GENERAL ZIA’S MARTIAL LAW IN THE NAME OF ISLAM

The future historian will determine that what were the intentions of General Ziaulhaq when he assumed control of the government and how far did he succeed in fulfilling his objectives. On 5th July 1977 General Ziaulhaq enforced martial law in Pakistan with the announcement that he would restore democracy in the country after holding general elections with in ninety days but he remained the dictator of the country for eleven years. During this period he announced that he would hold accountability of all corrupt people but neither he organised elections nor he held accountability of any one. However he awarded death sentence to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto accusing him for the murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan. This case and all related proofs were doubtful. Outside Pakistan and within the country all judicial and legal circles have consensus that the name of law and judiciary was misused in this case and Bhutto was hanged for a murder in which he was not involved. In this connection Mr Justice Raja Ratnam a judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in his book ?Judiciary in crisis? has carried out a detailed analysis and has lambasted this case and the decision. Bhutto was hanged on 4th April 1979. As a repercussion a confrontation with in the country cropped up. People Party and its supporting circles took the shape of a permanent political group. In response to this Gen. Zia collected the anti- Bhutto, anti- socialism and Islamic forces on one platform. This practice amounted to not only muddying the political water but making it filthy. Instead of dividing the people into groups comprising good and bad people it created a spirit of intolerance between these groups.

This political scenario was most conducive for Gen. Ziaulhaq, so he started work under the name of Islamic reforms. Even an ordinary supporter of Islamic system of government knows it fully well that in Islam the first emphasis is on Islamic teachings and their practice. The Islamic atmosphere and social order comes later. When the blessings and benefits of Islamic system reach the common man then the Islamic penal code is enforced. But Gen. Ziaulhaq enforced the Islamic punishment system and Shariat courts first of all. He forcibly collected Zakat through banks and distributed it to the Zakat Committees, Ushr(Agri-tax) Committees and Salat(Prayers) Committees of clerics. Thus he gathered round him a professional crowd of clerics and emotional public speakers in the name of Islam. Gen. Zia was using this crowd for his own political support and political opposition to Bhutto. In this connection he involved Jamait-e-Islami under the leadership of Mian Tufail Mohammd and Jamait-e-Islami got perpetually engaged in physical fighting against other political parties. During this period revolutions took place in Afghanistan one after the other. First of all Nur Mohammad Tarkai was the leader of the communist revolution, then his comrade Hafizullah Amin became the protagonist of second revolution and they killed Nur Mohammad Tarkai and his compatriots .Hafizullah was removed by the revolt of Babrak Karmal who sought help of Soviet Union and Soviet armies entered Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from Afghanistan entered Pakistan and formed Mujahid(Fighter) groups who started the struggle against the Russian forces .General Zia joined this Jehad(struggle) in the name of Islam. The US government opened its coffers for the aid of Afghan freedom fighters. Gen Zia was a good administrator. He organised all the freedom fighting groups and gave them asylum in Pakistan giving America the impression that all these groups are at his beck and call. Thus American ammunition and monetary aid was distributed to these Mujahid groups through Gen. Zia. The Afghan Mujahid groups thus entrenched themselves in Pakistan and introduced Pakistanis to the Klashnikov and heroin culture. The trade in narcotics spread every where in Pakistan and a lot of illegal arms were enmassed. The arms being distributed to the Afghan fighting groups were being bought by criminals cheaply in the open market. Thus the beginning of armed terrorism and violence was made in Pakistan.

Surely Gen. Zia did not mean it. He was not aware of the catastrophe being inflicted on Pakistani people but when these forces were set into motion he had no cure for this ailment. He shook the world particularly the Islamic world for the freedom fight in Afghanistan and aid in the form of cash, useful articles and arms started pouring in. How much of it reached the concerned quarters and how much was pilfered no one has the clue.

Gen Zia might have succeeded in implementing the Islamic system in the country but due to the flood of illegal arms and narcotics a new class of people emerged who became billionaires on the basis of indulging in unlawful trade in arms and narcotics. They were talking of Islam but were practically doing illegal things. That created a dilemma and confusion for those Pakistanis who were sincere to Islam. They were in fact neither prepared to tolerate opposition to Islam nor accepted the conditions being created in the country in the name of Islam. The sources near Gen. Zia say that the General was himself upset with this flood of illegal arms and narcotics but he was powerless in this connection. He continuously tried to stop this practice as much as he could but he had another goal before him. He thought that after the evacuation of Russian forces there would be an administrative vacuum in Afghanistan. So he had obtained an undertaking from the Mujahid groups that after attaining freedom they would form a loose confederation between Pakistan and Afghanistan and it was also possible that Pashtu speaking tribes of Afghanistan might join Pakistan permanently thus giving Pakistan a sense of security and depth along the Western borders. This would also open up the route to Central Asian countries which was necessary from the point of view of trade and commerce.

Irrespective of what happened in this region in the name of Afghanistan, the thought of General Zia was very positive but unfortunately what actually transpired was extremely negative. There is a possibility that had he not been killed under a conspiracy, perhaps the history of this region would have been different because his grip on the Afghan freedom fighting groups was more than that of Afghans themselves. Had he remained alive the future of democracy in Pakistan might have been dark but new avenues of prosperity might have opened. The process of Islamisation he initiated in Pakistan remained temporary and inconclusive. He could not enforce any part of Islamic system. Thus the result is that today people blame Bhutto for Islamic Socialism and Gen. Zia for Islamisation for their own political ends of prolonging their personal hold on governments . During Zia?s rule the concept of Pakistani nationalism weakened and regional and linguistic prejudices strengthened and have now acquired dangerous dimensions .