Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, 1958-69

This handout covers Pakistan's first period of military rule: why Ayub Khan took power, how he governed, his reforms in the "Decade of Development", the 1965 war and why he fell in 1969. It belongs to Section 3 of the syllabus: nationhood 1947-99.

Key dates

Date	Event
7 October 1958	President Iskander Mirza sets aside the 1956 constitution and declares martial law; Ayub Khan becomes Chief Martial Law Administrator
27 October 1958	Ayub Khan removes Mirza and becomes President
1959	Land reforms; Basic Democracies Order; decision to build a new capital
September 1960	Indus Waters Treaty signed with India
1961	Muslim Family Laws Ordinance
1962	New constitution introduced; martial law lifted
January 1965	Presidential election: Ayub Khan defeats Miss Fatima Jinnah
September 1965	War with India
January 1966	Tashkent Declaration
25 March 1969	Ayub Khan resigns and hands power to General Yahya Khan

Why did Ayub Khan take power in 1958?

1. Political instability. Between 1951 and 1958 Pakistan had several prime ministers, and governments were made and broken by small groups of politicians and by the Governor-General or President. Many people had lost faith in the politicians.
2. Economic and social problems. There were food shortages, rising prices, hoarding, smuggling and black-marketing. The army believed that civilian governments were too weak to deal with them.
3. The strength and ambition of the army. The army was the best organised institution in the country and Ayub Khan, its Commander-in-Chief since 1951, had already served in the cabinet as Defence Minister. Iskander Mirza declared martial law himself, but within three weeks Ayub Khan forced him into exile and took the presidency.

The assemblies were dissolved, political parties were banned and many politicians were barred from public life.

Basic Democracies

Ayub Khan argued that parliamentary democracy did not suit a country where most people could not read or write. In 1959 he introduced Basic Democracies instead.

• There were four tiers of councils: union councils at the bottom, then tehsil (thana in East Pakistan), district and divisional councils.
• Ordinary people voted only for the lowest tier. They chose 80,000 Basic Democrats, 40,000 from each wing.
• The Basic Democrats ran local matters and also formed the electoral college that chose the President and the assemblies.

In February 1960 about 95 per cent of the Basic Democrats voted to confirm Ayub Khan as President. Critics said that 80,000 voters could easily be influenced by the government, so the system kept him in power without real democracy.

The 1962 constitution

• It set up a presidential system. The President held great power: he chose the ministers, could veto laws and could not easily be removed.
• The President and the National Assembly were elected indirectly by the Basic Democrats, not by the people.
• The National Assembly had one house, with seats divided equally between East and West Pakistan.
• The President had to be a Muslim. The country was first named the "Republic of Pakistan"; the word "Islamic" was restored after protests.

Martial law was lifted in 1962 and political parties were allowed again. In the presidential election of January 1965 the opposition united behind Miss Fatima Jinnah, sister of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Ayub Khan won, but the opposition complained that the indirect system and official pressure had decided the result.

The "Decade of Development"

Agricultural reforms

• Land reforms (1959): no one could own more than 500 acres of irrigated or 1,000 acres of unirrigated land. In practice many landlords kept their estates by transferring land to relatives.
• The Green Revolution: high-yielding seeds for wheat and rice, chemical fertilisers, tube wells, tractors and loans to farmers raised crop yields sharply in the 1960s. The gains went mostly to richer farmers.
• Water: the Indus Waters Treaty (1960) gave Pakistan the three western rivers and led to new link canals and dams. Mangla Dam was completed in 1967.

Industrial reforms

• Industry was encouraged with loans, tax concessions and an Export Bonus Scheme (1959) that rewarded exporters.
• Foreign aid and loans paid for new factories. An oil refinery was built at Karachi.
• In 1964 Pakistan, Iran and Turkey formed Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) to increase trade.

The economy grew quickly, but the new wealth was badly shared. In 1968 the economist Dr Mahbub ul Haq stated that 22 families controlled about two-thirds of the country's industrial assets and most of its banking and insurance. Nearly all of these families were in West Pakistan, so East Pakistanis felt that the growth had passed them by.

Social reforms

• Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (1961): marriages and divorces had to be registered, a man needed permission from an arbitration council before taking a second wife, and the minimum age of marriage for girls was raised to 16.
• Family planning and education: a family planning programme was started, with limited success. New schools and colleges were built and technical education was encouraged.
• Housing and prices: new townships such as Korangi near Karachi were built for refugees who were still living in camps. Prices of basic goods were fixed and action was taken against hoarding and smuggling.

