NATIONAL ANTHEM OF PAKISTAN

PRESENT ANTHEM
The music composed by Chagla reflects his background in both eastern and western music. The lyrics are written in highly Persianised Urdu, even using Persian grammar. Every word in the entire anthem is of Persian or Arabic origin, with the one exception "ka" ( کا, "of" ) having purely Urdu origins.[9] The anthem lasts for 1 minute and 20 seconds,[11] and uses twenty one musical instruments and thirty eight different tones.[9]

URDU TRANSLITERATION
پاک سرزمین شاد باد
كشور حسين شاد باد
تو نشان عزم عالیشان
! ارض پاکستان
مرکز یقین شاد باد
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پاک سرزمین کا نظام
قوت اخوت عوام
قوم ، ملک ، سلطنت
! پائندہ تابندہ باد
شاد باد منزل مراد
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پرچم ستارہ و ہلال
رہبر ترقی و کمال
ترجمان ماضی شان حال
! جان استقبال
سایۂ خدائے ذوالجلال
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ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION

Pāk sarzamīn shād bād
Kishwar-e-hasīn shād bād
Tū nishān-e-`azm-e-`alīshān
Arz-e-Pākistān!
Markaz-e-yaqīn shād bād
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Pāk sarzamīn kā nizām
Qūwat-e-ukhūwat-e-`awām
Qaum, mulk, sultanat
Pā-inda tābinda bād!
Shād bād manzil-e-murād
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Parcham-e-sitāra-o-hilāl
Rahbar-e-tarraqqī-o-kamāl
Tarjumān-e-māzī, shān-e-hāl
Jān-e-istiqbāl!
Sāyah-e-Khudā-e-Zū-l-Jalāl
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MEANING OF NATIONAL ANTHEM

Blessed be the sacred land
Happy be the bounteous realm
Symbol of high resolve
Land of Pakistan!
Blessed be thou, citadel of faith
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The order of this sacred land
Is the might of the brotherhood of the people
May the nation, the country, and the state
Shine in glory everlasting!
Blessed be the goal of our ambition
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This flag of the crescent and star
Leads the way to progress and perfection
Interpreter of our past, glory of our present
Inspiration of our future!
Symbol of the Almighty's protection

ATOM BOMB OF PAKISTAN

THE NEUTRALITY OF THIS ARTICLE'S TITLE AND/OR SUBJECT MATTER IS DISPUTED.
THIS IS A DISPUTE OVER THE NEUTRALITY OF VIEWPOINTS IMPLIED BY THE TITLE, OR THE SUBJECT MATTER WITHIN ITS SCOPE, RATHER THAN THE ACTUAL FACTS STATED. PLEASE SEE THE RELEVANT DISCUSSION ON THE TALK PAGE.(FEBRUARY 2008)

PAKISTAN STARTED FOCUSING ON NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT IN JANUARY 1972 UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PRIME MINISTER ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO. PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WAS IN RESPONSE TO INDIA'S DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. BHUTTO CALLED A MEETING OF SENIOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS ON JANUARY 20, 1972, IN MULTAN. IT WAS HERE THAT BHUTTO RALLIED PAKISTAN'S SCIENTISTS TO BUILD THE ATOMIC BOMB FOR NATIONAL SURVIVAL. AT THE MULTAN MEETING, BHUTTO ALSO APPOINTED A PAKISTANI NUCLEAR ENGINEER, MUNIR AHMAD KHAN, AS CHAIRMAN OF PAKISTAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (PAEC), WHO TILL THEN HAD BEEN WORKING AS DIRECTOR OF NUCLEAR POWER AND REACTOR DIVISION AT IAEA, IN VIENNA. THIS MARKED THE BEGINNING OF PAKISTAN'S PURSUIT OF NUCLEAR CAPABILITY. FOLLOWING INDIA'S SURPRISE NUCLEAR TEST, CODE NAMED SMILING BUDDHA IN 1974, THE GOAL TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE IMPETUS.
CONSEQUENTLY, DR. ABDUL QADEER KHAN, A METALLURGICAL ENGINEER, WORKING IN A DUTCH RESEARCH FIRM USED URENCO BLUEPRINTS FOR DESIGNING THE ULTRACENTRIFUGES AT KAHUTA (NEAR ISLAMABAD) ALSO JOINED PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS-GRADE URANIUM ENRICHMENT PROGRAM. THE URANIUM ENRICHMENT PROGRAM HAD BEEN LAUNCHED IN 1974 BY PAEC CHAIRMAN MUNIR AHMAD KHAN AS PROJECT-706. AQ KHAN JOINED THE PROJECT IN THE SPRING OF 1976 AND WAS MADE PROJECT-DIRECTOR IN JULY 1976 AFTER TAKING OVER FROM SULTAN BASHIRUDDIN MAHMOOD. ALTHOUGH IN 1983, A.Q.KHAN WAS CONVICTED OF THE THEFT OF THESE BLUEPRINTS, THE CONVICTION WAS OVERTURNED ON SOME TECHNICALITY. [1]. A FEW WEEKS AFTER INDIA'S SHAKTI (POWER) OPERATION (SECOND NUCLEAR TEST), ON 28 MAY 1998, PAKISTAN DETONATED 5 NUCLEAR DEVICES IN THE CHAGAI HILLS IN THE CHAGHAI DISTRICT, BALOCHISTAN. THIS OPERATION WAS NAMED CHAGAI-I BY PAKISTAN. PAKISTAN'S FISSILE MATERIAL PRODUCTION TAKES PLACE AT KAHUTA AND KHUSHAB/JAUHARABAD, WHERE WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM IS MADE; THE LATTER, ALLEGEDLY, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF CHINESE-SUPPLIED TECHNOLOGY.[2]
PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1974 WHEN THE DIRECTORATE OF TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT (DTD) WAS SET UP IN PAEC BY CHAIRMAN MUNIR AHMAD KHAN, WHO WAS CREDITED AS THE TRUE "FATHER" OF PAKISTAN'S ATOMIC BOMB BY A RECENT IISS, LONDON'S DOSSIER ON PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM. DTD WAS ASSIGNED THE TASK OF DEVELOPING THE IMPLOSION DESIGN,TRIGGER MECHANISM, PHYSICS CALCULATIONS, HIGH-SPEED ELECTRONICS, HIGH-PRECISION CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL COMPONENTS, HIGH EXPLOSIVE LENSES FOR PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS. DTD COMPRISED THE DIAGNOSTICS GROUP, THE FAST NEUTRON PHYSICS GROUP, WAH GROUP AND THE THEORETICAL PHYSICS GROUP. THE DTD HAD COME UP WITH ITS FIRST IMPLOSION DESIGN OF A NUCLEAR WEAPON BY 1978 WHICH WAS THEN IMPROVED AND LATER TESTED ON MARCH 11, 1983 WHEN PAEC CARRIED OUT PAKISTAN'S FIRST SUCCESSFUL COLD TEST OF A NUCLEAR DEVICE. BETWEEN 1983 AND 1990, PAEC CARRIED OUT 24 MORE COLD TESTS OF VARIOUS NUCLEAR WEAPON DESIGNS. DTD HAD ALSO DEVELOPED A MINIATURIZED WEAPON DESIGN BY 1987 THAT COULD BE DELIVERED BY ALL PAKISTAN AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT. IT WAS THE SAME DTD THAT CARRIED OUT THE CHAGHI TESTS OF MAY 28, 1998 AND THE KHARAN TEST OF MAY 30, 1998.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
POLICY
PAKISTAN ACCEDED TO THE GENEVA PROTOCOL ON APRIL 15, 1960, THE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION IN 1974 AND THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION ON OCTOBER 28, 1997.IN 1999 PAKISTAN SIGNED THE LAHORE ACCORDS WITH INDIA, AGREEING ON A BILATERAL MORATORIUM ON NUCLEAR TESTING. HOWEVER, PAKISTAN, LIKE INDIA AND ISRAEL, IS NOT A SIGNATORY OF THE NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY AND, CONSEQUENTLY, NOT BOUND BY ANY OF ITS PROVISIONS. SOME PAKISTANI NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY THE CIA TO BE INVOLVED IN THE PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY. IN PARTICULAR, ONE OF PAKISTAN'S CHIEF NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS, DR. A.Q. KHAN, HAS ADMITTED HIS ROLE IN NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION, LEADING TO FEARS IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ABOUT NUCLEAR TERRORISM; BUT THE GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN HAS TAKEN STRICT ACTIONS AGAINST SUCH INDIVIDUALS AND STATED THAT THE PAKISTANI NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE IN "SAFE" HANDS AND THERE IS NO NEED OF ANY INTERNATIONAL WORRIES ABOUT NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION FROM PAKISTAN.[1]
INFRASTRUCTURE
PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IS BASED, PRIMARILY, ON HIGHLY-ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU), WHICH IS PRODUCED AT THE KAHUTA RESEARCH LABORATORIES AT KAHUTA, A ZIPPE CENTRIFUGE-BASED URANIUM-ENRICHMENT FACILITY. THE KAHUTA FACILITY HAS BEEN IN USE SINCE THE EARLY 1980S. BY THE EARLY 1990S, KAHUTA HAD AN ESTIMATED 3,000 CENTRIFUGES IN OPERATION, AND PAKISTAN HAS CONTINUED ITS PURSUIT OF EXPANDED URANIUM-ENRICHMENT CAPABILITIES.
IN THE MID 1980S, PAKISTAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION BEGAN TO PURSUE PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES. CONSEQUENTLY PAKISTAN BUILT THE 40-50 MW (MEGA WATT, THERMAL) KHUSHAB NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR AT JOHARABAD, AND IN APRIL 1998, PAKISTAN ANNOUNCED THAT THE NUCLEAR REACTOR WAS OPERATIONAL. THE KHUSHAB REACTOR PROJECT WAS INITIATED IN 1986 BY PAEC CHAIRMAN MUNIR AHMAD KHAN, WHO INSISTED THAT THE REACTOR WAS TOTALLY INDIGENOUS, I.E. THAT IT WAS DESIGNED AND BUILT BY PAKISTANI SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS. PAKISTANI INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTED IN 82 % OF THE REACTOR'S CONSTRUCTION. THE PROJECT-DIRECTOR FOR THIS PROJECT WAS SULTAN BASHIRUDDIN MAHMOOD. ACCORDING TO PUBLIC STATEMENTS MADE BY THE US GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, THIS UNSAFEGUARDED HEAVY-WATER REACTOR CAN PRODUCE UP TO 8 TO 10 KG OF PLUTONIUM PER YEAR,[3] SUFFICIENT FOR AT LEAST ONE NUCLEAR WEAPON.[4] THE REACTOR COULD ALSO PRODUCE TRITIUM IF IT WERE LOADED WITH LITHIUM-6, ALTHOUGH THIS IS UNNECESSARY FOR THE PURPOSES OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, BECAUSE MODERN NUCLEAR WEAPON DESIGNS USE LI6 DIRECTLY. ACCORDING TO J. CIRINCIONE OF CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE, KHUSHAB'S PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION CAPACITY COULD ALLOW PAKISTAN TO DEVELOP LIGHTER NUCLEAR WARHEADS THAT WOULD BE EASIER TO DELIVER THROUGH BALLISTIC MISSILES.[CITATION NEEDED]
PLUTONIUM SEPARATION, REPORTEDLY, TAKES PLACE AT THE NEW LABS REPROCESSING PLANT, WHICH WAS COMPLETED BY 1981 BY PAEC AND IS NEXT TO PAKISTAN INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (PINSTECH) NEAR ISLAMABAD, WHICH IS NOT SUBJECT TO IAEA INSPECTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS.


TELEVISION SCREENSHOT OF THE FIRST KNOWN PAKISTANI NUCLEAR TEST, 28 MAY 1998.
IN LATE 2006, THE US INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY RELEASED INTELLIGENCE REPORTS AND IMAGERY SHOWING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW PLUTONIUM REACTOR AT THE KHUSHAB NUCLEAR SITE. THE REACTOR IS DEEMED TO BE LARGE ENOUGH TO PRODUCE ENOUGH PLUTONIUM TO FACILITATE THE CREATION OF AS MUCH AS "40 TO 50 NUCLEAR WEAPONS A YEAR." [5] [6][7] THE NEW YORK TIMES CARRIED THE STORY WITH THE INSIGHT THAT THIS WOULD BE PAKISTAN'S THIRD PLUTONIUM REACTOR[8], SIGNALLING A SHIFT TO DUAL-STREAM DEVELOPMENT, WITH PLUTONIUM-BASED DEVICES SUPPLEMENTING THE NATION'S EXISTING HEU STREAM TO ATOMIC WARHEADS.
ARSENAL
THE U.S.-BASED NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL (NRDC) ESTIMATES THAT PAKISTAN HAS BUILT 24-48 HEU-BASED NUCLEAR WARHEADS WITH HEU RESERVES FOR 30-52 ADDITIONAL WARHEADS.[9][10] THE US NAVY CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CONFLICT ESTIMATES THAT PAKISTAN POSSESSES BETWEEN A LOW OF 35 AND A HIGH OF 95 NUCLEAR WARHEADS, WITH A MEDIAN OF 60.[11]
THE NRDC'S AND THE CARNEGIE FOUNDATION'S ESTIMATES OF APPROXIMATELY 50 WEAPONS ARE FROM 2002-3 ESTIMATIONS. IN 2000, US MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATED THAT PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL MAY BE AS LARGE AS 100 WARHEADS.[12]. THE ACTUAL SIZE IS HARD FOR EXPERTS TO GAUGE OWING TO THE SECRECY WHICH SURROUNDS THE PROGRAM IN PAKISTAN. IN RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, RETIRED BRIG. GENERAL FEROZ KHAN, PREVIOUSLY SECOND IN COMMAND AT THE STATEGIC ARMS DIVISION OF PAKISTANS' MILITARY TOLD A PAKISTANI NEWSPAPER THE NATION HAS "ABOUT 80 TO 120 GENUINE WARHEADS"-AND ALSO REVEALED THAT PAKISTAN HAS DECOY OR DUMMY WARHEADS TO COMPLICATE ANY DESIGNS BY AGGRESSORS. [13][14]
PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WARHEADS ARE BASED ON AN IMPLOSION DESIGN THAT USES A SOLID CORE OF HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM AND REQUIRES AN ESTIMATED 15-20 KG OF MATERIAL PER WARHEAD. THE NRDC ALSO THINKS THAT PAKISTAN HAS ALSO PRODUCED A SMALL BUT UNKNOWN QUANTITY OF WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM, WHICH IS SUFFICIENT FOR AN ESTIMATED 3-5 NUCLEAR WEAPONS PER ANNUM BASED ON THE ESTIMATION OF 5 KG OF PLUTONIUM PER WARHEAD. PAKISTAN ALSO CLAIMS THAT THE FISSILE CORES ARE STORED SEPARATELY FROM THE OTHER NON-NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVE PACKAGES WHICH, AS THE GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN STATES, CAN BE PUT TOGETHER RATHER QUICKLY.
FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
HISTORICALLY, CHINA HAS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE, ESPECIALLY, WHEN INCREASINGLY STRINGENT EXPORT CONTROLS IN THE WESTERN COUNTRIES MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR PAKISTAN TO ACQUIRE NUCLEAR MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY FROM ELSEWHERE. ADDITIONALLY, PAKISTANI OFFICIALS HAVE SUPPOSEDLY BEEN PRESENT TO OBSERVE AT LEAST ONE CHINESE NUCLEAR TEST. ACCORDING TO A 2001 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REPORT, CHINA HAS SUPPLIED PAKISTAN WITH NUCLEAR MATERIALS AND HAS PROVIDED CRITICAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT FACILITIES. THIS ASSISTANCE WAS ILLEGAL, PER THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY, OF WHICH CHINA IS A SIGNATORY.
NORTH KOREA HAS BEEN A SUSPECTED SUPPLIER OF TECHNOLOGY FOR SOME OF PAKISTAN'S LONG-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES. ACCORDING TO THE US SOURCES, PAKISTAN ENTERED A DEAL WITH NORTH KOREA TO RECEIVE LONG-RANGE, NO-DONG-TYPE, BALLISTIC MISSILES IN RETURN FOR PAKISTAN SUPPLYING KEY NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY TO NORTH KOREA TO BUILD ITS OWN NUCLEAR WEAPON. (SEE PAKISTAN-NORTH KOREA RELATIONS)
DOCTRINE
PAKISTAN'S MOTIVE FOR PURSUING A NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IS TO COUNTER THE THREAT POSED BY ITS PRINCIPAL RIVAL, INDIA.
PAKISTAN HAS NOT SIGNED THE NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT) OR THE COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY (CTBT). ACCORDING TO THE US DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT CITED ABOVE, "PAKISTAN REMAINS STEADFAST IN ITS REFUSAL TO SIGN THE NPT, STATING THAT IT WOULD DO SO ONLY AFTER INDIA JOINED THE TREATY. CONSEQUENTLY, NOT ALL OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR FACILITIES ARE UNDER IAEA SAFEGUARDS. PAKISTANI OFFICIALS HAVE STATED THAT SIGNATURE OF THE CTBT IS IN PAKISTAN'S BEST INTEREST, BUT THAT PAKISTAN WILL DO SO ONLY AFTER DEVELOPING A DOMESTIC CONSENSUS ON THE ISSUE, AND HAVE DISAVOWED ANY CONNECTION WITH INDIA'S DECISION."
PAKISTAN DOES NOT ABIDE BY A NO-FIRST-USE DOCTRINE AND HAS ALSO NOT ISSUED ANY OFFICIAL NUCLEAR DOCTRINE. THERE HAS ALSO BEEN CRITICISM OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE WHICH GIVES RISE TO AMBIGUITY.
THE ORGANIZATION AUTHORIZED TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR POSTURING IS THE NCA. HERE IS A LINK SHOWING NCA OF PAKISTAN. [2] (NCA)IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN FEBRUARY 2000. THE NCA IS COMPOSED OF TWO COMMITTEES THAT ADVISE THE PRESENT PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN, GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS; IT IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR WAR-TIME COMMAND AND CONTROL. IN 2001, PAKISTAN FURTHER CONSOLIDATED ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS INFRASTRUCTURE BY PLACING THE KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES AND THE PAKISTAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION UNDER THE CONTROL OF ONE NUCLEAR DEFENSE COMPLEX.
IT HAS BEEN RECENTLY REPORTED BY THE PAKISTANI PRESS NAMELY JANG THAT PAKISTAN HAS THE ABILITY TO MIRV ITS MISSILES. THIS HAS BEEN SEEN AS POSSIBLY THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE. IT HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED THAT PAKISTAN WOULD LIKELY MIRV ITS SHAHEEN-II MISSILE.
ROLE OF THE USA IN GUARDING THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS
FROM THE END OF 2001 THE UNITED STATES HAS PROVIDED MATERIAL ASSISTANCE TO AID PAKISTAN IN GUARDING ITS OWN NUCLEAR WEAPONS. THIS INCLUDED THE SAFEGUARDING OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR MATERIAL, ITS WARHEADS AS WELL AS ITS LABORATORIES. THE COST OF THE PROGRAM HAS BEEN ALMOST $100 MILLION. SPECIFICALLY THE USA HAS PROVIDED HELICOPTERS, NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES AND NUCLEAR DETECTION EQUIPMENT.[15]
PAKISTAN TURNED DOWN THE OFFER OF PALS TECHNOLOGY, A SOPHISTICATED "WEAPON RELEASE" PROGRAM WHICH INITIATES USE VIA SPECIFIC CHECKS AND BALANCES AS IT FEARED THE SECRET IMPLANTING OF "DEAD SWITCHES". [16]
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
• NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITY
• MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
• JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF COMMITTEE (JCSC)
• STRATEGIC PLANNING DIRECTORATE (SPD - EX CDD)
WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
NUCLEAR WEAPONS



