “threat of
external aggression.” Many foreign countries, including the United States,
imposed economic sanctions against both India and Pakistan for exploding nuclear
devices. In the months following the explosions, the leaders of Pakistan and
India placed a moratorium on further nuclear testing, and the United States
initiated negotiations between the two countries aimed at reducing tensions and
circumventing an arms race in the region.
In early 1999 Sharif and Indian prime minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration, which articulated a
commitment to work toward improved relations. However, in April fears of a
nuclear arms race revived when both countries tested medium-range missiles
capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Furthermore, in May 1999 Kashmiri
separatists, widely believed to be backed by Pakistan, seized Indian-controlled
territory near Kargil in the disputed region of Kashmir. Fighting between Indian
forces and the separatists raged until July, when Sharif agreed to secure the
withdrawal of the separatists and India suspended its military campaign.
The Pakistani military reviled Sharif for, in their opinion, giving in too easily to pressure from India and for pinning the blame for the Kargil attack on army chief Pervez Musharraf. In October 1999 Sharif fired Musharraf and attempted to keep him from returning to Pakistan from abroad by refusing to let his airplane land. The commercial airplane was forced to circle the Karachi airport until army forces loyal to Musharraf overthrew the government and took over the airport, by which time the airplane was very low on fuel. Musharraf declared himself the chief executive of Pakistan, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the legislature. Many Pakistanis, already chafing under Sharif's increasingly autocratic rule and suffering from a sagging Pakistani economy, welcomed the coup. Sharif was arrested and tried for a number of charges related to his order to keep Musharraf's airplane from landing. In April 2000 Sharif was convicted of hijacking and terrorism and was sentenced to life imprisonment.