The new capital: Islamabad

In 1959 the government decided to move the capital from Karachi. Rawalpindi served as the temporary capital while Islamabad was built beside it from 1961.

1. Karachi was a crowded port and business city with a hot, humid climate.
2. The new site was next to the army headquarters at Rawalpindi and less open to attack from the sea.
3. A planned new city would be a symbol of progress.

The 1965 war and Tashkent

After fighting in the Rann of Kutch in spring 1965, Pakistan sent armed volunteers into Indian-held Kashmir in August, hoping to start an uprising. India answered on 6 September by attacking across the international border towards Lahore. Neither side won clearly, and a United Nations ceasefire took effect later in September.

In January 1966 Ayub Khan met the Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Tashkent, with the Soviet Union as host. Both sides agreed to withdraw to the positions held before the war and to settle disputes peacefully. Nothing was gained on Kashmir. Pakistanis had been told that they were winning the war, so the agreement caused anger. The Foreign Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, left the government and in 1967 founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Why did Ayub Khan fall from power in 1969?

1. Tashkent and the war. The war damaged the economy and the peace terms made Ayub Khan look weak.
2. Unequal wealth. The "Decade of Development" celebrations of 1968 angered people who faced rising prices while a few families grew rich.
3. Resentment in East Pakistan. East Pakistan felt undefended in the 1965 war and neglected in development. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman put forward his Six Points for autonomy in 1966. His arrest in the Agartala conspiracy case made him more popular.
4. Lack of democracy. Indirect elections, press controls and the arrest of opponents left no peaceful way to change the government. From late 1968 students, workers and opposition parties held strikes and demonstrations in both wings.
5. Loss of authority. Ayub Khan had been seriously ill in 1968. Talks with the opposition in early 1969 did not end the disorder, and the army no longer backed him.

On 25 March 1969 he resigned and handed power to the army chief, General Yahya Khan, who declared martial law.

How successful was Ayub Khan?

Successes: he brought stability; farm output and industry grew fast; the Indus Waters Treaty settled a dangerous dispute; the Family Laws gave women more protection; refugees were housed.

Failures: growth depended on foreign loans and its benefits went to a small group; the gap between East and West Pakistan widened; Basic Democracies and the 1962 constitution kept power in one man's hands; the land reforms were weak; the 1965 war gained nothing and cost a great deal.

Judgement: Ayub Khan's economic record was the strongest of any government up to that time, so in that sense he was successful. But he did not build a political system that people accepted or share the new wealth fairly, and these failures brought him down and deepened the division between the two wings.

Key terms and people

• Basic Democracies: Ayub Khan's system of local councils whose 80,000 members also elected the President.
• Green Revolution: the rise in crop yields from new seeds, fertiliser and irrigation.
• Tashkent Declaration: the 1966 peace agreement after the 1965 war.
• Fatima Jinnah: opposition candidate in the 1965 presidential election.
• Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Ayub Khan's Foreign Minister, later founder of the PPP.

Exam practice

1. Describe the Basic Democracies system. [4]
2. Why did Ayub Khan declare the years 1958 to 1968 a "Decade of Development"? [7]
3. "The Tashkent Declaration was the most important reason for Ayub Khan's fall from power in 1969." How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [14]

Outline answers

1. Introduced in 1959; four tiers of councils from union council up to divisional council; people elected only the lowest tier; 80,000 Basic Democrats, half from each wing; they also acted as the electoral college for the President and assemblies; confirmed Ayub Khan as President in 1960.

2. Three explained reasons: (a) agriculture had improved through land reform, new seeds, fertiliser, tube wells and dams, so food output rose; (b) industry and exports had grown quickly with loans, the Export Bonus Scheme and foreign aid, and the government wanted credit for it; (c) social reforms such as the Family Laws, refugee housing and the new capital could be shown as progress.

3. Agree: Tashkent gave no gain on Kashmir after people had been told the war was going well; it led Bhutto to leave and form the PPP and damaged Ayub Khan's standing. Other reasons: unequal wealth and the 22 families; rising prices; East Pakistani anger and the Six Points; lack of democracy under Basic Democracies; student and worker protests in 1968-69; his illness. Judgement: Tashkent began the decline, but he survived it for three years; the wider anger over inequality and the lack of democracy turned discontent into the mass protests that removed him.