HISTORY OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
NUCLEAR WARFARE
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
WEAPON DESIGN / TESTING
EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
DELIVERY SYSTEMS
NUCLEAR ESPIONAGE
PROLIFERATION / ARSENALS

NUCLEAR-ARMED STATES



NATIONAL ENGINEERING & SCIENTIFIC COMMISSION (NESCOM)
• NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMPLEX (NDC), ISLAMABAD
• PAKISTAN MISSILE ORGANIZATION (PMO), KHANPUR
• AIR WEAPON COMPLEX (AWC), HASANABDAL
• MARITIME TECHNOLOGIES COMPLEX (MTC), KARACHI
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE PRODUCTION
• PAKISTAN ORDNANCE FACTORIES (POF), WAH
• PAKISTAN AERONAUTICAL COMPLEX (PAC), KAMRA
• DEFENSE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATION (DESTO), CHATTAR
PAKISTAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (PAEC)
• DIRECTORATE OF TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT
• DIRECTORATE OF TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT
• DIRECTORATE OF TECHNICAL PROCUREMENT
• DIRECTORATE OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING SERVICES
• INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR POWER, ISLAMABAD
• PAKISTAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (PINSTECH)
• NEW LABORATORIES, RAWALPINDI
• PILOT REPROCESSING PLANT
• PARR-1 AND PARR-2 NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTORS
• CENTER FOR NUCLEAR STUDIES (CNS), ISLAMABAD
• COMPUTER TRAINING CENTER (CTC), ISLAMABAD
• NUCLEAR TRACK DETECTION CENTER (SOLID STATE NUCLEAR TRACK DETECTION CENTER)
• KHUSHAB REACTOR, KHUSHAB
• ATOMIC ENERGY MINERALS CENTRE, LAHORE
• HARD ROCK DIVISION, PESHAWAR
• MINERAL SANDS PROGRAM, KARACHI
• BAGHALCHUR URANIUM MINE, BAGHALCHUR
• DERA GHAZI KHAN URANIUM MINE, DERA GHAZI KHAN
• ISSA KHEL/KUBUL KEL URANIUM MINES AND MILLS, MIANWALI
• MULTAN HEAVY WATER PRODUCTION FACILITY, MULTAN, PUNJAB
• URANIUM CONVERSION FACILITY, ISLAMABAD
• GOLRA ULTRACENTRIFUGE PLANT, GOLRA
• SIHALA ULTRACENTRIFUGE PLANT, SIHALA
SPACE AND UPPER ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH COMMISSION (SUPARCO)
• AEROSPACE INSTITUTE, ISLAMABAD
• COMPUTER CENTER, KARACHI
• CONTROL SYSTEM LABORATORIES
• FLIGHT TEST RANGE, SONMIANI BEACH
• INSTRUMENTATION LABORATORIES, KARACHI
• MATERIAL RESEARCH DIVISION
• QUALITY CONTROL AND ASSURANCE UNIT
• ROCKET BODIES MANUFACTURING UNIT
• SOLID COMPOSITE PROPELLANT UNIT
• SPACE AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH CENTER, KARACHI
• STATIC TEST UNIT, KARACHI
PRECISION ENGINEERING COMPLEX (PEC)
MINISTRY OF INDUSTRIES & PRODUCTION
• STATE ENGINEERING CORPORATION (SEC)
• HEAVY MECHANICAL COMPLEX LTD. (HMC)
• PEOPLES STEEL MILLS LIMITED, KARACHI.
MISSILES
LIST OF PAKISTANI STRATEGIC MISSILES:
DESIGNATION OTHER NAME RANGE PAYLOAD STATUS INVENTORY
HATF-I/IA (BRBM)
HATF-I/IA 80/100 KM 500 KG DEPLOYED 100+
ABDALI (SRBM)
HATF-II 180 KM 500 KG DEPLOYED, UNDER PRODUCTION UNKNOWN
GHAZNAVI (SRBM)
HATF-III 290 KM 500 KG DEPLOYED, UNDER PRODUCTION ~100+
SHAHEEN-I (MRBM)
HATF-IV 750 KM 750 KG DEPLOYED, UNDER PRODUCTION ~75-150
GHAURI-I (MRBM)
HATF-V 1500 KM 700-1000 KG DEPLOYED, UNDER PRODUCTION ~100+
GHAURI-II (MRBM)
HATF-VA 2,400 KM, MORE RANGE WITH LIGHTER PAYLOAD. 1200 KG OPERATIONAL, UNDER PRODUCTION ~100+
SHAHEEN-II (IRBM)
HATF-VI 2,500 KM, MORE RANGE WITH LIGHTER PAYLOAD. 1000+ KG DEPLOYED, UNDER PRODUCTION 200+
BABUR (CRUISE MISSILE)
HATF-VII 700 KM 500 KG DEPLOYED 400-1000
RA'AD (AIR LAUNCHED CRUISE MISSILE)
HATF-VIII 350 KM TESTED ---
GHAURI-III (IRBM)
3,500+ KM 1000+ KG UNDER DEVELOPMENT
SHAHEEN-III (IRBM)
3,500+ KM 1000+ KG UNDER DEVELOPMENT
M-11 (SRBM)
300 KM 500 KG IN SERVICE UNKNOWN
NOTE: NOT EVERY MISSILE HAS NUCLEAR PAYLOAD.
THE M-11 CHINESE MISSILE IS IN SERVICE TOO, WHICH IS A SHORT-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILE WITH A MAX RANGE OF 300 KM IT USES SOLID FUEL AND CAN CARRY A PAYLOAD OF AROUND 500 KG.
IN ADDITION, THERE EXISTS THE SHAHEEN-III WHICH IS UNDER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND WILL BE SOLID FUELED LIKE THE OTHERS IN THE SHAHEEN SERIES. IT WILL HAVE A RANGE OF 3600+ KM AND A PAYLOAD OF 1000+ KG. THIS WEAPON IS AN INTERMEDIATE-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILE.
AIRCRAFT DELIVERY
THERE ARE TWO UNITS OPERATING THE CHINESE-BUILT A-5 (NO. 16 SQN AND NO. 26 SQN), AN AIRCRAFT BELIEVED TO BE A LEADING CANDIDATE FOR THE AERIAL DELIVERY OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS. THE OTHERS ARE THE MIRAGE IIIOS, MIRAGE IIIODS AND MIRAGE IIIES. THE PAKISTANI AIR FORCE, CURRENTLY, OPERATES SOME 156 MIRAGE (III & V) AIRCRAFT. THE ALLOCATION OF 90 OF THESE AIRCRAFT IS NOT, CURRENTLY, KNOWN. PAKISTAN ALSO HAS 34 F-16 FIGHTER AIRCRAFT - ALL BLOCK 15S. AS OF NOW, IT RECENTLY RECEIVED 2 BLOCK 15OCUS THROUGH PEACE GATE 3/4 AS A GOOD-WILL GESTURE FROM THE US GOVERNMENT IN NOVEMBER 2006. ALL OF THESE F-16S ARE CAPABLE OF DELIVERING NUCLEAR WARHEADS, THEY ARE SPLIT INTO 2 SQUADRONS, BOTH, STATIONED AT PAF SARGODHA. IT IS RUMOURED THAT THE 34 CURRENT PAF F-16S HAVE BEEN MODIFIED FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS DELIVERY BY PAC, KAMRA. ALSO, IN THE 1990S, THE PAF F-16S HAVE PRACTISED TOSS BOMBING WHICH IS A METHOD TO DELIVER NUCLEAR WEAPONS. PAKISTAN PREFERS TO USE BALLISTIC MISSILES AND CRUISE MISSILES TO DELIVER NUCLEAR WARHEADS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A MUCH LONGER RANGE THAN AIRCRAFT AND DO NOT NEED THE AIRSPACE TO BE CLEARED OF AIRCRAFT AND SAMS.
IN AN ATTEMPT TO MODERNIZE ITS AIR FORCE, PAKISTAN HAS RECENTLY SIGNED A DEAL FOR THE PURCHASE OF 26 F-16 BLOCK 15OCUS THAT WERE UNDER PEACE GATE 3/4 AND 60 MLU [3] KITS FOR BLOCK 15S, AMRAAMS, LGBS, AND VARIOUS OTHER MISSILES AND BOMBS AND OTHER ITEMS, THE PURCHASE OF 18 F-16 BLOCK 50/52+ [4] WITH AN OPTION OF 18 MORE. IF ALL OPTIONS ARE EXERCISED, THIS DEAL WILL COST US$5 BILLION. ALL OF THESE F-16S WILL BE CAPABLE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS DELIVERY.
ALSO, BY EARLY 2007, THE FIRST 8 JF-17 THUNDER AIRCRAFT [5] (FC-1S) WILL ENTER THE PAF SERVICE. THESE ARE PRE-PRODUCTION AIRCRAFT AND MORE JF-17 THUNDER AIRCRAFT WILL FOLLOW. THESE, TOO, WILL BE CAPABLE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS DELIVERY. PAKISTAN HAS ALSO ORDERED 36 CHINESE J-10S [6] FOR ITS AIRFORCE FOR A COST OF $1.4 BILLION. THE PAKISTAN AIR FORCE IS IN THE MIDST OF A GREAT CHANGE IN TERMS OF CAPABILITY.
PAKISTAN HAS ALSO RECENTLY TESTED ITS BABUR CRUISE MISSILE HAVING A RANGE OF 500 KM. ITS DESIGN SEEMS TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE TOMAHAWK CRUISE MISSILE OF THE US IN TERMS OF APPEARANCE, HOWEVER, IT IS AN INDIGENOUS WEAPON. IT IS A GROUND-LAUNCHED VERSION AND, ACCORDING TO THE PAKISTAN MILITARY SOURCES, THE SUBMARINE- AND AIR-DELIVERED VERSIONS ARE SOON TO FOLLOW.
NAVAL DELIVERY: PNS HAMZA HAS JUST BEEN COMMISSIONED THIS YEAR IN AUGUST, THIS SUBMARINE IS AN AUGOSTA 90B AND, WITH A NUMBER OF MODIFICATIONS, WILL BE ABLE TO FIRE BALLISTIC MISSILES. THESE MODIFICATIONS MAY BE HAPPENING SOON. IT CAN ALSO FIRE BABUR CRUISE MISSILES AND THAT IS IF THE SUBMARINE USES LARGER TUBES TO FIRE THIS MISSILE. SOON, OTHER SHIPS AND SUMARINES MAYBE RETROFITTED TO FIRE BALLISTIC AND CRUISE MISSILES.
NOTES
1. ^ GLOBAL SECURITY
2. ^ PAKISTAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS. RETRIEVED ON 2007-02-22.
3. ^ URANIUM INSTITUTE NEWS BRIEFING 00.25 14 - 22 JUNE 2000. URANIUM INSTITUTE (2000). RETRIEVED ON 2006-05-07.
4. ^ KEY ISSUES: NUCLEAR ENERGY: ISSUES: IAEA: WORLD PLUTONIUM INVENTORIES
5. ^ BBC NEWS | WORLD | SOUTH ASIA | PAKISTAN NUCLEAR REPORT DISPUTED
6. ^ PAKISTAN EXPANDING NUCLEAR PROGRAM - WASHINGTONPOST.COM
7. ^ BBC NEWS | WORLD | SOUTH ASIA | PAKISTAN 'BUILDING NEW REACTOR'
8. ^ U.S. GROUP SAYS PAKISTAN IS BUILDING NEW REACTOR - NEW YORK TIMES
9. ^ FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS
10. ^ CENTER FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION
11. ^ US NAVY STRATEGIC INSIGHTS. FEB 2003. US NAVY (2003). RETRIEVED ON 2006-10-28.
12. ^ PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL UNDERESTIMATED, REPORTS SAY
13. ^ IMPACT OF US WARGAMES ON PAKISTAN N-ARMS ‘NEGATIVE’ -DAWN - TOP STORIES; DECEMBER 03, 2007
14. ^ CALCULATING THE RISKS IN PAKISTAN - WASHINGTONPOST.COM
15. ^ "U.S. SECRETLY AIDS PAKISTAN IN GUARDING NUCLEAR ARMS", THE NEW YORK TIMES, 2007-11-18. RETRIEVED ON 2007-11-18.
16. ^ [HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2007/11/18/WASHINGTON/18NUKE.HTML NEW YORK TIMES/18 NOVEMBER 2007
SEE ALSO
• CHRONOLOGY OF PAKISTAN'S ROCKET TESTS
• NUCLEAR POWER IN PAKISTAN
• PAKISTAN ARMY
• LIST OF COUNTRIES WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS
EXTERNAL LINKS
• BCCI MAY HAVE FUNDED BOMB
• THE ISLAMIC BOMB - TASHBIH SAYYED
• THE SOUTH ASIAN STRATEGIC STABILITY INSTITUTE WEAPONS RELATED DATASETS
• PAKISTAN SECURITY RESEARCH UNIT (PSRU) MILITARY AND WEAPONS SECTION
• CHINA,PAKISTAN AND THE BOMB THE DECLASSIFIED FILE ON U.S. POLICY, 1977-1997-----NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVES.
• HTTP://WWW.FAS.ORG/NUKE/GUIDE/PAKISTAN/NUKE/INDEX.HTML
• NUCLEAR NOTEBOOK: LADDI'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, 2005, BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS, JAN/FEB 2002.
• PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM - THE BEGINNING
• PAKISTANI MILITARY CONSORTIUM
• NUCLEAR FILES.ORG PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR CONFLICT WITH INDIA- BACKGROUND AND THE CURRENT SITUATION

THE MILITARY HISTORY OF PAKISTAN

THE MILITARY HISTORY OF PAKISTAN CAN BE VIEWED AS THE HISTORY OF MODERN-DAY PAKISTAN, AS THE MILITARY OF PAKISTAN HAS PLAYED AND CONTINUES TO PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT AND SHAPING OF THE COUNTRY SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 1947. ALTHOUGH PAKISTAN WAS FOUNDED AS A DEMOCRACY AFTER THE PARTITION OF THE INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT, THE MILITARY HAS REMAINED ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL INSTITUTIONS AND HAS ON OCCASION OVERTHROWN DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENTS ON THE BASIS OF MISMANAGEMENT AND CORRUPTION. SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS HAVE MADE SURE THAT THE MILITARY WAS CONSULTED BEFORE THEY TOOK KEY DECISIONS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THOSE DECISIONS RELATED TO THE KASHMIR CONFLICT. POLITICAL LEADERS KNOW THAT THE MILITARY HAS STEPPED INTO THE POLITICAL ARENA BEFORE AT TIMES OF CRISIS, AND COULD DO SO AGAIN.
THE MILITARY WAS CREATED IN 1947 BY DIVISION OF THE BRITISH INDIAN ARMY AND WAS GIVEN UNITS WHO HAD A LONG AND CHERISHED HISTORY DURING THE BRITISH RAJ SUCH AS THE KHYBER RIFLES, AND HAD SEEN INTENSIVE SERVICE IN WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II. SINCE INDEPENDENCE, THE MILITARY HAS FOUGHT THREE MAJOR WARS WITH INDIA AND SEVERAL MINOR BORDER SKIRMISHES WITH AFGHANISTAN. IT HAS ALSO FOUGHT A LIMITED CONFLICT AT KARGIL WITH INDIA AFTER ACQUIRING NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES. AFTER 9/11, THE MILITARY IS ENGAGED IN A PROTRACTED LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT ALONG PAKISTAN'S WESTERN BORDER WITH THE TALIBAN AND AL-QAEDA MILITANTS, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO SUPPORT OR PROVIDE SHELTER TO THEM.
IN ADDITION, PAKISTANI TROOPS HAVE ALSO PARTICIPATED IN VARIOUS FOREIGN CONFLICTS USUALLY ACTING AS UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS. AT PRESENT, PAKISTAN HAS THE LARGEST NUMBER OF ITS PERSONNEL ACTING UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS WITH THE NUMBER STANDING AT 10,173 AS OF 31 MARCH 2007.[2]
ORIGIN
ON JUNE 3, 1947, THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED ITS PLAN TO DIVIDE BRITISH INDIA BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN AND THE SUBSEQUENT TRANSFER OF POWER TO THE TWO COUNTRIES. THE DIVISION OF THE BRITISH INDIAN ARMY OCCURRED ON JUNE 30, 1947 IN WHICH PAKISTAN RECEIVED SIX ARMORED, EIGHT ARTILLERY AND EIGHT INFANTRY REGIMENTS COMPARED TO THE FORTY ARMORED, FORTY ARTILLERY AND TWENTY ONE INFANTRY REGIMENTS THAT WENT TO INDIA.[3] THE PARTITION COUNCIL WHICH CHAIRED BY THE VICEROY OF INDIA LORD MOUNTBATTEN, THE LEADERS OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE AND THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS HAD AGREED THAT THE BRITISH INDIAN ARMY OF 11,800 OFFICERS AND 500,000 ENLISTED PERSONNEL, BE DIVIDED TO THE RATIO OF 64% FOR INDIA AND 36% FOR PAKISTAN.
PAKISTAN WAS FORCED TO ACCEPT A SMALLER SHARE OF THE ARMED FORCES AS MOST OF THE MILITARY ASSETS SUCH AS WEAPONS DEPOTS, MILITARY BASES WERE LOCATED INSIDE INDIA AND THOSE THAT WERE IN PAKISTAN WERE MOSTLY OBSOLETE AND IT ALSO HAD A DANGEROUSLY LOW AMMUNITION RESERVE OF ONLY ONE WEEK.[3] BY AUGUST 15, 1947, BOTH INDIA AND PAKISTAN HAD OPERATIONAL CONTROL OVER THEIR ARMED FORCES.
THE PAKISTANI ARMED FORCES INITIALLY NUMBERED AROUND 150,000 MEN, MANY SCATTERED AROUND VARIOUS BASES IN INDIA AND NEEDING TO BE TRANSFERRED TO PAKISTAN BY TRAIN. THE PARTITION OF INDIA CREATED LARGE SCALE COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN THE SUBCONTINENT. ARMED BANDS OF MILITANTS DETAINED AND ATTACKED THE TRAINS AND MASSACRED INDIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL AND THEIR FAMILIES IN PAKISTAN.[4] IN TOTAL, AROUND SEVEN MILLION MUSLIMS MIGRATED TO PAKISTAN AND 5 MILLION SIKHS AND HINDUS TO INDIA WITH OVER A MILLION PEOPLE DYING IN THE PROCESS.
OF THE ESTIMATED REQUIREMENT OF 4,000 OFFICERS FOR PAKISTANI ARMED FORCES, ONLY 2,300 WERE ACTUALLY AVAILABLE. THE NEUTRAL BRITISH OFFICERS WERE ASKED TO FILL IN THE GAP AND NEARLY 500 VOLUNTEERED AS WELL AS MANY POLISH AND HUNGARIAN OFFICERS TO RUN THE MEDICAL CORPS.[5]
BY OCTOBER 1947, PAKISTAN HAD RAISED FOUR DIVISIONS IN WEST PAKISTAN AND ONE DIVISION IN EAST PAKISTAN WITH AN OVERALL STRENGTH OF TEN INFANTRY BRIGADES AND ONE ARMORED BRIGADE WITH THIRTEEN TANKS. MANY BRIGADES AND BATTALIONS WITHIN THESE DIVISIONS WERE BELOW HALF STRENGTH, BUT PAKISTANI PERSONNEL CONTINUED TO ARRIVE FROM ALL OVER INDIA, THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA AND FROM SOUTH EAST ASIA. MOUNTBATTEN AND SUPREME COMMANDER CLAUDE AUCHINLECK HAD MADE IT CLEAR TO PAKISTAN THAT IN CASE OF WAR WITH INDIA, NO OTHER MEMBER OF THE COMMONWEALTH WOULD COME TO PAKISTAN'S HELP.
THE WAR OF 1947
MAIN ARTICLE: INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1947


