Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

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General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
محمد ضیاء الحق
Official military portrait
6th President of Pakistan
In office 16 September 1978 – 17 August 1988
Prime Minister	Muhammad Junejo
Preceded by	Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry
Succeeded by	Ghulam Ishaq Khan
2nd Chief of the Army Staff
In office 1 March 1976 – 17 August 1988
President	Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry Himself
Prime Minister	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Muhammad Junejo
Preceded by	Tikka Khan
Succeeded by	Mirza Aslam Beg
Chief Martial Law Administrator
In office 5 July 1977 – 24 March 1985
Preceded by	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (as Prime Minister)
Succeeded by	Muhammad Junejo (as Prime Minister)
Personal details
Born	(1924-08-12)12 August 1924 Jalandhar, Punjab Province, British India
Died	17 August 1988(1988-08-17) (aged 64) Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Cause of death	Aircraft crash
Resting place	Faisal Mosque, Islamabad
Spouse	Shafiq Jahan ​ (m. 1950)​
Children	5, including Ijaz
Alma mater	St. Stephen's College Indian Military Academy
Nickname	The Ringmaster[1] Master of Illusion[2]
Military service
Allegiance	British India Pakistan
Branch/service	British Indian Army Pakistan Army
Years of service	1943–1988
Rank	General
Unit	Guides Cavalry Armoured Corps
Commands	II Strike Corps Chief of Army Staff
Battles/wars	Second World War Pacific War Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 Black September Soviet–Afghan War

This article is part of a series about Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Early life Zia administration Policies Hudud Ordinances Islamization Economic policy Ziaism Chief of the Army Staff Military coup 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills Gang of Four President of Pakistan Presidency 1984 referendum 1985 parliamentary elections Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan VIII X Ordinance XX Ojhri Camp disaster Zakat Council Death Shafi-ur-Rehman Commission A Case of Exploding Mangoes Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video
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Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq^[a] (12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer who served as the 6th president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in 1988. He rose to prominence after leading a coup on 5 July 1977, which overthrew the democratically elected government of prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Zia subsequently imposed martial law, suspended the constitution, and served as chief martial law administrator before assuming the presidency. Zia served as the 2nd chief of the Army Staff from 1976 to 1988, a position he later leveraged to execute a coup in 1977,^[3] which was the second coup in Pakistan's history of coups; the first occurred in 1958 under Ayub Khan.^[4]

Zia was born in Jalandhar and trained at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. In 1943, he was commissioned in the British Indian Army and fought in the Pacific War of the Second World War. Following the partition of India in 1947, Zia joined the Pakistan Army and was stationed in the Frontier Force Regiment. During the Black September, he played a prominent role in defending the Jordanian Armed Forces against the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In 1976, Zia was elevated to the rank of General and was appointed as Chief of Army Staff, succeeding Tikka Khan, by prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In July 1977, Zia organized Operation Fair Play, during which he overthrew Bhutto and declared martial law. Zia remained de facto leader for over a year, assuming the presidency in September 1978. He directed Islamization in Pakistan, escalated the country's atomic bomb project and instituted industrialization and deregulation, which significantly improved Pakistan's economy. In 1979, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Zia adopted an anti-Soviet stance and aided the Afghan mujahidin. He bolstered ties with China and the United States and emphasized Pakistan's role in the Islamic world. Zia held non-partisan elections in 1985 and appointed Muhammad Junejo prime minister, though he accumulated more presidential powers through the Eighth Amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan. He dismissed Junejo's government on charges of economic stagflation and announced general elections in November 1988. In August 1988, while travelling from Bahawalpur to Islamabad, Zia died in an aircraft crash near the Sutlej River. He was buried at the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.

Zia dominated Pakistan's politics for over a decade and his proxy war against the Soviet Union is credited with stopping an expected Soviet invasion of Pakistan. He is praised by Islamists for his desecularization efforts and opposition to Western culture. Zia's detractors criticize his authoritarianism, his press censorship, his purported religious intolerance and his weakening of democracy in Pakistan. His overall policy has been called Ziaism. Zia is also cited for promoting the political career of Nawaz Sharif, who was thrice elected prime minister.

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