History of Pakistan (1947–present)

While the history of the Pakistani Nation according to the Pakistan government's official chronology started with the Islamic rule over Indian subcontinent by Muhammad bin Qasim[1] which reached its zenith during Mughal Era.

Usmani asked Pakistanis to remember Jinnah's message of "Unity, Faith and Discipline" and work to fulfil his dream:to create a solid bloc of all Muslim states from Karachi to Ankara, from Pakistan to Morocco.

[82] After a vote of confidence in Parliament and the promulgation of the 1956 constitution, which confirmed Pakistan as an Islamic republic, two notable figures became prime minister and president, as the first Bengali leaders of the country.

Suhrawardy also verbally authorised the leasing the Inter-Services Intelligence's (ISI) secret installation at Peshawar Air Station to the CIA to conduct operations in the Soviet Union.

[84] Personal problems grew between the two Bengali leaders, further damaging the unity of the country and causing Suhrawardy to lose his authority in his own party to the growing influence of cleric Maulana Bhashani.

In 1966, Ayub Khan removed Bhutto as his Foreign minister, in a conspiracy planned by Jurist and then-Bhutto's secretary Mushtaq Hussain, and under pressure by Lyndon Johnson, President of the United States that time.

Negotiation and talks were brutally failed, and Bhutto was famously heard saying "break the legs" if any member of [People's Party] attend the National Assembly inaugural session.

In October 1958 President Iskandar Mirza issued orders for a massive mobilisation of the Pakistan Armed Forces and appointed Chief of Army Staff General Ayub Khan as Commander-in-chief.

[96] Major land reforms were carried out by the military government and it enforced the controversial Elective Bodies Disqualification Order which ultimately disqualified H. S. Suhrawardy from holding public office.

[94] In a national referendum held in 1960 Ayub Khan secured nationwide popular support for his bid as second president of Pakistan and replaced his military regime with a constitutional civilian government.

Military aid from the US grew, but the country's national security was severely compromised following the exposure of U2 secret spy operations launching from Peshawar to overfly the Soviet Union in 1960.

[103] Delivering a blistering speech at the UN General Assembly in 1965, Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with the atomic scientist Aziz Ahmed present, made Pakistan's intentions clear and announced that: "If India builds the [nuclear] bomb, we will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will get one of [our] own... We have no other choice".

[112] In 1966 the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman demanded provisional autonomy at the Round Table Conference held by Ayub Khan; this was forcefully rejected by Bhutto.

[112] The influence of socialism increased after the country's notable economist, Mahbub ul Haq, publishing a report on the private-sector's evasion of taxation and the control of the national economy by a few oligarchs.

[117] Exhausted, outflanked and overwhelmed, they could no longer continue the fight against the intense guerrilla insurgency, and finally surrendered to the Allied Forces of Bangladesh and India in Dhaka on 16 December 1971.

Emboldened by the stand taken by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971, the Baloch and Pashtun nationalists had also demanded their "provincial rights" from then Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in exchange for a consensual approval of the Pakistan Constitution of 1973.

But while Bhutto admitted the NWFP and Balochistan to a NAP-JUI coalition, he refused to negotiate with the provincial governments led by chief minister Ataullah Mengal in Quetta and Mufti Mahmud in Peshawar.

Following the successful recovery of the ammunition in the Iraqi embassy, shipped by both Iraq and Soviet Union for the Baluchistan resistance, the Naval Intelligence launched the investigation, and cited that arms were smuggled from the coastal areas of Balochistan.

1971 to 1977 was a period of left-wing democracy and the growth of economic nationalisation, covert atomic bomb projects, promotion of science, literature, cultural activities and Pakistani nationalism.

Responding to the terrorism, Zia used "counter-terrorism" tactics and allowed the religiously far-right parties to send thousands of young students from clerical schools to participate in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union.

[162] Under pressure from President Reagan, General Zia finally lifted martial law in 1985, holding non-partisan elections and handpicking Muhammad Khan Junejo to be the new prime minister.

A controversy loomed after a large-scale blast at a munitions dump, with Prime minister Junejo vowing to bring to justice those responsible for the significant damage caused and implicating several senior generals.

The 1997 election resulted in conservatives receiving a large majority of the vote and winning enough seats in parliament to change the constitution to eliminate the checks and balances that restrained the prime minister's power.

[173] Sharif ordered Jinnah International Airport to be sealed to prevent the landing of a PIA flight carrying General Musharraf, which then circled the skies over Karachi for several hours.

[174] The Military Police seized the Prime Minister's Secretariat and deposed Sharif, Ziauddin Butt and the cabinet staffers who took part in this assumed conspiracy, placing them in the infamous Adiala Jail.

[179][180] Intending the policy to create a counter-cultural attack on India, Musharraf personally signed and issued hundreds of licenses to the private sector to open new media outlets, free from government influence.

[186] The 2002 general elections resulted in the liberals, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Third Way centrists and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), winning the majority in parliament and forming a government.

Early reports indicated that Bhutto was hit by shrapnel or gunshots,[205] but the Pakistani Interior ministry maintained that her death was due from a skull fracture sustained when the explosive waves threw her against the sunroof of her vehicle.

Before restoring the deposed judiciary, Gillani and his leftist alliance leveled accusations against Musharraf of weakening Pakistan's unity, violating its constitution and creating an economic impasse.

During Khan’s tenure several new policies were implemented including strict austerity measures,[223] promises to uproot corruption,[224] increased tax collection and a rise in social welfare programs.