AREA SHADED IN GREEN IS PAKISTANI CONTROLLED KASHMIR AND AREA SHADED IN ORANGE IS INDIAN CONTROLLED KASHMIR AND THE REMAINDER IS UNDER CHINESE CONTROL.
PAKISTAN HAD ITS FIRST TASTE OF WAR ALMOST IMMEDIATELY IN THE FIRST KASHMIR WAR WHERE IT ATTACKED INDIA ON THE ISSUE OF KASHMIR. KASHMIR, HAD A MUSLIM MAJORITY POPULATION, BUT THE CHOICE OF WHICH COUNTRY TO JOIN WAS
GIVEN TO THE HINDU MAHARAJA OF KASHMIR WHO DECIDED TO ACCEDE INTO INDIA. FEARING THAT INDIA WOULD TAKE OVER KASHMIR, THE NEWLY CREATED PAKISTANI ARMY INITIALLY SENT IN REGULARS AND PRO-PAKISTANI TRIBAL GROUPS. LATER, REGULAR ARMY UNITS IN LARGE NUMBERS JOINED THE INVASION BUT WERE PUSHED BACK BY THE INDIANS BUT NOT BEFORE OCCUPYING THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF KASHMIR (ROUGHLY 40% OF KASHMIR) WHICH PAKISTAN STILL CONTROLS, THE REST REMAINING UNDER INDIAN CONTROL EXCEPT FOR THE PORTION CEDED BY PAKISTAN TO CHINA


1947-1958
WITH THE FAILURE OF THE UNITED STATES TO PERSUADE INDIA TO JOIN AN ANTI-COMMUNIST PACT, IT TURNED TOWARDS PAKISTAN WHICH IN CONTRAST WITH INDIA WAS PREPARED TO JOIN SUCH AN ALLIANCE IN RETURN OF MILITARY AND ECONOMIC AID AND ALSO TO FIND A POTENTIAL ALLY AGAINST INDIA. BY 1954, THE AMERICANS HAD DECIDED THAT PAKISTAN ALONG WITH TURKEY AND IRAN WOULD BE IDEAL COUNTRIES TO COUNTER SOVIET INFLUENCE. THEREFORE PAKISTAN AND USA SIGNED THE MUTUAL DEFENSE ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT AND AMERICAN AID BEGAN TO FLOW IN PAKISTAN. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY TWO MORE AGREEMENTS. IN 1955, PAKISTAN JOINED THE SOUTH EAST ASIAN TREATY ORGANIZATION (SEATO) AND THE BAGHDAD PACT LATER TO BE RENAMED AS CENTRAL ASIAN TREATY ORGANIZATION (CENTO) AFTER IRAQ LEFT IN 1959.[6]
PAKISTAN RECEIVED OVER A BILLION DOLLARS IN MILITARY AID FROM UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1954 AND 1965. THIS AID GREATLY ENHANCED PAKISTAN’S DEFENSE CAPABILITY AS NEW EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONS WERE BROUGHT INTO THE ARMED FORCES, NEW MILITARY BASES WERE CREATED AND EXISTING ONES WERE EXPANDED AND UPGRADED AND TWO NEW CORPS COMMANDS WERE FORMED. SHAHID M AMIN, WHO HAS PREVIOUSLY SERVED IN THE PAKISTANI FOREIGN SERVICE, WRITES IN HIS BOOK PAKISTAN'S FOREIGN POLICY: A REAPPRAISAL THAT "IT IS ALSO A FACT, THAT THESE PACTS DID UNDOUBTEDLY SECURE VERY SUBSTANTIAL US MILITARY AND ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE FOR PAKISTAN IN ITS NASCENT YEARS AND SIGNIFICANTLY STRENGTHENED IT IN FACING INDIA, AS SEEN IN THE 1965 WAR.""[7]
AMERICAN AND BRITISH ADVISERS TRAINED PAKISTANI PERSONNEL AND THE USA WAS ALLOWED TO SET UP BASES WITHIN PAKISTAN’S BORDERS TO SPY ON THE SOVIET UNION. IN THIS PERIOD, MANY FUTURE PAKISTANI PRESIDENTS AND GENERALS WENT TO AMERICAN AND BRITISH MILITARY ACADEMIES THAT LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PAKISTANI ARMY ON WESTERN MODELS, ESPECIALLY THE BRITISH ONE.
AFTER DOMINION STATUS ENDED IN 1956 WITH THE FORMATION OF A CONSTITUTION AND A DECLARATION OF PAKISTAN AS AN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC, THE MILITARY TOOK CONTROL IN 1958 AND HELD POWER FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS. DURING THIS TIME, PAKISTAN HAD DEVELOPED CLOSE MILITARY RELATIONS WITH MANY MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES TO WHOM PAKISTAN SENT MILITARY ADVISERS AND THIS RELATIONSHIP CONTINUES TO THE PRESENT DAY.
MARTIAL LAW (1958-1971)
FIELD MARSHAL AYUB KHAN BECAME THE LEADER OF PAKISTAN AND DURING HIS REIGN, RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND THE WEST GREW STRONGER. A FORMAL ALLIANCE INCLUDING PAKISTAN, IRAN, IRAQ, AND TURKEY WAS FORMED AND WAS CALLED THE BAGHDAD PACT (LATER KNOWN AS CENTO), WHICH WAS TO DEFEND THE MIDDLE EAST AND PERSIAN GULF FROM SOVIET DESIGNS.
AFTER THE INDECISIVE WAR OF 1965, MANY PEOPLE ACCUSED AYUB KHAN OF BETRAYING THE CAUSE OF KASHMIR AND HE WAS FORCED TO RESIGN. HE WAS REPLACED BY THE ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, YAHYA KHAN IN 1969.
YAHYA KHAN PRESIDED OVER THE DISASTROUS 1971 WAR WHICH RESULTED IN THE ARMY BEING FORCED OUT OF PAKISTANI POLITICS AND ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO BECOMING THE NEW CIVILIAN LEADER OF PAKISTAN FOLLOWING AN ELECTION.
PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN BORDER CLASH OF 1961
ARMED TRIBAL INCURSIONS FROM AFGHANISTAN INTO PAKISTAN’S BORDER AREAS BEGAN WITH THE TRANSFER OF POWER IN 1947 AND BECAME A CONTINUAL IRRITANT. MANY AFGHANS REGARDED THE 19TH CENTURY ANGLO-AFGHAN BORDER TREATIES AS VOID AND WERE TRYING TO RE-DRAW THE BORDERS WITH PAKISTAN OR TRYING TO HELP CREATE AN INDEPENDENT STATE (PASHTUNISTAN) FOR THE ETHNIC PASHTUN PEOPLE. THE PAKISTAN ARMY HAD TO BE CONTINUALLY SENT TO SECURE THE COUNTRY’S WESTERN BORDERS. AFGHAN-PAKISTAN RELATIONS WERE TO REACH THEIR NADIR IN 1955 WHEN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WERE SEVERED WITH THE RANSACKING OF PAKISTAN’S EMBASSY IN KABUL AND AGAIN IN 1961 WHEN THE PAKISTAN ARMY HAD TO REPEL A MAJOR AFGHAN INCURSION IN BAJAUR REGION.[3]
PAKISTAN USED AMERICAN WEAPONRY TO FIGHT THE AFGHAN INCURSIONS BUT THE WEAPONRY HAD BEEN SOLD UNDER THE PRETEXT OF FIGHTING COMMUNISM AND THE USA WAS NOT PLEASED WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT, AS THE SOVIETS AT THAT TIME BECAME THE CHIEF BENEFACTOR TO AFGHANISTAN. SOME SECTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PRESS BLAMED PAKISTAN FOR DRIVING AFGHANISTAN INTO THE SOVIET CAMP.
1962-1965
AFTER INDIA’S DEFEAT IN THE SINO-INDIAN WAR OF 1962, INDIA BEGAN A RAPID PROGRAM OF REFORMING AND EXPANDING ITS MILITARY. A SERIES OF CONFERENCES ON KASHMIR WAS HELD FROM DECEMBER 1962 TO FEBRUARY 1963 BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN. BOTH NATIONS OFFERED IMPORTANT CONCESSIONS AND A SOLUTION TO THE LONG-STANDING DISPUTE SEEMED IMMINENT. HOWEVER, AFTER THE SINO-INDIAN WAR, PAKISTAN HAD GAINED AN IMPORTANT NEW ALLY IN CHINA AND PAKISTAN THEN SIGNED A BILATERAL BORDER AGREEMENT WITH CHINA THAT INVOLVED THE BOUNDARIES OF THE DISPUTED STATE, AND RELATIONS WITH INDIA AGAIN BECAME STRAINED.
FEARING A COMMUNIST EXPANSION INTO INDIA, THE USA FOR THE FIRST TIME GAVE LARGE QUANTITIES OF WEAPONS TO INDIA. THE EXPANSION OF THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES WAS VIEWED BY MOST PAKISTANIS AS BEING DIRECTED TOWARDS PAKISTAN RATHER THAN CHINA. THE US ALSO PUMPED IN LARGE SUMS OF MONEY AND MILITARY SUPPLIES TO PAKISTAN AS IT SAW PAKISTAN AS BEING A CHECK AGAINST SOVIET EXPANSIONIST PLANS.[8]
THE WAR OF 1965
MAIN ARTICLE: INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1965

