Military coups in Pakistan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Military coups in Pakistan began in 1958 and there have been three successful attempts. There have also been
numerous unsuccessful attempts since 1949. Since its independence in 1947, Pakistan has spent several decades under
military rule (1958 1971, 1977 1988, 1999 2008).

Contents
1 1958 coup
2 Operation Fair Play
3 1999 coup
4 Unsuccessful coup attempts
5 References

1958 coup
In 1958, the first Pakistani President Major General Iskander Mirza dismissed the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
and the government of Prime Minister Feroz Khan Noon, appointing army commander-in-chief Gen. Ayub Khan as
the Chief martial law administrator. Thirteen days later, Mirza himself was deposed by Ayub Khan, who appointed
himself president.[1]

Operation Fair Play

Operation Fair Play was the code-name for the coup d'etat conducted at midnight on July 4, 1977 by the Pakistani
military led by army chief Gen. Zia-ul-Haq against the government of then-Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto.[2][3] Near midnight on July 4, 1977 the army chief General Zia ordered the arrest of Bhutto, his ministers and
other leaders of both the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan National Alliance.[2] In a nationally televised
address, General Zia announced that the National Assembly of Pakistan and all provincial assemblies were dissolved,
and that the Constitution of Pakistan was suspended.[2]

1999 coup
In October, 1999 senior officers loyal to army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf arrested prime minister Nawaz Sharif and
his ministers after thwarting the Sharif regime's attempt to dismiss Musharraf and prevent his plane from landing in
Pakistan as he returned from a visit to Sri Lanka.[4]

Unsuccessful coup attempts

There have been numerous unsuccessful coup attempts in Pakistani history. The first noted attempt was the
Rawalpindi conspiracy in 1949 led by Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan along with left-wing activists and sympathetic officers
against the government of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's first prime minister.[1] Prominent poet-intellectual Faiz Ahmed
Faiz was suspected of involvement.[5] In 1980, a plot by Maj. Gen. Tajammul Hussain Malik to assassinate Zia-ul-Haq
on Pakistan Day on March 23, 1980 was exposed and thwarted.[6][2] In 1995, a coup attempt against the government
of Benazir Bhutto led by Maj. Gen. Zahirul Islam Abbasi with the support of Islamic extremists was foiled.

References
1. ^ a b Hassan Abbas (2005). Pakistan's drift into extremism: Allah, the army, and America's war on terror. M.E. Sharpe.
pp. 1640. ISBN 978-0-7656-1496-4.
2. ^ a b c d Pakistan, Zia and after. Abhinav Publications. 1989. pp. 2035. ISBN 978-81-7017-253-6.
3. ^ Rafiq Dossani (2005). Prospects for Peace in South Asia. Stanford University Press. pp. 4650.
ISBN 978-0-8047-5085-1.
4. ^ "World: South Asia : Pakistan army seizes power" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/472511.stm). BBC NEWS.
1999-10-12. Retrieved 2009-04-22.

5. ^ Muhammad Yusuf Abbasi (1992). Pakistani culture: a profile. National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research.
ISBN 978-969-415-023-9.
6. ^ World Focus, Volume 2. H.S. Chhabra. 1981.

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Categories: Military coups in Pakistan Military dictatorships

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