Pakistan under Zia, 1977-1988

Abstract

I do not regret the death of Zia, said Benazir Bhutto,1 the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was deposed by General Zia ul-Haq in July 1977 and executed in 1979. Times (London) called Zia's demise in plane crash near the Punjab city of Bahawalpur on August 17, 1988, a bad death for the West.2 U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz called his trip to Islamabad to attend Zia's funeral a journey in sorrow, and said that Zia was a defender of Pakistan's freedom and independence and steadfast champion of the Afghan cause.3 The passing of Zia the dictator will not be regretted: Zia the sometimes confused human being will be recalled with affection. Zia the soldier has decent place in the momentous recent history of the region. He did more than most to save it from Russia. That is not bad epitaph, wrote Economist.4 In statement issued by the People's Party of Pakistan (PPP), the political organization headed by Benazir Bhutto, Zia's contribution to rolling back the Soviet advance toward South Asia was recognized but not much else was found in his record that was worthy of praise. Internationally, Zia may be remembered as the man who stood up to the Soviets after they entered Afghanistan, the statement said. But in Pakistan, he will be remembered as the man who illegally seized power, and after eleven and half years of repressive rule, left behind nothing: debt and mortgages, hunger and unemployment, exploitation and discrimination, drugs and corruption.5 Zia was not fond of calling himself democrat but he did not like the label of dictator either. He certainly did not