A PAKISTAN ARMY 106MM RECOILLESS RIFLE POSITION DURING THE WAR.
IN PAKISTAN, AFTER THE SINO-INDIAN WAR IN 1962, THE MILITARY OF INDIA WAS SEEN AS BEING WEAKENED. THIS ANALYSIS WAS PROVEN TRUE WHEN A SMALL BORDER SKIRMISH OCCURRED BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN IN THE RANN OF KUTCH ON APRIL 1965 WHERE THE INDIAN ARMY WAS CAUGHT UNPREPARED. THE SKIRMISH OCCURRED BETWEEN THE BORDER POLICE OF BOTH COUNTRIES DUE TO POORLY DEFINED BORDERS AND LATER THE ARMIES OF BOTH COUNTRIES RESPONDED. THE RESULT WAS A DECISIVE ONE FOR THE PAKISTAN ARMY THAT WAS PRAISED BACK HOME. EMBOLDENED BY THIS SUCCESS, OPERATION GIBRALTAR, A COVERT INFILTRATION ATTEMPT IN KASHMIR WAS LAUNCHED LATER IN THE YEAR. THE PLAN WAS TO START A REBELLION AMONG LOCAL KASHMIRIS AND ATTACK THE REBUILDING INDIAN ARMY THUS CAPTURING KASHMIR BY FORCE, AS THE PAKISTAN ARMY COMMAND BELIEVED THAT IT HAD A QUALITATIVE SUPERIORITY OVER THEIR NEIGHBOURS. HOWEVER THIS PROVED OVER-AMBITIOUS AS INDIAN KASHMIRIS DID NOT SUPPORT THE INTRUDING PAKISTAN ARMY AND A FULL-FLEDGED WAR ACROSS THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER (THE INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1965) BROKE OUT BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN. DESPITE THE IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE PAKISTAN AIR FORCE AGAINST THEIR INDIAN COUNTERPARTS,[9] THE ARMY COULD NOT ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF TAKING OVER INDIAN CONTROLLED KASHMIR.
US HAD IMPOSED AN ARMS EMBARGO ON BOTH INDIA AND PAKISTAN DURING THE WAR AND PAKISTAN WAS HURT MORE BY THE ARMS EMBARGO AS IT HAD NO SPARE PARTS FOR ITS AIR FORCE, TANKS, AND OTHER EQUIPMENT WHILE INDIA'S QUANTITATIVE EDGE WAS TAKING A HEAVY TOLL ON THE PAKISTAN ARMY. WITH NO SPARE PARTS TO FIX ITS DAMAGED FORCES AND AS THE THEATRE OF WAR SPREAD TO THE PLAINS OF WESTERN INDIA, PAKISTAN LOST THE INITIATIVE AND THE WAR ENDED IN A CEASEFIRE. THE PAKISTANI DEFENCE JOURNAL REMARKED THAT THE WAR WAS A FAILURE SINCE THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE OF THE WAR THAT PAKISTAN HAD INITIATED, NAMELY THE LIBERATION OF KASHMIR WAS NOT ACHIEVED, RESULTING IN A PSYCHOLOGICAL GAIN FOR INDIA.[10]
1965-1971
THE UNITED STATES WAS DISILLUSIONED BY A WAR IN WHICH BOTH COUNTRIES FOUGHT EACH OTHER WITH EQUIPMENT, WHICH HAD BEEN SOLD FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES AND TO STOP THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM. PAKISTAN’S CLAIMS THAT AN INDIAN ATTEMPT TO FULLY INTEGRATE INDIAN CONTROLLED KASHMIR INTO THE UNION OF INDIA HAD COMPELLED IT TO ACT FELL ON DEAF EARS IN THE JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION AND BY JULY 1967, THE UNITED STATES WITHDREW ITS MILITARY ASSISTANCE ADVISORY GROUP. IN RESPONSE TO THESE EVENTS, PAKISTAN DECLINED TO RENEW THE LEASE ON THE PESHAWAR MILITARY FACILITY, WHICH ENDED IN 1969. EVENTUALLY, UNITED STATES-PAKISTAN RELATIONS GREW MEASURABLY WEAKER AS THE UNITED STATES BECAME MORE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN VIETNAM AND AS ITS BROADER INTEREST IN THE SECURITY OF SOUTH ASIA WANED.[11]
THE SOVIET UNION CONTINUED THE MASSIVE BUILD-UP OF THE INDIAN MILITARY AND A US ARMS EMBARGO FORCED PAKISTAN TO LOOK AT OTHER OPTIONS. IT TURNED TO CHINA, NORTH KOREA, GERMANY, ITALY AND FRANCE FOR MILITARY AID. CHINA IN PARTICULAR GAVE PAKISTAN OVER 900 TANKS, MIG-19 FIGHTERS AND ENOUGH EQUIPMENT TO FULLY EQUIP 3 INFANTRY DIVISIONS. FRANCE SUPPLIED SOME MIRAGE AIRCRAFT, SUBMARINES AND EVEN THE SOVIET UNION GAVE PAKISTAN AROUND 100 T-55 TANKS, MI-8 HELICOPTERS BUT THAT AID WAS ABRUPTLY STOPPED UNDER INTENSE INDIAN PRESSURE. PAKISTAN IN THIS PERIOD WAS PARTIALLY ABLE TO ENHANCE ITS MILITARY CAPABILITY .
THE WAR OF 1971
MAIN ARTICLES: BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR AND INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1971
FACED WITH POPULAR UNREST AND REVOLT IN EAST PAKISTAN, THE ARMY CLAMPED DOWN THROUGH VIOLENCE. "KILL THREE MILLION OF THEM" SAID GENERAL YAHYA KHAN, "AND THE REST WILL EAT OUT OF OUR HANDS". THE ARMY CRACKDOWN AND BRUTALITIES DURING THE OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT AND THE CONTINUED KILLINGS THROUGHOUT THE LATER MONTHS RESULTED IN FURTHER RESENTMENT AMONG THE BENGALIS OF EAST PAKISTAN. WITH INDIA ASSISTING THE MUKTI BAHINI, WAR BROKE OUT BETWEEN THE SEPARATIST SUPPORTERS IN BANGLADESH AND PAKISTAN(INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1971). THE RESULT WAS THE PAKISTAN ARMY'S SURRENDER TO THE INDIAN FORCES UPON WHICH 45,000 PAKISTANI SOLDIERS AND 45,000 MILITANTS BECAME POWS, THE LARGEST SINCE WORLD WAR II. THE OFFICIAL WAR BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN ENDED IN JUST A FORTNIGHT ON DECEMBER 16, 1971, WITH PAKISTAN LOSING EAST PAKISTAN WHICH BECAME BANGLADESH.
THE OFFICIAL BANGLADESH GOVERNMENT CLAIM PUTS THE NUMBER OF BENGALI CIVILIAN FATALITIES AT 3 MILLION. HOWEVER, OTHER SOURCES[12] ESTIMATE THE NUMBER TO BE BETWEEN 300,000 AND 1.5 MILLION.
1971-1977
PAKISTAN’S DEFENSE SPENDING ROSE BY 200% DURING THE BHUTTO ERA BUT THE MILITARY BALANCE BETWEEN INDIA-PAKISTAN WHICH WAS AT A ROUGH PARITY DURING THE 1960S WAS GROWING DECISIVELY IN INDIA’S FAVOR. THE UNITED STATES ONCE AGAIN BECAME A MAJOR SOURCE FOR MILITARY HARDWARE FOLLOWING THE LIFTING OF THE ARMS EMBARGO IN 1975 BUT BY THEN PAKISTAN HAD BECOME HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON CHINA AS AN ARMS SUPPLIER. HEAVY SPENDING ON DEFENSE RE-ENERGIZED THE ARMY, WHICH HAD SUNK TO ITS LOWEST MORALE FOLLOWING THE DEBACLE OF THE 1971 WAR. THE HIGH DEFENSE EXPENDITURE TOOK MONEY FROM OTHER DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS SUCH AS EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE AND HOUSING.
BALOCH NATIONALIST UPRISINGS (1973-1978)
THE BALOCH REBELLION OF THE 1970S, WAS THE MOST THREATENING CIVIL DISORDER TO A UNITED PAKISTAN SINCE BANGLADESH'S SECESSION. THE PAKISTAN ARMY WANTED TO ESTABLISH MILITARY GARRISONS IN BALOCHISTAN WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS QUITE LAWLESS AND RUN BY TRIBAL JUSTICE. THE ETHNIC BALOCHIS SAW THIS AS A VIOLATION OF THEIR TERRITORIAL RIGHTS. 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 OF PAKISTAN 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. TENSIONS ERUPTED.
SURVEYING THE POLITICAL INSTABILITY, BHUTTO'S CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SACKED TWO PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS WITHIN SIX MONTHS, ARRESTED THE TWO CHIEF MINISTERS, TWO GOVERNORS AND FORTY-FOUR MNAS AND MPAS, OBTAINED AN ORDER FROM THE SUPREME COURT BANNING THE NAP AND CHARGED THEM ALL WITH HIGH TREASON , TO BE TRIED BY A SPECIALLY CONSTITUTED HYDERABAD TRIBUNAL OF HANDPICKED JUDGES. IN TIME, A BALOCH NATIONALIST INSURGENCY ERUPTED AND SUCKED THE ARMY INTO THE PROVINCE, PITTING THE BALOCH TRIBAL MIDDLE CLASSES AGAINST ISLAMABAD. THE SPORADIC FIGHTING BETWEEN THE INSURGENCY AND THE ARMY STARTED IN 1973 WITH THE LARGEST CONFRONTATION TAKING PLACE IN SEPTEMBER 1974 WHEN AROUND 15,000 BALOCHS FOUGHT THE PAKISTANI ARMY AND THE AIR FORCE. THE IRANIAN MILITARY FEARING A SPREAD OF THE GREATER BALOCH RESISTANCE IN IRAN ALSO AIDED THE BHUTTO-SENT PAKISTAN MILITARY IN BRUTALLY PUTTING DOWN THE INSURRECTION.[13] AFTER THREE DAYS OF FIGHTING THE BALOCH TRIBALS WERE RUNNING OUT OF AMMUNITION AND SO WITHDREW BY 1976. THE ARMY HAD SUFFERED 25 FATALITIES AND AROUND 300 CASUALTIES IN THE FIGHT WHILE THE REBELS LOST 5,000 PEOPLE AS OF 1977.
ALTHOUGH MAJOR FIGHTING HAD BROKEN DOWN, IDEOLOGICAL SCHISMS CAUSED SPLINTER GROUPS TO FORM AND STEADILY GAIN MOMENTUM. DESPITE THE OVERTHROW OF THE BHUTTO GOVERNMENT IN 1977 BY GENERAL MUHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ, CALLS FOR SECESSION AND WIDESPREAD CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE REMAINED. THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT THEN APPOINTED GENERAL RAHIMUDDIN KHAN AS MARTIAL LAW ADMINISTRATOR AND GOVERNOR OVER THE PROVINCE. THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT UNDER THE FAMOUSLY AUTHORITARIAN RAHIMUDDIN BEGAN TO ACT AS A SEPARATE ENTITY AND MILITARY REGIME INDEPENDENT OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
THIS ALLOWED GENERAL RAHIMUDDIN TO ACT AS A DICTATOR, UNANSWERABLE TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT. BOTH GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ AND GENERAL RAHIMUDDIN KHAN SUPPORTED THE DECLARATION OF A GENERAL AMNESTY IN BALOCHISTAN TO THOSE WILLING TO GIVE UP ARMS. RAHIMUDDIN THEN PURPOSEFULLY ISOLATED FEUDAL LEADERS SUCH AS NAWAB AKBAR KHAN BUGTI AND ATAULLAH MENGAL FROM PROVINCIAL POLICY. HE ALSO MILITARILY PUT DOWN ALL CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENTS, EFFECTIVELY LEADING TO UNPRECEDENTED SOCIAL STABILITY WITHIN THE PROVINCE. DUE TO MARTIAL LAW, HIS REIGN WAS THE LONGEST IN THE HISTORY OF BALOCHISTAN (1977 - 1984).
TENSIONS HAVE RESURFACED RECENTLY IN THE PROVINCE WITH THE PAKISTAN ARMY BEING INVOLVED IN ATTACKS AGAINST AN INSURGENCY KNOWN AS THE BALOCHISTAN LIBERATION ARMY. ATTEMPTED UPRISINGS HAVE TAKEN PLACE AS RECENTLY AS 2005.[14]
MARTIAL LAW (1977-1985) AND MILITARY DICTATORSHIP (1977-1988)
DURING THE 1977 ELECTIONS, THERE WERE RUMORS OF WIDE SPREAD VOTER FRAUD AND AS SUCH THE CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT UNDER ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO WAS OVERTHROWN IN A BLOODLESS COUP (JULY 1977) AND THE NEW RULER GENERAL MUHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ BECAME PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN IN 1978. BHUTTO WAS EXECUTED IN 1979 AFTER THE SUPREME COURT UPHELD THE HIGH COURT'S DEATH SENTENCE ON CHARGES OF AUTHORIZING THE MURDER OF A POLITICAL OPPONENT.[15] UNDER ZIA'S MARTIAL LAW MILITARY DICTATORSHIP (WHICH WAS DECLARED LEGAL UNDER THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY BY THE SUPREME COURT IN 1978) THE FOLLOWING INITIATIVES WERE TAKEN:
• STRICT ISLAMIC LAW WAS INTRODUCED INTO THE COUNTRY'S LEGAL SYSTEM BY 1978, CONTRIBUTING TO CURRENT-DAY SECTARIANISM AND RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM, AS WELL AS INSTILLING A SENSE OF RELIGIOUS PURPOSE WITHIN THE YOUTH.
• PAKISTAN FOUGHT A WAR BY PROXY AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS IN AFGHANISTAN IN THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR, GREATLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE EVENTUAL WITHDRAWAL OF SOVIET FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN.
• SECESSIONIST UPRISINGS IN BALOCHISTAN WERE PUT DOWN BY THE PROVINCE'S AUTHORITARIAN MARTIAL LAW RULER, GENERAL RAHIMUDDIN KHAN, WHO RULED FOR AN UNPRECEDENTED SEVEN YEARS UNDER MARTIAL LAW.
• THE SOCIALIST ECONOMIC POLICIES OF THE PREVIOUS CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT, WHICH ALSO INCLUDED AGGRESSIVE NATIONALISATION, WERE GRADUALLY REVERSED; AND PAKISTAN'S GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT ROSE GREATLY TO BE AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD.
GENERAL ZIA LIFTED MARTIAL LAW IN 1985, HOLDING PARTY-LESS ELECTIONS AND HANDPICKING MUHAMMAD KHAN JUNEJO TO BE THE PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN, WHO IN TURN RUBBER-STAMPED ZIA REMAINING CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF UNTIL 1990. JUNEJO HOWEVER GRADUALLY FELL OUT WITH ZIA AS HIS POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INDEPENDENCE GREW. JUNEJO ALSO SIGNED THE GENEVA ACCORD, WHICH ZIA GREATLY DISLIKED. AFTER A LARGE-SCALE EXPLOSION AT A MUNITIONS STORE IN OJHRI, JUNEJO VOWED TO BRING THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE CAUSED TO JUSTICE, IMPLICATING SEVERAL TIMES THE INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE (ISI) DIRECTOR-GENERAL AKHTAR ABDUR RAHMAN.
PRESIDENT ZIA, INFURIATED, DISMISSED THE JUNEJO GOVERNMENT ON SEVERAL CHARGES IN MAY 1988. HE THEN CALLED FOR THE HOLDING OF FRESH ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER. GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ NEVER SAW THE ELECTIONS MATERIALIZE HOWEVER, AS HE DIED IN A PLANE CRASH ON AUGUST 17, 1988, WHICH WAS LATER PROVEN TO BE HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED SABOTAGE BY UNKNOWN PERPETRATORS.
UNDER ZIA, REAL DEFENCE SPENDING INCREASED ON AVERAGE BY 9 PERCENT PER ANNUM DURING 1977-88 WHILE DEVELOPMENT SPENDING ROSE 3 PERCENT PER ANNUM; BY 1987-88 DEFENCE SPENDING HAD OVERTAKEN DEVELOPMENT SPENDING. FOR 1980S AS A WHOLE, DEFENCE SPENDING AVERAGED 6.5 PERCENT OF GDP. THIS CONTRIBUTED STRONGLY TO LARGE FISCAL DEFICITS AND A RAPID BUILD UP OF PUBLIC DEBT.[16]
SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR (1979-1989)
MAIN ARTICLE: SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
DURING THE SOVIET OCCUPATION OF NEIGHBOURING AFGHANISTAN, THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN USA AND PAKISTAN WAS GREATLY STRENGTHENED AS THE USA NEEDED PAKISTAN AS A STAGING AREA FROM WHICH TO SEND WEAPONS TO THE MUJAHIDEENS WHO WERE FIGHTING THE SOVIETS. APPREHENSIVE OF THE THREATS ON TWO FRONT TO PAKISTAN FROM INDIA AND FROM SOVIET OCCUPIED AFGHANISTAN, THE USA IN 1981 OFFERED A MILITARY AID PACKAGE OF OVER $1.5 BILLION WHICH INCLUDED 40 F-16 FIGHTERS, 100 M-48 TANKS, NEARLY 200 ARTILLERY GUNS AND OVER 1,000 TOW ANTI-TANK MISSILES WHICH CONSIDERABLY ENHANCED PAKISTAN'S DEFENCE CAPABILITY. DURING THE COURSE OF THE WAR, PAKISTAN EXPERIENCED SEVERAL AIR INTRUSIONS BY AFGHAN/SOVIET PILOTS AND CLAIMS TO SHOOTING DOWN ABOUT 8 AFGHAN/SOVIET AIRCRAFT OVER THE YEARS AS WELL AS LOSING ONE F-16 FROM ITS OWN FLEET.[17]
THE PAKISTANI MILITARY, AIDED BY THE UNITED STATES AND FINANCED BY SAUDI ARABIA, BEGAN HELPING THE MUJAHIDEEN IN SETTING UP TRAINING CAMPS AND ARMING THEM. UNITED STATES PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER HAD ACCEPTED THE VIEW THAT SOVIET AGGRESSION COULD NOT BE VIEWED AS AN ISOLATED EVENT OF LIMITED GEOGRAPHICAL IMPORTANCE BUT HAD TO BE CONTESTED AS A POTENTIAL THREAT TO THE PERSIAN GULF REGION. THE UNCERTAIN SCOPE OF THE FINAL OBJECTIVE OF MOSCOW IN ITS SUDDEN SOUTHWARD PLUNGE MADE THE AMERICAN STAKE IN AN INDEPENDENT PAKISTAN ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT.
PAKISTAN'S INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE AND SPECIAL SERVICE GROUP NOW BECAME ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT AGAINST THE SOVIETS. PAKISTAN'S SSG CREATED A UNIT CALLED THE BLACK STORKS WHO WERE SSG MEN DRESSED AS AFGHAN MUJAHIDEEN DURING THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR. THEY WERE THEN FLOWN INTO AFGHANISTAN AND PROVIDED THE MUJAHIDEEN WITH SUPPORT. AFTER RONALD REAGAN BECAME THE NEW UNITED STATES PRESIDENT IN 1980, AID FOR THE MUJAHIDEEN THROUGH ZIA'S PAKISTAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED. IN RETALIATION, THE KHAD, UNDER AFGHAN LEADER MOHAMMAD NAJIBULLAH, CARRIED OUT (ACCORDING TO THE MITROKHIN ARCHIVES AND OTHER SOURCES) A LARGE NUMBER OF TERRORIST OPERATIONS AGAINST PAKISTAN, WHICH ALSO SUFFERED FROM AN INFLUX OF WEAPONRY AND DRUGS FROM AFGHANISTAN. PAKISTAN ALSO TOOK IN 3 MILLION AFGHAN REFUGEES (MOSTLY PASHTUN) WHO WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR COUNTRY DUE TO HEAVY FIGHTING INCLUDING GENOCIDE BY THE COMMUNIST FORCES OF SOVIET UNION. ALTHOUGH THE REFUGEES WERE CONTROLLED WITHIN PAKISTAN'S LARGEST PROVINCE, BALOCHISTAN, THEN UNDER MARTIAL LAW RULER GENERAL RAHIMUDDIN KHAN, THE INFLUX OF SO MANY REFUGEES - BELIEVED TO BE THE LARGEST REFUGEE POPULATION IN THE WORLD[18] - INTO SEVERAL OTHER REGIONS HAD A HEAVY IMPACT ON PAKISTAN AND ITS EFFECTS CONTINUE TO THIS DAY.
PLO AND LEBANESE WEAPONS CAPTURED BY THE ISRAELIS IN THEIR INVASION OF LEBANON IN JUNE 1982 WERE OF SOVIET ORIGIN AND WERE THEN COVERTLY TRANSFERRED INTO AFGHANISTAN THROUGH PAKISTAN. LATER, WHEN AMERICAN SUPPORT FOR THE MUJAHIDEEN BECAME OBVIOUS, STINGER MISSILES AND OTHER HIGH-TECHNOLOGY AMERICAN WEAPONRY WERE TRANSFERRED THROUGH PAKISTAN INTO AFGHANISTAN. HOWEVER SOME OF THESE WEAPONS MAY HAVE BEEN SIPHONED OFF BY THE ISI FOR REVERSE ENGINEERING PURPOSES. THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEW HIGH-TECHNOLOGY WEAPONRY PROVED TO BE QUITE HELPFUL IN ORGANIZING STIFF RESISTANCE AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION. MANY ARMY REGULARS FOUGHT IN AFGHANISTAN ALONG WITH THE RESISTANCE AND WERE PARTLY INSTRUMENTAL IN THE WITHDRAWAL OF SOVIET FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN IN 1989.
KASHMIR OPERATIONS (1984-PRESENT)
SIACHEN GLACIER
AFTER THE 1971 WAR, ANOTHER BORDER FLARE-UP OCCURRED BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN IN 1984. THE AREA OF THE DISPUTE WAS THE SIACHEN GLACIER - THE WORLD'S HIGHEST BATTLEFIELD. THE GLACIER WAS UNDER TERRITORIAL DISPUTE, BUT IN THE LATE 1970S AND EARLY 1980S, PAKISTAN BEGAN ORGANIZING SEVERAL TOURIST EXPEDITIONS TO THE GLACIER. INDIA, IRKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT, MOUNTED OPERATION MEGHDOOT, AND CAPTURED THE TOP OF THE GLACIER BY ESTABLISHING A MILITARY BASE WHICH IT STILL MAINTAINS TO THIS DAY AT A COST OF MORE THAN US$1 MILLION PER DAY.[19] PAKISTAN ON THE OTHER HAND SPENDS JUST UNDER US$1 MILLION PER DAY, THOUGH AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP PAKISTAN SPENDS 5 TIMES AS THE INDIAN MILITARY DOES TO MAINTAIN ITS SHARE OF THE GLACIER.[20] PAKISTAN TRIED IN 1987 AND IN 1989 TO RETAKE THE WHOLE GLACIER BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. A STALEMATE HAS ARISEN WHERE INDIA CONTROLS THE TOP PART OF THE GLACIER AND PAKISTAN THE BOTTOM.
AIDING KASHMIR SEPARATISTS
PAKISTAN HAS MAINTAINED THAT WHEN IT COMES TO DEALING WITH THE KASHMIRI SEPARATISTS, THEY HAVE ALWAYS PROVIDED MORAL SUPPORT WHEREAS INDIA MAINTAINES THAT PAKISTAN PROVIDES MILITARY SUPPORT TO SEPARATISTS. INDIAN PREMIERS INDIRA GANDHI AND RAJIV GANDHI BOTH ALLEGED THROUGHOUT THE 1980S THAT GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ DIVERTED EXCESS FINANCIAL AID FOR THE MUJAHIDEEN FIGHTING IN THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR TO THE KASHMIRI INSURGENCY, AS WELL AS THAT PAKISTAN TRAINED INDIA-DESTABILIZING SIKH TERRORISTS UNDER GENERAL ZIA.
KARGIL WAR (APRIL 1999 - JULY 1999)
MAIN ARTICLE: KARGIL WAR
AFTER THE FAILURE OF THE 1989 ATTEMPT TO RE-TAKE THE GLACIER, A NEW AND MUCH MORE DARING PLAN WAS DEVELOPED BY THE PAKISTAN ARMY TO RE-TAKE THE GLACIER BY BLOCKING THE INDIAN SUPPLIES REACHING THE INDIAN BASE AT THE TOP OF THE GLACIER. THE PLAN WAS READY IN THE LATE 1980S BUT WAS PUT ON HOLD DUE TO THE FEAR THAT THIS OPERATION COULD LEAD TO AN ALL OUT WAR WITH INDIA. PAKISTAN HAD RECENTLY BEEN PLACED UNDER US MILITARY SANCTIONS FOR DEVELOPING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE PAKISTANI MILITARY HIERARCHY BELIEVED THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE PROPER MILITARY DETERRENT IF THE SITUATION ESCALATED INTO AN ALL OUT WAR WITH INDIA.
IN THE WINTER OF 1998, A MODIFIED VERSION OF THE PLAN WAS APPROVED DUE TO THE FACT THAT MONTHS EARLIER BOTH INDIA AND PAKISTAN HAD CONDUCTED NUCLEAR TESTS. PAKISTAN BELIEVED THAT IT NOW HAD A DETERRENT TO PREVENT ALL OUT WAR WITH INDIA AND BELIEVED THAT ONCE IT HAD TAKEN THE KARGIL HILLS, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, FEARING A NUCLEAR WAR, WOULD URGE A SECESSION OF HOSTILITIES. PAKISTAN WOULD EMERGE WITH AN IMPROVED TACTICAL ADVANTAGE ALONG THE LOC AND BRING THE SIACHEN GLACIER CONFLICT TO THE FOREFRONT OF INTERNATIONAL RESOLUTION.
SOME ELEMENTS OF THE PAKISTANI SSG COMMANDOS, NORTHERN LIGHT INFANTRY FORCES AS WELL AS INDIAN KASHMIRI MILITANTS PLANNED TO TAKE OVER THE ABANDONED INDIAN BUNKERS ON VARIOUS HILLS THAT OVERLOOKED THE VITAL SRINAGAR-LEH HIGHWAY THAT SERVICED THE LOGISTICS BASE FROM WHICH SUPPLIES WERE FERRIED THROUGH HELICOPTER TO THE INDIAN ARMY AT THE TOP OF THE SIACHEN GLACIER. THE INDIAN ARMY ROUTINELY ABANDONED THE BUNKERS IN THE WINTER DUE TO THE COLD AND SNOW AND RE-OCCUPIED THEM IN THE SPRING.
THE PAKISTANI BACKED FORCES TOOK OVER THE BUNKER COMPLEX AROUND APRIL AND MAY 1999 BUT THE WINTER SNOWS HAD MELTED EARLIER THAN USUAL AND AN INDIAN RECONNAISSANCE TEAM WHICH WAS SENT TO INSPECT THE BUNKERS WAS WIPED OUT BY THEM. THE INDIAN ARMY, ALERTED TO THE PRESENCE OF THESE MILITANTS, RESPONDED QUICKLY, FORCEFULLY AND MASSED A HUGE FORCE OF AROUND 30,000 MEN TO RE-TAKE THE KARGIL HILLS. THE PAKISTANI BACKED FORCES WERE DETECTED VERY EARLY IN THE OPERATION AND WERE NOT ADEQUATELY PREPARED AS THEY STILL NEEDED ANOTHER MONTH OR SO BEFORE THEY PROPERLY ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES ON THE KARGIL HILLS, AS THEY WERE SHORT ON HEAVY WEAPONRY, AMMUNITION, FOOD, SHELTER, AND MEDICINE.
THE KARGIL WAR LASTED FOR AROUND EIGHT WEEKS AND BOTH SIDES SUFFERED CASUALTIES. AFTER SUFFERING REVERSES AND HEAVY INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE TO WITHDRAW AND END THE CONFLICT, PRIMARILY FROM THE USA, THE PAKISTANI BACKED FORCES WITHDREW BY JULY 1999.
1989-1999
DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
IN 1972, PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE LEARNED THAT INDIA WAS CLOSE TO DEVELOPING A NUCLEAR BOMB. PARTIALLY IN RESPONSE, DEFENCE SPENDING UNDER THEN-PRIME MINISTER ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO INCREASED BY 200 PERCENT. THE FOUNDATIONS WERE LAID DOWN TO DEVELOP A MILITARY NUCLEAR CAPABILITY. THIS INCLUDES THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING PROGRAMME. THE FUEL CYCLE PROGRAM INCLUDED THE URANIUM EXPLORATION, MINING, REFINING, COVERSION AND URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE (UF6) PRODUCTION, ENRICHMENT AND FUEL FABRICATION AND REPROCESSING FACILITIES. THESE FACILITIES WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE PAKISTAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (PAEC) BY CHAIRMAN MR. MUNIR AHMAD KHAN. BHUTTO HAD APPOINTED MUNIR KHAN, A NUCLEAR ENGINEER, WHO TILL THEN WAS SERVING AS DIRECTOR OF NUCLEAR POWER AND REACTORS,IAEA, AS PAEC CHAIRMAN ON JANUARY 20, 1972, AT THE MULTAN CONFERENCE OF SENIOR SCIENTISTS. HE WAS CREDITED TO BE THE TECHNICAL "FATHER" OF PAKISTAN'S ATOMIC BOMB BY A RECENT INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STRATEGIC STUDIES, LONDON, (IISS) DOSSIER ON PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAMME. AFTER GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ CAME TO POWER, FURTHER ADVANCEMENTS WERE MADE TO ENRICH URANIUM AND CONSOLIDATE THE NUCLEAR PROGRAMME. ON MARCH 11, 1983, PAEC CARRIED OUT THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL COLD TEST OF A WORKING NUCLEAR DEVICE. BY THE LATE 1980S, IT WAS COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT PAKISTAN HAD DEVELOPED NUCLEAR WEAPONRY. TO COMPOUND FURTHER MATTERS, THE SOVIET UNION HAD WITHDRAWN FROM AFGHANISTAN AND THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF PAKISTAN TO THE USA WAS GONE. ONCE THE FULL EXTENT OF PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMME WAS REVEALED, ECONOMIC SANCTIONS WERE IMPOSED ON THE COUNTRY BY SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES. HAVING BEEN DEVELOPED UNDER BOTH BHUTTO AND ZIA, THE NUCLEAR PROGRAMME HAD FULLY MATURED BY THE LATE 1980S. DR. ABDUL QADEER KHAN, A METALLURGICAL ENGINEER, GREATLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE URANIUM ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME UNDER BOTH GOVERNMENTS, AND IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE THE FOUNDER OF PAKISTAN'S URANIUM ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME. BY 1986 PAEC CHAIRMAN MUNIR AHMAD KHAN HAD BEGUN WORK ON THE 50 MW PLUTONIUM AND TRITIUM PRODUCTION REACTOR AT KHUSHAB WHICH BECAME OPERATIONAL BY 1998. AFTER INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TESTED 5 NUCLEAR MISSILES UNDERGROUND IN 1998, PAKISTAN UNDER NAWAZ SHARIF, TO THE DISTASTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, SUCCESSFULLY CARRIED OUT SIX UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR TESTS, PROVING PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR CAPABILITY. THESE TESTS WERE CARRIED OUT BY THE PAKISTAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION.
US SANCTIONS
U.S. SENATOR PRESSLER, INTRODUCED THE PRESSLER AMENDMENT WHICH IMPOSED AN EMBARGO ON ALL ECONOMICAL AND MILITARY AID TO PAKISTAN FOR DEVELOPING NUCLEAR WEAPONS.[21] THIS WHOLE EPISODE CAUSED VERY NEGATIVE PUBLICITY IN PAKISTAN TOWARDS THE USA AS MANY PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN AS WELL AS THE MILITARY BELIEVED THEY HAD RISKED A GREAT DEAL IN HELPING THE USA GIVE THE SOVIET UNION ITS OWN VIETNAM IN AFGHANISTAN AND WHEN THE TASK WAS DONE, PAKISTAN WAS PROMPTLY ABANDONED.[22] PAKISTAN WAS HOSTING A VERY LARGE AFGHAN REFUGEE POPULATION AND DRUGS FROM AFGHANISTAN HAD INFILTRATED PAKISTAN AND THE USE OF HEROIN WAS GROWING TO BE A VERY WIDESPREAD PROBLEM THAT FURTHER COMPOUNDED THE SITUATION.
THE EMBARGO CONTINUED FOR FIVE YEARS AND IN 1995, THE BROWN AMENDMENT AUTHORISED A ONE-TIME DELIVERY OF US MILITARY EQUIPMENT, CONTRACTED FOR PRIOR TO OCTOBER 1990, WORTH US$368 MILLION. HOWEVER, THE ADDITIONAL 28 F-16 AIRCRAFT COSTING US$658 MILLION AND ALREADY PAID FOR BY PAKISTAN WERE NOT DELIVERED. UNABLE TO PURCHASE AMERICAN OR NATO WEAPONRY, PAKISTAN TRIED TO DEVELOP AN INDIGENOUS WEAPONS INDUSTRY, WHICH HAS YIELDED SOME SUCCESSES SUCH AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AL-KHALID TANK AND JF-17 STRIKE FIGHTER.
TALIBAN TAKEOVER OF AFGHANISTAN
AFTER THE SOVIET WITHDRAWAL, PAKISTAN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1947, WAS NOT CONCERNED ABOUT A THREAT ON TWO FRONTS. FURTHER, THE EMERGENCE OF FIVE INDEPENDENT MUSLIM REPUBLICS IN CENTRAL ASIA RAISED HOPES THAT THEY MIGHT BECOME ALLIES AND OFFER PAKISTAN BOTH THE POLITICAL SUPPORT AND THE STRATEGIC DEPTH IT LACKED. AS LONG AS AFGHANISTAN WAS IN CHAOS, PAKISTAN WOULD LACK DIRECT ACCESS TO THE NEW REPUBLICS.
FIGHTING BETWEEN THE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT IN KABUL AND THE MUJAHIDEEN FORCES CONTINUED UNTIL 1992 WHEN THE MUJAHIDEEN FORCES, LED BY AHMED SHAH MASSOUD, REMOVED THE SOVIET-BACKED GOVERNMENT OF MOHAMMAD NAJIBULLAH. BY 1993, THE RIVAL FACTIONS WHO WERE VYING FOR POWER AGREED ON THE FORMATION OF A GOVERNMENT WITH BURHANUDDIN RABBANI AS PRESIDENT, BUT INFIGHTING CONTINUED. LAWLESSNESS WAS RAMPANT AND BECAME A MAJOR HINDRANCE TO TRADE BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT CENTRAL ASIAN STATES. PAKISTAN APPOINTED THE TALIBAN TO PROTECT ITS TRADE CONVOYS BECAUSE MOST OF THE TALIBAN WERE PASHTUN AND WERE TRAINED BY THE ISI AND CIA IN THE 1980S AND COULD BE TRUSTED BY PAKISTAN.[23] WITH PAKISTAN'S BACKING, THE TALIBAN EMERGED AS ONE OF THE STRONGEST FACTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN. PAKISTAN THEN DECIDED TO THE END THE INFIGHTING IN AFGHANISTAN AND BACKED THE TALIBAN IN THEIR TAKEOVER OF AFGHANISTAN TO BRING STABILITY TO ITS WESTERN BORDER AND ESTABLISH A PRO-PAKISTAN REGIME IN KABUL.
PAKISTAN SOLICITED FUNDS FOR THE TALIBAN, BANKROLLED TALIBAN OPERATIONS, PROVIDING DIPLOMATIC SUPPORT AS THE TALIBAN'S VIRTUAL EMISSARIES ABROAD, ARRANGED TRAINING FOR TALIBAN FIGHTERS, RECRUITED SKILLED AND UNSKILLED MANPOWER TO SERVE IN TALIBAN ARMIES, PLANNED AND DIRECTED OFFENSIVES, PROVIDING AND FACILITATING SHIPMENTS OF AMMUNITION AND FUEL, AND ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS SENIOR PAKISTANI MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS HELP PLANNED AND EXECUTE MAJOR MILITARY OPERATIONS.[24] BY SEPTEMBER 1996, THE TALIBAN UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MULLAH MUHAMMAD OMAR SEIZED CONTROL OF KABUL. HOWEVER, THE STABILITY IN AFGHANISTAN LED TO OSAMA BIN LADEN AND ZAWAHIRI TO COME TO AFGHANISTAN WHICH CAUSED THE TALBIAN TO IMPLEMENT A VERY STRICT INTERPRETATION OF ISLAMIC LAW. THE TALIBAN CONTINUED TO CAPTURE MORE AFGHAN TERRITORY UNTIL BY 2001 THEY CONTROLLED 90% OF THE COUNTRY.[23]
MILITARY TAKEOVER (1999-2001)
SEE: 1999 PAKISTANI COUP D'ÉTAT


CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF GEN. PETER PACE (CENTER), U.S. MARINE CORPS, REVIEWS THE PAKISTANI HONOR GUARD UPON HIS ARRIVAL AT THE JOINT FORCES COMMAND IN ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, ON MARCH 20, 2006. SINCE 9/11, PAKISTAN AND USA HAVE ESTABLISHED CLOSE MILITARY TIES.
MANY PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN BLAMED SHARIF FOR RETREATING FROM KARGIL UNDER AMERICAN PRESSURE. GROWING FISCAL DEFICITS AND DEBT-SERVICE PAYMENTS MAINLY DUE TO AMERICAN SANCTIONS AFTER PAKISTAN TESTED ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN MAY 1998 AS A RESPONSE TO INDIA HAD LED TO A FINANCIAL CRISIS. WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS REASON FOR BACKING DOWN FROM KARGIL, SHARIF SAID THAT PAKISTAN HAD ONLY ENOUGH FUEL AND AMMUNITION FOR 3 DAYS AND THE NUCLEAR MISSILES WERE NOT READY. THIS COMMENT MADE MANY PAKISTANIS BRAND NAWAZ SHARIF A TRAITOR AS ARMY DOCTRINE CALLED FOR HAVING AT LEAST 45 DAYS OF FUEL AND AMMUNITION AND TO HAVE STAND BY NUCLEAR MISSILES READY.
FEARING THAT THE ARMY MIGHT TAKE OVER, SHARIF ATTEMPTED TO DISMISS THE HEAD OF THE PAKISTAN MILITARY, GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF AND INSTALL ISI DIRECTOR KHWAJA ZIAUDDIN IN HIS PLACE. MUSHARRAF, WHO WAS OUT OF THE COUNTRY, BOARDED A COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TO RETURN TO PAKISTAN. SENIOR ARMY GENERALS REFUSED TO ACCEPT MUSHARRAF'S DISMISSAL. SHARIF ORDERED THE KARACHI AIRPORT TO PREVENT THE LANDING OF THE AEROPLANE, WHICH THEN CIRCLED THE SKIES OVER KARACHI. IN A COUP D'ÉTAT, THE GENERALS OUSTED SHARIF'S ADMINISTRATION AND TOOK OVER THE AIRPORT. THE PLANE LANDED WITH ONLY A FEW MINUTES OF FUEL TO SPARE, AND MUSHARRAF ASSUMED CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT. PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF WAS PUT UNDER HOUSE ARREST AND LATER EXILED.
THE COUP D'ÉTAT IN PAKISTAN WAS CONDEMNED BY MOST WORLD LEADERS BUT WAS MOSTLY SUPPORTED BY PAKISTANI POPULACE.[25] THE NEW MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF PERVEZ MUSHARRAF WAS HEAVILY CRITICIZED IN THE USA AND WHEN PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON WENT ON HIS LANDMARK TRIP TO SOUTH ASIA, HE ONLY MADE A LAST MINUTE STOP IN PAKISTAN FOR A FEW HOURS BUT SPENT MORE THAN FIVE DAYS TOURING AND VISITING INDIA.[26] PAKISTAN WAS ALSO SUSPENDED FROM THE COMMONWEALTH WHILE MUSHARRAF PLEDGED TO CLEAN CORRUPTION OUT OF POLITICS AND STABILISE THE ECONOMY.
CONFLICT IN TRIBAL AGENCIES (2001-PRESENT)
SEE: WAZIRISTAN WAR
AFTER THE 9/11 ATTACKS, PAKISTAN JOINED THE US-LED WAR ON TERROR AND HELPED THE U.S. MILITARY BY SEVERING TIES WITH THE TALIBAN AND IMMEDIATELY DEPLOYING 72,000 TROOPS ALONG PAKISTAN'S WESTERN BORDER TO CAPTURE OR KILL TALIBAN AND AL-QAIDA MILITANTS FLEEING FROM AFGHANISTAN. THE MILITARY CONTINUOUS TO CONDUCT OPERATIONS AGAINST THESE FOREIGN AND LOCAL MILITANTS, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE WAZIRISTAN AREA.
THE WORLD HAS PRAISED THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT'S CRACKDOWN ON EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM. PAKISTAN WAS RE-ADMITTED TO THE COMMONWEALTH AND WAS DECLARED A MAJOR NON-NATO ALLY IN 2004 AND AS A RESULT OF THIS IS INCLUDED IN LARGE DEFENSE DEALS WITH NATO AND THE USA.
GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF HAS PLEDGED TO STEP DOWN FROM HIS ROLE AS HEAD OF THE MILITARY OF PAKISTAN IN 2007 AND TO HOLD DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS.[27]
UN PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
MAIN ARTICLE: MILITARY OF PAKISTAN - UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
DATE LOCATION MISSION
AUGUST 1960 - MAY 1964 CONGO
PAKISTANI TROOPS WORKING UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE UN WERE FIRST DEPLOYED IN CONGO AND FORMED PART OF THE UN OPERATION IN CONGO (UNOC). THEIR MISSION WAS TO ENSURE A STABLE WITHDRAWAL OF BELGIAN COLONIAL FORCES AND A SMOOTH TRANSITION OF CONGO TO SELF-GOVERNMENT.[28]

OCTOBER 1962 - APRIL 1963 WEST NEW GUINEA
MORE THAN SIX HUNDRED PAKISTANI TROOPS FORMED PART OF THE UN CONTINGENT FORCES THAT WERE DEPLOYED TO ENSURE A SMOOTH WITHDRAWAL OF DUTCH COLONIAL FORCES FROM WEST NEW GUINEA BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIA COULD TAKE OVER THE ISLAND.[28]

MARCH 1991 KUWAIT
AFTER THE GULF WAR, THE PAKISTANI ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS PERFORMED RECOVERY MISSIONS ON THE KUWAITI ISLAND OF BUBIYAN LOCATED NORTH OF KUWAIT CITY.[28]

MARCH 1992 - MARCH 1996 BOSNIA
PAKISTAN CONTRIBUTED TWO BATTALIONS OF TROOPS TO FORM PART OF THE UNITED NATIONS PROTECTION FORCE. THESE TROOPS PROVIDED SECURITY AND PROTECTION TO VARIOUS UN AGENCIES, ORGANIZATION AND PERSONNEL OPERATING THERE AND ALSO PROVIDED HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE SUCH AS MEDICAL CARE TO THE LOCAL POPULATION.[28]

APRIL 1992 - MARCH 1995 SOMALIA
PAKISTAN CONTRIBUTED OVER 7,200 TROOPS FOR THE HUMANITARIAN MISSION IN SOMALIA. THEY WERE HEAVILY ENGAGED IN PEACEKEEPING, HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO A REGION RACKED WITH SENSELESS FACTIONAL VIOLENCE. UNFORTUNATELY THIRTY-NINE PAKISTANI PEACEKEEPERS BECAME CASUALTIES OF THIS FACTIONAL VIOLENCE WHEN SOMALI MILITIAS AMBUSHED THEM. PAKISTANI PEACEKEEPERS ALSO PLAYED A MAJOR PART IN THE RESCUE OF US FORCES WHEN THEY TRIED TO CAPTURE WANTED WARLORDS DURING THE BATTLE OF MOGADISHU.[28]

MAY 1996 - AUGUST 1997 EASTERN SLOVENIA
PAKISTAN HAD OVER 1,000 TROOPS AS PART OF UN TRANSITIONAL ADMINISTRATION FOR EASTERN SLOVENIA. IT PROVIDED SECURITY THAT ENSURED THAT THERE WAS NO FURTHER FIGHTING BETWEEN SERBS AND CROATS.[28]

2003 HAITI
PAKISTANI TROOPS PARTICIPATED IN PEACE KEEPING PROCESS.
JAN 2001 - JAN 2004 EAST TIMOR
PAKISTAN HAD OVER 2000 TROOPS CONSISTING OF ENGINEER ELEMENTS PRESENT FOR CONSTRUCTION PROCESS TAKING PLACE IN EAST TIMOR AFTER CIVIL WAR.
JUNE 2003 - DEC 2004 SIERRA LIEONE
1500 PAKISTANI TROOPS PARTICIPATED IN PEACE KEEPING PROCESS.
JAN 2005 - DEC 2006 BRUNDI
2000 PAKISTANI TROOPS PARTICIPATED IN PEACE KEEPING MISSIONS.
MAY 2006 - TO DATE LIBERIA
1600 PAKISTANI TROOPS IN PEACE KEEPING MISSIONS.
PARTICIPATION IN FOREIGN CONFLICTS
SIX-DAY WAR
MAIN ARTICLE: SIX-DAY WAR
PAKISTAN HAD SENT NUMEROUS MILITARY ADVISERS TO JORDAN AND SYRIA TO HELP IN THEIR TRAINING AND MILITARY PREPARATIONS FOR THE COMING WAR WITH ISRAEL. WHEN THE WAR STARTED PAKISTAN SENT A CONTINGENT OF ITS PILOTS AND AIRMEN TO EGYPT, JORDAN AND SYRIA. PAF PILOTS PERFORMED EXCELLENTLY AND DOWNED ABOUT 10 ISRAELI PLANES INCLUDING MIRAGES, MYSTERES, VAUTOURS WITHOUT LOSING A SINGLE PLANE OF THEIR OWN.[17]
JORDAN AND IRAQ DECORATED PAKISTANI FLIGHT LIEUTENANT SAIF-UL-AZAM. ISRAELIS PRAISED THE PERFORMANCE OF PAF PILOTS TOO. EIZER WEIZMAN, THEN CHIEF OF ISRAELI AIR FORCE WROTE IN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY ABOUT AIR MARSHAL NOOR KHAN (COMMANDER PAF AT THAT TIME): "...HE IS A FORMIDABLE PERSON AND I AM GLAD THAT HE IS PAKISTANI NOT EGYPTIAN..."[29] NO PAKISTANI GROUND FORCES PARTICIPATED IN THE WAR.
YEMENI CIVIL WAR
MAIN ARTICLE: NORTH YEMEN CIVIL WAR
IN 1969, SOUTH YEMEN, WHICH WAS UNDER A COMMUNIST REGIME AND A STRONG ALLY OF THE USSR, ATTACKED AND CAPTURED MOUNT VADIYA INSIDE THE PROVINCE OF SHAROORA IN SAUDI ARABIA. MANY PAF OFFICERS AS WELL ARMY PERSONNEL WHO WERE SERVING IN KHAMIS MUSHAYT (THE CLOSEST AIRBASE TO THE BATTLEFIELD), TOOK ACTIVE PART IN THIS BATTLE IN WHICH THE ENEMY WAS ULTIMATELY DRIVEN BACK.[30]
BLACK SEPTEMBER IN JORDAN
MAIN ARTICLE: BLACK SEPTEMBER IN JORDAN
AFTER THE END OF THE SIX-DAY WAR, PAKISTANI ADVISORS HAD REMAINED IN JORDAN AND WERE TRAINING THE JORDANIAN FORCES. IN 1970, KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN DECIDED TO REMOVE THE PLO AND ITS FORCES FROM JORDAN BY FORCE AFTER A SERIES OF TERRORIST ACTS ATTRIBUTED TO THE PLO WHICH UNDERMINED JORDANIAN SOVEREIGNTY. ON SEPTEMBER 16, KING HUSSEIN DECLARED MARTIAL LAW. THE NEXT DAY, JORDANIAN TANKS ATTACKED THE HEADQUARTERS OF PALESTINIAN ORGANIZATIONS IN AMMAN. THE HEAD OF PAKISTANI TRAINING MISSION TO JORDAN, BRIGADIER MUHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ (LATER PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN), TOOK COMMAND OF THE JORDANIAN ARMY'S 2ND DIVISION AND HELPED JORDAN DURING THIS CRISIS.
YOM KIPPUR WAR
MAIN ARTICLE: YOM KIPPUR WAR
DURING THE YOM KIPPUR WAR, SIXTEEN PAF PILOTS VOLUNTEERED FOR SERVICE IN THE AIR FORCES OF EGYPT AND SYRIA. THE PAF CONTINGENT DEPLOYED TO INCHAS AIR BASE (EGYPT) LED BY WING COMMANDER MASOOD HATIF AND FIVE OTHER PILOTS PLUS TWO AIR DEFENCE CONTROLLERS. DURING THIS WAR, THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT DECORATED FLIGHT LIEUTENANT SATTAR ALVI WHEN HE SHOT DOWN AN ISRAELI MIRAGE OVER THE GOLAN HEIGHTS.[30]THE PAF PILOTS THEN BECAME INSTRUCTORS IN THE SYRIAN AIR FORCE AT DUMAYR AIR BASE AND AFTER THE WAR PAKISTAN CONTINUED TO SEND MILITARY ADVISERS TO SYRIA AND JORDAN. APART FROM MILITARY ADVISERS, NO PAKISTANI GROUND FORCES PARTICIPATED IN THIS WAR.
SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR
MAIN ARTICLE: SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR
PAKISTAN AND SRI LANKA ENJOY A STRONG RELATIONSHIP AND PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES PLANES FERRYING PAKISTAN ARMY REINFORCEMENTS TO EAST PAKISTAN, NOW BANGLADESH, REFUELED IN COLOMBO AFTER INDIA DENIED PAKISTAN OVERFLIGHT PERMISSIONS BEFORE THE ACTUAL OUTBREAK OF THE INDO-PAKISTAN WAR OF 1971. PAKISTAN HAS SEND MILITARY ADVISORS, AMMUNITION AND OTHER EQUIPMENT TO SRI LANKA DURING PREVIOUS OFFENSIVES AGAINST THE LTTE. MANY SRI LANKAN OFFICERS ARE TRAINED IN PAKISTAN. WHILE PAKISTAN HAS SAID THAT THE CONFLICT IN SRI LANKA IS AN INTERNAL MATTER, THE LTTE ACCUSE PAKISTAN OF DIRECTLY GETTING INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT.[31]
GULF WAR
MAIN ARTICLE: GULF WAR
THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT JOINED THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN CONDEMNING THE IRAQI INVASION OF KUWAIT. PAKISTAN ALSO JOINED THE COALITION FORCES TO EXPEL SAADAM HUSSEIN'S FORCES FROM KUWAIT. HOWEVER THAT WAS NOT AN EASY DECISION AS THE COAS OF THE PAKISTANI ARMY WAS AGAINST SENDING PAKISTANI SOLDIERS TO FIGHT THE FELLOW MUSLIM NATION OF IRAQ. THIS CAUSED A RARE STRAIN IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAUDI ARABIA AND PAKISTAN. LATER ON, PAKISTAN AGREED TO SEND FORCES TO ASSIST THE COALITION FORCES AND MOST OF THESE FORCES WERE DEPLOYED ALONG THE SAUDI BORDER WITH YEMEN, WHICH SIDED WITH IRAQ DURING THE CONFLICT, AND PAKISTANI FORCES WERE ALSO STATIONED AROUND VARIOUS RELIGIOUS SITES THROUGHOUT SAUDI ARABIA. PAKISTAN SUFFERED NO CASUALTIES IN THE CONFLICT AND LATER JOINED THE UN IN REBUILDING KUWAIT'S DESTROYED INFRASTRUCTURE.
FAMOUS SOLDIERS AND UNITS
FAMOUS UNITS
• 25TH CAVALRY, KNOWN AS THE "MEN OF STEEL"; THIS REGIMENT WAS DISTINGUISHED ITSELF DURING THE CRUCIAL EARLY HOURS OF THE BATTLE OF CHAWINDA WHEN IT ENGAGED AND DROVE OFF A MUCH LARGER FORCE.
• PNS HANGOR, A SUBMARINE WHICH MADE THE FIRST SUBMARINE KILL SINCE WORLD WAR II WHEN IT SUNK THE INDIAN FRIGATE, INS KHURKI.
• 9 HEAVY REGIMENT (ARTILLERY) "GHAZIAN-E-CHAJJA",FIRST ARTILLERY UNIT OF PAKISTAN AFTER INDPENDENCE ACQUIRED FIRST "SITARA-E-JURAT" IN 1949.THIS UNIT WAS AWARDED WITH "LAHORE 1971" AS A BATTLE HONOUR FOR ITS EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE IN WAR ZONE.
• 4 SIND REGIMENT. FOR ITS OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN THE SIACHEN SECTOR.
FAMOUS PERSONNEL
• AYUB KHAN, SELF-APPOINTED FIELD MARSHAL DURING THE MID-1960S, AND THE MILITARY RULER OF PAKISTAN FROM 1958 TO 1969.
• YAHYA KHAN, THE PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN AND CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF FROM 1969 TO 1971. HIS RULE WAS CHARACTERIZED BY TENSIONS IN EAST PAKISTAN IN THE EARLY 1970S THAT FINALLY LED TO ITS SECESSION FOLLOWING THE BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR.
• MUHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ, CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF AND PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN, FOLLOWING THE OVERTHROW OF CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT, FROM 1977 TO 1988. HIS RULE IS THE LONGEST TO DATE IN THE HISTORY OF PAKISTAN, CHARACTERIZED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF CONTROVERSIALLY STRICT ISLAMIC LAW, THE SUCCESSFUL REJUVENATION OF THE ECONOMY, AND THE FIGHTING OF A WAR BY PROXY AGAINST THE SUPERPOWER USSR DURING THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR.
• RAHIMUDDIN KHAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF COMMITTEE AND MARTIAL LAW GOVERNOR OF BALOCHISTAN AND SINDH WHO IS GENERALLY CREDITED WITH STABILIZING THE SECESSION-THREATENING BALOCHISTAN INSURGENCY DURING HIS DICTATORIAL TENURE FROM 1978 TO 1984.
• A.O. MITHA, FOUNDER OF PAKISTAN'S SPECIAL SERVICES GROUP (SSG).
• GENERAL AKHTAR ABDUR RAHMAN, DIRECTOR OF ISI AND ADMINISTRATIVE FIGHTER OF THE AFGHAN JIHAD AGAINST THE SOVIETS. ALSO FAMED FOR BEING KLEPTOCRATIC.
• AZIZ BHATTI, DIED DEFENDING THE APPROACHES TO THE CITY OF LAHORE FROM THE INDIAN ARMY IN 1965 AND EARNED THE NISHAN-E-HAIDER FOR HIS VALOUR.
• MUHAMMAD SARWAR, FOUGHT AND DIED IN THE WAR OF 1947 AND EARNED THE NISHAN-E-HAIDER FOR HIS VALOUR.
• AKBAR KHAN, HELPED QUELL THE BALOCH INSURGENCY OF 1948 AND WAS INVOLVED IN THE RAWALPINDI CONSPIRACY CASE.
• GENERAL A. A. K. NIAZI, PAKISTANI MILITARY COMMANDER WHO SURRENDERED TO INDIAN FORCES IN THE 1971 INDO-PAKISTANI WAR.
• RAO FARMAN ALI, ARCHITECT OF THE PLAN TO QUELL THE BENGALI UPRISINGS IN EAST PAKISTAN.
• RASHID MINHAS, CRASHED HIS OWN PLANE RATHER THAN LAND IN INDIA AFTER HIS PLANE WAS TAKEN OVER BY A BENGALI PILOT AND EARNED THE NISHAN-E-HAIDER FOR HIS VALOUR.
• SAHABZADA YAQUB KHAN, DISTINGUISHED DIPLOMAT AND CAREER MILITARY OFFICER
• LALAK JAN SHAHEED, FOUGHT IN THE KARGIL WAR OF 1999 AND EARNED THE NISHAN-E-HAIDER FOR DEFENDING HIS POST AND DRIVING BACK NUMEROUS INDIAN ATTACKS.
• SIDDIQUE SALIQ, WHO WAS A BRIGADIER KNOWN FOR PERSONAL INCORRUPTABLITY, WAS THE TRUSTED CONFIDANT OF GENERAL MUHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ WHO WAS ALSO ON BOARD FATAL AIR-CRASH IN 1988 CAUSED BY SABOTAGE.
SEE ALSO
• INDO-PAKISTANI WARS
• PAKISTAN AND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

HISTORY FROM INDEPECE TO NOW

INDEPENDENCE
ON THE 14TH AND 15TH OF AUGUST, 1947, BRITISH INDIA WAS PARTITIONED INTO THE NEW INDEPENDENT DOMINIONS OF PAKISTAN AND INDIA RESPECTIVELY, WITH BOTH DOMINIONS JOINING THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH. HOWEVER, THE ILL CONCEIVED AND CONTROVERSIAL DECISION TO PARTITION PUNJAB AND BENGAL, TWO OF THE BIGGEST PROVINCES, BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN HAD DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES. THIS PARTITION CREATED INTER-RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE OF SUCH MAGNITUDE THAT EXCHANGE OF POPULATION ALONG RELIGIOUS LINES BECAME A NECESSITY IN THESE PROVINCES. MORE THAN TWO MILLION PEOPLE MIGRATED ACROSS THE NEW BORDERS AND MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DIED IN THE SPATE OF COMMUNAL VIOLENCE, THAT SPREAD EVEN BEYOND THESE PROVINCES. THE PARTITION ALSO RESULTED IN TENSIONS OVER KASHMIR LEADING TO THE INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1947. THE POST-INDEPENDENCE POLITICAL HISTORY OF PAKISTAN HAS BEEN CHARACTERISED BY SEVERAL PERIODS OF AUTHORITARIAN MILITARY RULE AND CONTINUING TERRITORIAL DISPUTES WITH INDIA OVER THE STATUS OF KASHMIR, AND WITH AFGHANISTAN OVER THE PASHTUNISTAN ISSUE.
IN 1948, JINNAH DECLARED IN DHAKA THAT URDU WOULD BE THE ONLY STATE LANGUAGE OF PAKISTAN. THIS SPARKED PROTESTS IN EAST BENGAL (LATER EAST PAKISTAN), WHERE BENGALI WAS SPOKEN BY MOST OF THE POPULATION. THE BENGALI LANGUAGE MOVEMENT REACHED ITS PEAK ON 21 FEBRUARY 1952, WHEN POLICE AND SOLDIERS OPENED FIRED NEAR THE DHAKA MEDICAL COLLEGE ON STUDENTS PROTESTING FOR BENGALI TO RECEIVE EQUAL STATUS WITH URDU. SEVERAL PROTESTERS WERE KILLED, AND THE MOVEMENT GAINED FURTHER SUPPORT THROUGHOUT EAST PAKISTAN. LATER, THE GOVERNMENT AGREED TO PROVIDE EQUAL STATUS TO BENGALI AS A STATE LANGUAGE OF PAKISTAN, A RIGHT LATER CODIFIED IN THE 1956 CONSTITUTION.
IN 1953 AT THE INSTIGATION OF RELIGIOUS PARTIES, ANTI-AHMADIYYA RIOTS ERUPTED, KILLING SCORES OF AHMADI MUSLIMS AND DESTROYING THEIR PROPERTIES.[57] THE RIOTS WERE INVESTIGATED BY A TWO-MEMBER COURT OF INQUIRY IN 1954,[58] WHICH WAS CRITICISED BY THE JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI, ONE OF THE PARTIES ACCUSED OF INCITING THE RIOTS.[59] THIS EVENT LED TO THE FIRST INSTANCE OF MARTIAL LAW IN THE COUNTRY AND BEGAN THE INROAD OF MILITARY INTERVENTION IN THE POLITICS AND CIVILIAN AFFAIRS OF THE COUNTRY, SOMETHING THAT REMAINS TO THIS DAY.[60]

FIRST MILITARY ERA (1958-1971)
MAIN ARTICLES: AYUB KHAN, YAHYA KHAN, AND BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR
THE DOMINION WAS DISSOLVED ON 23 MARCH, 1956 AND REPLACED BY THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN WITH THE LAST GOVERNOR-GENERAL, ISKANDAR MIRZA, AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT.[61] JUST TWO YEARS LATER THE MILITARY TOOK CONTROL OF THE NATION.[62] FIELD MARSHAL AYUB KHAN BECAME PRESIDENT AND BEGAN A NEW SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT CALLED BASIC DEMOCRACY WITH A NEW CONSTITUTION,[63] BY WHICH AN ELECTORAL COLLEGE OF 80,000 WOULD SELECT THE PRESIDENT. AYUB KHAN ALMOST LOST THE CONTROVERSIAL 1965 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS TO FATIMA JINNAH.[64] DURING AYUB'S RULE, RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND THE WEST GREW STRONGER. PAKISTAN JOINED TWO FORMAL MILITARY ALLIANCES — THE BAGHDAD PACT (LATER KNOWN AS CENTO) WHICH INCLUDED IRAN, IRAQ, AND TURKEY TO DEFEND THE MIDDLE EAST AND PERSIAN GULF AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION;[65] AND SEATO WHICH COVERED SOUTH-EAST ASIA.[66] HOWEVER, THE UNITED STATES ADOPTED A POLICY OF DENYING MILITARY AID TO BOTH INDIA AND PAKISTAN DURING THE INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1965 OVER KASHMIR AND THE RANN OF KUTCH.[67]
BETWEEN 1947 AND 1971, PAKISTAN CONSISTED OF TWO GEOGRAPHICALLY SEPARATE REGIONS, WEST PAKISTAN AND EAST PAKISTAN. DURING THE 1960S, THERE WAS A RISE IN BENGALI NATIONALISM IN EAST PAKISTAN, AND OF ALLEGATIONS THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND HIRING FOR GOVERNMENT JOBS FAVOURED WEST PAKISTAN. AN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT IN EAST PAKISTAN BEGAN TO GATHER GROUND. AFTER A NATIONWIDE UPRISING IN 1969, GENERAL AYUB KHAN STEPPED DOWN FROM OFFICE, HANDING POWER TO GENERAL YAHYA KHAN, WHO PROMISED TO HOLD GENERAL ELECTIONS AT THE END OF 1970. ON THE EVE OF THE ELECTIONS, A CYCLONE STRUCK EAST PAKISTAN KILLING APPROXIMATELY 500,000 PEOPLE. DESPITE THE TRAGEDY AND THE ADDITIONAL DIFFICULTY EXPERIENCED BY AFFECTED CITIZENS IN REACHING THE VOTING SITES, THE ELECTIONS WERE HELD AND THE RESULTS SHOWED A CLEAR DIVISION BETWEEN EAST AND WEST PAKISTAN. THE AWAMI LEAGUE, LED BY SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN, WON A MAJORITY WITH 167 OF THE 169 EAST PAKISTANI SEATS, BUT WITH NO SEATS IN WEST PAKISTAN, WHERE THE PAKISTAN PEOPLES PARTY LED BY ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO, WON 85 SEATS. HOWEVER, YAHYA KHAN AND BHUTTO REFUSED TO HAND OVER POWER TO MUJIB.
MEANWHILE, MUJIB INITIATED A CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT, WHICH WAS STRONGLY SUPPORTED BY THE GENERAL POPULATION OF EAST PAKISTAN, INCLUDING MOST GOVERNMENT WORKERS. A ROUND-TABLE CONFERENCE BETWEEN YAHYA, BHUTTO, AND MUJIB WAS CONVENED IN DHAKA, WHICH, HOWEVER, ENDED WITHOUT A SOLUTION. SOON THEREAFTER, THE WEST PAKISTANI ARMY COMMENCED OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT, AN ORGANIZED CRACKDOWN ON THE EAST PAKISTANI ARMY, POLICE, POLITICIANS, CIVILIANS, AND STUDENTS IN DHAKA. MUJIB AND MANY OTHER AWAMI LEAGUE LEADERS WERE ARRESTED, WHILE OTHERS FLED TO NEIGHBOURING INDIA. ON 27TH MARCH 27 1971, MAJOR ZIAUR RAHMAN, A BENGALI WAR-VETERAN OF THE EAST BENGAL REGIMENT OF THE PAKISTAN ARMY, DECLARED THE INDEPENDENCE OF EAST PAKISTAN AS THE NEW NATION OF BANGLADESH ON BEHALF OF MUJIB. THE CRACKDOWN WIDENED AND ESCALATED INTO A GUERRILLA WARFARE BETWEEN THE PAKISTANI ARMY AND THE MUKTI BAHINI (BENGALI "FREEDOM FIGHTERS").[8] ALTHOUGH THE KILLING OF BENGALIS WAS UNSUPPORTED BY THE PEOPLE OF WEST PAKISTAN, IT CONTINUED FOR 9 MONTHS. INDIA SUPPLIED THE BENGALI REBELS WITH ARMS AND TRAINING, AND, IN ADDITION, HOSTED MORE THAN 10 MILLION BENGALI REFUGEES WHO HAD FLED THE TURMOIL.
IN MARCH, 1971, INDIA'S PRIME MINISTER, INDIRA GANDHI EXPRESSED SYMPATHY FOR THE EAST PAKISTANI INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT, OPENING INDIA'S BORDERS TO REFUGEES AND PROVIDING OTHER ASSISTANCE. FOLLOWING A PERIOD OF COVERT AND OVERT INTERVENTION BY INDIAN FORCES, OPEN HOSTILITIES BROKE OUT BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES ON DECEMBER 3, 1971. IN EAST PAKISTAN, THE PAKISTANI ARMY LED BY GENERAL A. A. K. NIAZI, HAD ALREADY BEEN WEAKENED AND EXHAUSTED BY THE MUKTI BAHINI'S GUERRILLA WARFARE. OUTFLANKED AND OVERWHELMED, THE PAKISTANI ARMY IN THE EASTERN THEATRE SURRENDERED ON DECEMBER 16, 1971, WITH NEARLY 90,000 SOLDIERS TAKEN AS PRISONERS OF WAR. THE FIGURES OF THE BENGALI CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL FROM THE WAR VARY GREATLY, DEPENDING ON THE SOURCES. ALTHOUGH PAKISTAN'S OFFICIAL REPORT, BY ITS HAMOOD-UR-RAHMAN COMMISSION, PLACES THE FIGURE AT ONLY 26,000, OTHER SOURCES PUT THE NUMBER BETWEEN 1.25 TO 1.5 MILLION. HIGHEST FIGURE, REPORTED IN THE MEDIA, IS 3 MILLION.
THE RESULT WAS THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEW NATION OF BANGLADESH.[9] DISCREDITED BY THE DEFEAT, GENERAL YAHYA KHAN RESIGNED. BHUTTO WAS INAUGURATED AS PRESIDENT AND CHIEF MARTIAL LAW ADMINISTRATOR ON 20 DECEMBER, 1971, BUT, IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, HE AND THE OTHER TWO KEY PLAYERS IN THIS TRAGIC WAR, MUJIBUR REHMAN AND INDIRA GANDHI SUFFERED A VIOLENT END UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES.

SECOND DEMOCRATIC ERA (1971-1977)
CIVILIAN RULE RETURNED AFTER THE WAR, WHEN GENERAL YAHYA KHAN HANDED OVER POWER TO ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO. IN 1972, PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE LEARNED THAT INDIA WAS CLOSE TO DEVELOPING A NUCLEAR BOMB, AND IN RESPONSE, BHUTTO FORMED A GROUP OF ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS, HEADED BY NUCLEAR SCIENTIST ABDUS SALAM — WHO LATER WON THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS — TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR DEVICES. IN 1973, PARLIAMENT APPROVED A NEW CONSTITUTION. PAKISTAN WAS ALARMED BY THE INDIAN NUCLEAR TEST OF 1974, AND BHUTTO PROMISED THAT PAKISTAN WOULD ALSO HAVE A NUCLEAR DEVICE "EVEN IF WE HAVE TO EAT GRASS AND LEAVES."
DURING BHUTTO'S RULE, A SERIOUS REBELLION ALSO TOOK PLACE IN BALOCHISTAN PROVINCE AND LED TO HARSH SUPPRESSION OF BALOCH REBELS WITH PURPORTED ASSISTANCE FROM THE SHAH OF IRAN LENDING AIR SUPPORT IN ORDER TO AVOID A SPILLING OVER THE CONFLICT INTO IRANIAN BALOCHISTAN. THE CONFLICT ENDED LATER AFTER AN AMNESTY AND SUBSEQUENT STABILIZATION BY THE PROVINCIAL MILITARY RULER RAHIMUDDIN KHAN. IN 1974, BHUTTO SUCCUMBED TO INCREASING PRESSURE FROM RELIGIOUS PARTIES AND HELPED PARLIAMENT TO DECLARE THE AHMADIYYA ADHERENTS AS NON-MUSLIMS. ELECTIONS WERE HELD IN 1977, WITH THE PEOPLE'S PARTY WON BUT THIS WAS CHALLENGED BY THE OPPOSITION, WHICH ACCUSED BHUTTO OF RIGGING THE VOTE. GENERAL MUHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ TOOK POWER IN A BLOODLESS COUP AND BHUTTO WAS LATER EXECUTED, AFTER BEING CONVICTED OF AUTHORIZING THE MURDER OF A POLITICAL OPPONENT, IN A CONTROVERSIAL 4-3 SPLIT DECISION BY THE SUPREME COURT.

SECOND MILITARY ERA (1977-1988)
MAIN ARTICLES: BAGHDAD PACT, ZIA-UL-HAQ'S ISLAMIZATION, AND BALOCH INSURGENCY AND RAHIMUDDIN'S STABILIZATION
PAKISTAN HAD BEEN A US ALLY FOR MUCH OF THE COLD WAR, FROM THE 1950S AND AS A MEMBER OF CENTO AND SEATO. THE SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN RENEWED AND DEEPENED THE US-PAKISTAN ALLIANCE. THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION IN THE UNITED STATES HELPED SUPPLY AND FINANCE AN ANTI-SOVIET INSURGENCY IN AFGHANISTAN, USING PAKISTAN AS A CONDUIT. IN RETALIATION, THE AFGHAN SECRET POLICE, KHAD, CARRIED OUT A LARGE NUMBER OF TERRORIST OPERATIONS AGAINST PAKISTAN, WHICH ALSO SUFFERED FROM AN INFLUX OF ILLEGAL WEAPONS AND DRUGS FROM AFGHANISTAN. IN THE 1980S, AS THE FRONT-LINE STATE IN THE ANTI-SOVIET STRUGGLE, PAKISTAN RECEIVED SUBSTANTIAL AID FROM THE UNITED STATES AS IT TOOK IN MILLIONS OF AFGHAN (MOSTLY PASHTUN) REFUGEES FLEEING THE SOVIET OCCUPATION. THE INFLUX OF SO MANY REFUGEES - THE LARGEST REFUGEE POPULATION IN THE WORLD[68] - HAD A HEAVY IMPACT ON PAKISTAN AND ITS EFFECTS CONTINUE TO THIS DAY. GENERAL ZIA'S MARTIAL-LAW ADMINISTRATION GRADUALLY REVERSED THE SOCIALIST POLICIES OF THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT, AND ALSO INTRODUCED STRICT ISLAMIC LAW IN 1978, OFTEN CITED AS THE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN THE PRESENT CLIMATE OF SECTARIANISM AND RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM IN PAKISTAN. ORDINANCE XX WAS INTRODUCED TO LIMIT THE FREEDOM OF THE AHMADI'S TO CALL THEMSELVES MUSLIMS IN PAKISTAN. FURTHER, IN HIS TIME, SECESSIONIST UPRISINGS IN BALOCHISTAN WERE PUT DOWN VIOLENTLY BUT SUCCESSFULLY BY THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR, GENERAL RAHIMUDDIN KHAN.
GENERAL ZIA LIFTED MARTIAL LAW IN 1985, HOLDING NON-PARTISAN ELECTIONS AND HANDPICKING MUHAMMAD KHAN JUNEJO TO BE THE NEW PRIME MINISTER, WHO READILY EXTENDED ZIA'S TERM AS CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF UNTIL 1990. JUNEJO HOWEVER GRADUALLY FELL OUT WITH ZIA AS HIS ADMINISTRATIVE INDEPENDENCE GREW; FOR EXAMPLE, JUNEJO SIGNED THE GENEVA ACCORD, WHICH ZIA GREATLY FROWNED UPON. AFTER A LARGE-SCALE BLAST AT A MUNITIONS DUMP IN OJHRI, JUNEJO VOWED TO BRING TO JUSTICE THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE CAUSED, IMPLICATING SEVERAL SENIOR GENERALS. ZIA DISMISSED THE JUNEJO GOVERNMENT ON SEVERAL CHARGES IN MAY 1988 AND CALLED FOR ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER 1988. HOWEVER, GENERAL ZIA DIED IN A PLANE CRASH ON AUGUST 17 1988.

THIRD DEMOCRATIC ERA (1988-1999)
MAIN ARTICLES: BENAZIR BHUTTO AND NAWAZ SHARIF
FROM 1988 TO 1999, PAKISTAN WAS RULED BY CIVILIAN GOVERNMENTS, ALTERNATELY HEADED BY BENAZIR BHUTTO AND NAWAZ SHARIF, WHO WERE EACH ELECTED TWICE AND REMOVED FROM OFFICE ON CHARGES OF CORRUPTION. DURING THE LATE 1990S, PAKISTAN WAS ONE OF THREE COUNTRIES WHICH RECOGNIZED THE TALIBAN GOVERNMENT AND MULLAH MOHAMMED OMAR AS THE LEGITIMATE RULER OF AFGHANISTAN.[69] ALLEGATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE OF PAKISTAN AND OTHER COUNTRIES PROVIDING ECONOMIC AND MILITARY AID TO THE GROUP FROM 1994 AS A PART OF SUPPORTING THE ANTI-SOVIET ALLIANCE. IT IS ALLEGED THAT SOME POST-INVASION TALIBAN FIGHTERS WERE RECRUITS DRAWN FROM PAKISTAN'S MADRASSAHS. ECONOMIC GROWTH DECLINED TOWARDS THE END OF THIS PERIOD, HURT BY THE ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS, AND ECONOMIC SANCTIONS IMPOSED ON PAKISTAN AFTER ITS FIRST TESTS OF NUCLEAR DEVICES IN 1998. THE PAKISTANI TESTING CAME SHORTLY AFTER INDIA TESTED NUCLEAR DEVICES AND INCREASED FEARS OF A NUCLEAR ARMS RACE IN SOUTH ASIA. THE NEXT YEAR, THE KARGIL CONFLICT IN KASHMIR THREATENED TO ESCALATE TO A FULL-SCALE WAR.[10]
IN THE ELECTION THAT RETURNED NAWAZ SHARIF AS PRIME MINISTER IN 1997, HIS PARTY RECEIVED A HEAVY MAJORITY OF THE VOTE, OBTAINING ENOUGH SEATS IN PARLIAMENT TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION, WHICH SHARIF AMENDED TO ELIMINATE THE FORMAL CHECKS AND BALANCES THAT RESTRAINED THE PRIME MINISTER'S POWER. INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES TO HIS AUTHORITY LED BY THE CIVILIAN PRESIDENT FAROOQ LEGHARI, MILITARY CHIEF JEHANGIR KARAMAT AND CHIEF JUSTICE SAJJAD ALI SHAH WERE PUT DOWN AND ALL THREE WERE FORCED TO RESIGN - SHAH DOING SO AFTER THE SUPREME COURT WAS STORMED BY SHARIF PARTISANS.[70]

THIRD MILITARY ERA (1999 - 2007)
MAIN ARTICLES: 1999 PAKISTANI COUP D'ÉTAT AND PERVEZ MUSHARRAF
ON 12 OCTOBER, 1999, SHARIF ATTEMPTED TO DISMISS ARMY CHIEF PERVEZ MUSHARRAF AND INSTALL ISI DIRECTOR KHWAJA ZIAUDDIN IN HIS PLACE, BUT SENIOR GENERALS REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE DECISION.[71] MUSHARRAF, WHO WAS OUT OF THE COUNTRY, BOARDED A COMMERCIAL AIRLINER TO RETURN TO PAKISTAN. SHARIF ORDERED THE JINNAH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO PREVENT THE LANDING OF THE AIRLINER, WHICH THEN CIRCLED THE SKIES OVER KARACHI. IN A COUP, THE GENERALS OUSTED SHARIF'S ADMINISTRATION AND TOOK OVER THE AIRPORT.[11] THE PLANE LANDED WITH ONLY A FEW MINUTES OF FUEL TO SPARE, AND GENERAL MUSHARRAF ASSUMED CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT. HE ARRESTED SHARIF AND THOSE MEMBERS OF HIS CABINET WHO TOOK PART IN THIS CONSPIRACY. AMERICAN PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON HAD FELT THAT HIS PRESSURE TO FORCE SHARIF TO WITHDRAW PAKISTANI FORCES FROM KARGIL, IN INDIAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR, WAS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN SHARIF AND THE PAKISTANI ARMY. CLINTON AND KING FAHD THEN PRESSURED MUSHARRAF TO SPARE SHARIF AND, INSTEAD, EXILE HIM TO SAUDI ARABIA, GUARANTEEING THAT HE WOULD NOT BE INVOLVED IN POLITICS FOR TEN YEARS. SHARIF LIVED IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR MORE THAN SIX YEARS BEFORE MOVING TO LONDON IN 2005.
ON MAY 12, 2000 THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN ORDERED THE GOVERNMENT TO HOLD GENERAL ELECTIONS BY OCTOBER 12, 2002. IN AN ATTEMPT TO LEGITIMIZE HIS PRESIDENCY[72] AND ASSURE ITS CONTINUANCE AFTER THE IMPENDING ELECTIONS, MUSHARRAF HELD A CONTROVERSIAL NATIONAL REFERENDUM ON APRIL 30, 2002,[73] WHICH EXTENDED HIS PRESIDENTIAL TERM TO A PERIOD ENDING FIVE YEARS AFTER THE OCTOBER ELECTIONS.[74] MUSHARRAF STRENGTHENED HIS POSITION BY ISSUING A LEGAL FRAMEWORK ORDER IN AUGUST 2001 WHICH ESTABLISHED THE CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS FOR HIS CONTINUANCE IN OFFICE.[75] THE GENERAL ELECTIONS WERE HELD IN OCTOBER 2002 AND THE CENTRIST, PRO-MUSHARRAF PML-Q WON A MAJORITY OF THE SEATS IN PARLIAMENT. HOWEVER, PARTIES OPPOSED TO THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ORDER EFFECTIVELY PARALYZED THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR OVER A YEAR. THE DEADLOCK ENDED IN DECEMBER 2003, WHEN MUSHARRAF AND SOME OF HIS PARLIAMENTARY OPPONENTS AGREED UPON A COMPROMISE, AND PRO-MUSHARRAF LEGISLATORS WERE ABLE TO MUSTER THE TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY REQUIRED TO PASS THE SEVENTEENTH AMENDMENT, WHICH RETROACTIVELY LEGITIMIZED MUSHARRAF'S 1999 COUP AND MANY OF HIS SUBSEQUENT DECREES. IN A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE ON 1ST JANUARY 2004, MUSHARRAF WON 658 OUT OF 1,170 VOTES IN THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE OF PAKISTAN, AND ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 41(8) OF THE CONSTITUTION OF PAKISTAN, WAS ELECTED TO THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT.[76]
WHILE ECONOMIC REFORMS UNDERTAKEN DURING HIS REGIME HAVE YIELDED SOME RESULTS, SOCIAL REFORM PROGRAMMES AND HIS LIBERAL VIEWS ON REFORMING THE PRACTICE OF ISLAM APPEAR TO HAVE MET WITH RESISTANCE. MUSHARRAF'S POWER IS THREATENED BY EXTREMISTS WHO HAVE GROWN IN STRENGTH SINCE THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 ATTACKS AND WHO ARE PARTICULARLY ANGERED BY MUSHARRAF'S CLOSE POLITICAL AND MILITARY ALLIANCE WITH THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING HIS SUPPORT OF THE 2001 INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN. MUSHARRAF HAS SURVIVED SEVERAL ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS BY TERRORIST GROUPS BELIEVED TO BE PART OF AL-QAEDA, INCLUDING AT LEAST TWO INSTANCES WHERE THE TERRORISTS HAD INSIDE INFORMATION FROM A MEMBER OF HIS MILITARY SECURITY. PAKISTAN CONTINUES TO BE INVOLVED IN A DISPUTE OVER KASHMIR, WITH ALLEGATIONS OF SUPPORT OF TERRORIST GROUPS BEING LEVELED AGAINST PAKISTAN BY INDIA, WHILE PAKISTAN CHARGES THAT THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT ABUSES HUMAN RIGHTS IN ITS USE OF MILITARY FORCE IN THE DISPUTED REGION. WHAT MAKES THIS DISPUTE A SOURCE OF SPECIAL CONCERN FOR THE WORLD COMMUNITY IS, THAT BOTH INDIA AND PAKISTAN POSSESS NUCLEAR WEAPONS. IT HAD LED TO A NUCLEAR STANDOFF IN 2002, WHEN KASHMIRI-MILITANTS (SUPPOSEDLY BACKED BY THE ISI) ATTACKED THE INDIAN PARLIAMENT. IN REACTION TO THIS, SERIOUS DIPLOMATIC TENSIONS DEVELOPED AND INDIA AND PAKISTAN DEPLOYED 500,000 AND 120,000 TROOPS TO THE BORDER RESPECTIVELY.[77] WHILE THE INDO-PAKISTANI PEACE PROCESS HAS SINCE MADE PROGRESS, IT IS SOMETIMES STALLED BY INFREQUENT INSURGENT ACTIVITY IN INDIA (INCLUDING THE 11 JULY 2006 MUMBAI TRAIN BOMBINGS). PAKISTAN ALSO HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF CONTRIBUTING TO NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION; INDEED, ITS LEADING NUCLEAR SCIENTIST, ABDUL QADEER KHAN, ADMITTED TO SELLING NUCLEAR SECRETS, THOUGH HE DENIED GOVERNMENT KNOWLEDGE OF HIS ACTIVITIES.
THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT SENT THOUSANDS OF TROOPS INTO THE REGION OF WAZIRISTAN IN 2002 TO HUNT FOR BIN LADEN AND OTHER AL-QAEDA FUGITIVES. IN MARCH 2004, HEAVY FIGHTING BROKE OUT AT AZAM WARSAK, NEAR THE SOUTH WAZIRISTAN TOWN OF WANA, BETWEEN PAKISTANI TROOPS AND AN ESTIMATED 400 MILITANTS HOLED UP IN SEVERAL FORTIFIED SETTLEMENTS. IT WAS SPECULATED THAT BIN LADEN'S DEPUTY AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI WAS AMONG THOSE TRAPPED BY THE PAKISTANI ARMY. ON SEPTEMBER 5, 2006 A TRUCE WAS SIGNED WITH THE MILITANTS (WHO CALL THEMSELVES THE ISLAMIC EMIRATE OF WAZIRISTAN) IN WHICH THE REBELS WERE TO CEASE SUPPORTING CROSS-BORDER JIHADIST ATTACKS ON AFGHANISTAN IN RETURN FOR A GENERAL CEASEFIRE AND A HAND-OVER OF BORDER PATROL AND CHECK-POINT RESPONSIBILITIES FORMERLY HANDLED BY THE PAKISTAN ARMY.
FORMER PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF ATTEMPTED TO RETURN FROM EXILE ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 BUT WAS ARRESTED ON CORRUPTION CHARGES AFTER LANDING AT ISLAMABAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. SHARIF WAS THEN PUT ON A PLANE BOUND FOR JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA, WHILST OUTSIDE THE AIRPORT THERE WERE VIOLENT CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN SHARIF'S SUPPORTERS AND THE POLICE.[78] THIS DID NOT DETER ANOTHER FORMER PRIME MINISTER, BENAZIR BHUTTO, FROM RETURNING ON OCTOBER 18, 2007 AFTER AN EIGHT YEAR EXILE IN DUBAI AND LONDON, TO PREPARE FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN 2008.[79][80] HOWEVER, ON THE SAME DAY, TWO SUICIDE BOMBERS ATTEMPTED TO KILL BHUTTO AS SHE TRAVELLED TOWARDS A RALLY IN KARACHI. BHUTTO ESCAPED UNHARMED BUT THERE WERE 136 CASUALTIES AND AT LEAST 450 PEOPLE WERE INJURED.[81]
ON NOVEMBER 3, 2007, GENERAL MUSHARRAF PROCLAIMED A STATE OF EMERGENCY AND SACKED THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF PAKISTAN, JUSTICE IFTIKHAR MUHAMMAD CHOUDHRY ALONG WITH OTHER 14 JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT.[82][83] LAWYERS LAUNCHED A PROTEST AGAINST THIS ACTION BUT THEY WERE ARRESTED. ALL PRIVATE MEDIA CHANNELS WERE BANNED INCLUDING FOREIGN CHANNELS. MUSHARRAF DECLARED THAT THE STATE OF EMERGENCY WOULD END ON DECEMBER 16, 2007.[84] ON NOVEMBER 28, 2007, GENERAL MUSHARRAF RETIRED FROM THE ARMY AND THE FOLLOWING DAY WAS SWORN IN FOR A SECOND PRESIDENTIAL TERM.[85][86]
ON NOVEMBER 25, 2007, NAWAZ SHARIF MADE A SECOND ATTEMPT TO RETURN FROM EXILE, THIS TIME ACCOMPANIED BY HIS BROTHER, THE FORMER PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER, SHAHBAZ SHARIF. HUNDREDS OF THEIR SUPPORTERS, INCLUDING A FEW LEADERS OF THE PARTY WERE DETAINED BEFORE THE PAIR ARRIVED AT LAHORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.[87][88] THE FOLLOWING DAY, NAWAZ SHARIF FILED HIS NOMINATION PAPERS FOR TWO SEATS IN THE FORTHCOMING ELECTIONS WHILST BENAZIR BHUTTO FILED FOR THREE SEATS INCLUDING ONE OF THE RESERVED SEATS FOR WOMEN.[89]
ON DECEMBER 27, 2007, BENAZIR BUTTO WAS LEAVING AN ELECTION RALLY IN RAWALPINDI WHEN SHE WAS ASSASSINATED BY A GUNMAN WHO SHOT HER IN THE NECK AND SET OFF A BOMB,[90][91] KILLING 20 OTHER PEOPLE AND INJURING SEVERAL MORE.[92] THE EXACT CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ATTACK REMAIN UNCLEAR BECAUSE ALTHOUGH EARLY REPORTS INDICATED THAT BHUTTO WAS HIT BY SHRAPNEL OR THE GUNSHOTS,[93] THE PAKISTANI INTERIOR MINISTRY STATED THAT SHE DIED FROM A SKULL FRACTURE SUSTAINED WHEN THE EXPLOSION THREW BHUTTO AGAINST THE SUNROOF OF HER VEHICLE.[94] BHUTTO'S AIDES REJECTED THIS CLAIM AND INSISTED THAT SHE SUFFERED TWO GUNSHOTS PRIOR TO THE BOMB DETONATION.[95] THE INTERIOR MINISTRY SUBSEQUENTLY BACKTRACKED FROM ITS PREVIOUS CLAIM.[96] THE ELECTION COMMISSION, AFTER A MEETING IN ISLAMABAD, ANNOUNCED THAT, DUE TO THE ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO,[97]THE ELECTIONS, WHICH HAD BEEN SCHEDULED FOR 8 JANUARY 2008, WOULD TAKE PLACE ON 18 FEBRUARY.[98]
A GENERAL ELECTION WAS HELD IN PAKISTAN, ACCORDING TO THE REVISED SCHEDULE, ON FEBRUARY 18, 2008,).[99][100] PAKISTAN'S TWO BIG AND MAIN OPPOSITION PARTIES, THE PAKISTAN PEOPLES PARTY (PPPP) AND THE PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE (N) (PML (N)) WON THE MAJORITY OF SEATS IN THE ELECTION, ALTHOUGH THE PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE (Q) (PML (Q)) ACTUALLY WAS SECOND IN THE POPULAR VOTE. THE PPP AND PML (N) ARE EXPECTED TO FORM THE NEW GOVERNMENT.

IDEOLOGY OF PAKISTAN

IDEOLOGY OF PAKISTAN DERIVES ITS STRENGTH FROM THE TWO NATION THEORY FIRST PROPOUNDED BY SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN IN THE 19TH CENTURY. IT GAINED STRENGTH WHEN IN 1930 SIR MOHAMMED IQBAL SPOKE OF THE GROWING PROBLEMS OF MUSLIMS IN THE SUB-CONTINENT AND HIS VISION OF A SEPARATE MUSLIM HOMELAND. THE DREAM CAME TRUE UNDER THE DYNAMIC AND PRAGMATIC LEADERSHIP OF QUAID-E-AZAM MOHAMMED ALI JINNAH WHO, AFTER ALL HIS EFFORTS AS AN AMBASSADOR OF HINDU-MUSLIM UNITY, HAD FINALLY COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HINDUS AND MUSLIM OF THE SUBCONTINENT COULD NEVER BE RESOLVED. THE MUSLIM NATION HAD TO TAKE CONTROL OF ITS OWN DESTINY AND IT DID SO THROUGH THE CREATION OF PAKISTAN IN 1947.

PAKISTAN'S IDEOLOGY IS BASED ON THE TWO-NATION THEORY, AND AS THE QUAID-E-AZAM SUMMED IT, "..WE HAVE OUR DISTINCTIVE OUTLOOK ON LIFE AND OF LIFE. BY ALL CANONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW WE ARE A NATION."
IN HIS SPEECH AT LAHORE, AFTER CRITICIZING THE CONCEPT OF A CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, JINNAH DECLARED..
"IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN TAKEN FOR GRANTED, MISTAKENLY THAT THE MUSLIMS ARE A MINORITY, AND ... THESE SETTLED NOTIONS ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO REMOVE. THE MUSALMANS ARE NOT A MINORITY. THE MUSALMANS ARE A NATION BY ANY DEFINITION... THE PROBLEM IN INDIA IS NOT OF INTER-COMMUNAL BUT MANIFESTLY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER. THE ONLY COURSE OPEN TO US ALL IS TO ALLOW THE MAJOR NATIONS SEPARATE HOMELANDS BY DIVIDING INDIA INTO AUTONOMOUS NATIONAL STATES."
SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN WAS A MORNING STAR OF MUSLIM POLITICAL AWAKENING IN THE SUB-CONTINENT. AS EARLY AS 1886, SIR SYED AHMAD DECLARED, "THOSE WHO LIVE AFTER ME, WOULD SEE THAT THESE TWO NATIONS, MUSLIMS AND HINDUS, WOULD NOT LIVE TOGETHER."
MOHAMMED IQBAL - AN INFLUENTIAL THINKER WHO CRITICIZED THE WEST, FOR ITS SUPERFICIALITY AND MATERIALISM, AND PREACHED THAT ISLAM WAS A UNITING FORCE, CULTURALLY AS WELL AS RELIGIOUSLY, AND UNITED MUSLIMS ALL OVER THE WORLD.
IT WAS IN 1930 THAT HE PROPOSED A SEPARATE MUSLIM HOMELAND IN NORTH WEST INDIA. HE BUILT UP THE MUSLIM CONSCIOUSNESS BY FUSING THE PAST AND THE PRESENT INTO AN ETERNAL PRESENT. HE INSPIRED THE MUSLIMS WITH A NEW VISION AND GAVE THEM A NEW VOICE.
THE MINAR-E-PAKISTAN STANDS AT THE SITE OF THE PASSING OF THE PAKISTAN RESOLUTION IN 1940 IN WHAT USED TO BE THE MINTO PARK OF PRE-PARTITION LAHORE.
HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME, ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE DECLARED PAKISTAN AS ITS GOAL.

HISTORY OF PAKISTAN

THE HISTORY OF PAKISTAN BEGAN WITH INDEPENDENCE ON 14 AUGUST 1947 BUT THE REGION HAS BEEN INHABITED CONTINUOUSLY FOR AT LEAST TWO MILLION YEARS.[1][2] THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE REGION INCLUDES SOME OF SOUTH ASIA'S OLDEST SETTLEMENTS[3] AND SOME OF ITS MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS.[4][5] THE MODERN HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY BEGAN WITH THE INDIAN REBELLION OF 1857, WHICH RESULTED IN 90 YEARS OF DIRECT BRITISH RULE, AND LAID THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS AND THE ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE. THE LATTER WAS FOUNDED IN 1906 TO PROTECT MUSLIM INTERESTS AND ROSE TO POPULARITY IN THE LATE 1930S AMID FEARS OF NEGLECT AND UNDER-REPRESENTATION OF MUSLIMS IN POLITICS. ON 29 DECEMBER 1930, THE POET MUHAMMAD IQBAL CALLED FOR AN AUTONOMOUS "STATE IN NORTHWESTERN INDIA FOR INDIAN MUSLIMS".[6] MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH ESPOUSED THE TWO NATION THEORY AND LED THE MUSLIM LEAGUE TO ADOPT THE LAHORE RESOLUTION[7] OF 1940, DEMANDING THE FORMATION OF AN INDEPENDENT PAKISTAN.
PAKISTAN BECAME INDEPENDENT AS A MUSLIM-MAJORITY STATE WITH TWO WINGS TO THE EAST AND NORTHWEST OF INDIA RESPECTIVELY. PARTITION RESULTED IN COMMUNAL RIOTS ACROSS INDIA AND PAKISTAN — AS MILLIONS OF MUSLIMS MOVED TO PAKISTAN AND MILLIONS OF HINDUS AND SIKHS MOVED TO INDIA. DISPUTES AROSE OVER SEVERAL PRINCELY STATES INCLUDING JAMMU AND KASHMIR WHOSE RULER HAD ACCEDED TO INDIA FOLLOWING AN INVASION BY TRIBESMEN FROM PAKISTAN. THIS LEAD TO THE FIRST KASHMIR WAR (1948) WHICH ENDED WITH INDIA OCCUPYING ROUGHLY TWO-THIRDS OF THE STATE AND PAKISTAN OCCUPYING THE REMAINDER. A REPUBLIC WAS DECLARED IN 1956 BUT WAS STALLED BY A COUP D'ETAT BY AYUB KHAN (1958–69), WHO RULED DURING A PERIOD OF INTERNAL INSTABILITY AND A SECOND WAR WITH INDIA IN 1965. ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DISSENT IN EAST PAKISTAN LED TO VIOLENT POLITICAL REPRESSION AND TENSIONS ESCALATING INTO CIVIL WAR[8] FOLLOWED BY THE INDO-PAKISTANI WAR OF 1971 AND ULTIMATELY THE SECESSION OF EAST PAKISTAN AS THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF BANGLADESH.[9]
CIVILIAN RULE RESUMED FROM 1972 TO 1977 UNDER ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO, UNTIL HE WAS DEPOSED BY GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ, WHO BECAME THE COUNTRY'S THIRD MILITARY PRESIDENT. PAKISTAN'S SECULAR POLICIES WERE REPLACED BY THE ISLAMIC SHARIAH LEGAL CODE, WHICH INCREASED RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES ON THE CIVIL SERVICE AND THE MILITARY. WITH THE DEATH OF GENERAL ZIA IN A PLANE CRASH IN 1988, BENAZIR BHUTTO, DAUGHTER OF ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO, WAS ELECTED AS THE FIRST FEMALE PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN. OVER THE NEXT DECADE, SHE ALTERNATED POWER WITH NAWAZ SHARIF, AS THE COUNTRY'S POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION WORSENED. MILITARY TENSIONS IN THE KARGIL CONFLICT[10] WITH INDIA WERE FOLLOWED BY A PAKISTANI MILITARY COUP D'ÉTAT IN 1999 IN WHICH GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF ASSUMED EXECUTIVE POWERS.[11] IN 2001, MUSHARRAF NAMED HIMSELF PRESIDENT AFTER THE FORCED RESIGNATION OF RAFIQ TARAR. AFTER THE 2002 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, MUSHARRAF TRANSFERRED EXECUTIVE POWERS TO NEWLY ELECTED PRIME MINISTER ZAFARULLAH KHAN JAMALI, WHO WAS SUCCEEDED IN THE 2004 PRIME-MINISTERIAL ELECTION BY SHAUKAT AZIZ, FOLLOWED BY A TEMPORARY PERIOD IN OFFICE BY CHAUDHRY SHUJAAT HUSSAIN. ON 15 NOVEMBER 2007 THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMPLETED ITS TERM AND A CARETAKER GOVERNMENT WAS APPOINTED WITH THE FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE, MUHAMMAD MIAN SOOMRO AS PRIME MINISTER. THE ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO RESULTED IN THE GENERAL ELECTIONS BEING POSTPONED UNTIL 18 FEBRUARY 2008