187 FIELD MARSHAL MOHAMMAD AYUB KHAN .

' 't Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, the Saviour of Pakistan is the first elected President of our country. He belongs to a 683 distinguished family of the famous Tarin trible of the former NorthWestern Frontier Province, land of valleys famous not only for its singing streams and fascinating farms but also for valour and chivalry of its people. He was born in the year 1906 in a small village named Rehana near Sarai Saleh Railway station in Hazara District. His father Khan Mir Dad Khan was a sincere Muslim. He was a Risaidar Major, the highest rank that an Indian could gel in the army in those days. The influence of his father on his mind naturally incited him with the desire of entering military service since his early age. He passed his matriculation Examination in a local High School and then left home in 1923 and joined the famous Aligarh University. During his scholarship at Aligarh, from 1923 to 1925, he was regarded to be a hardworking and intelligent student and a good sportsman. After passing his B.A., he took an arms competitive examination for getting a regular commission. Having been brilliantly successful in the tough competitive examination' he was admitted to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst in 1926. During his slay at Sandhurst he was one of the most brilliant and distinguished cadets and passed his final examination in 1928 with honour. On his return to India Jie served in various capacities. At the time of partition he represented the Muslim community in the Punjab Boundary Force and rendered valuable services. After the creation of Pakistan, he was sent to East Pakistan as the General Officer Commanding. There he managed to improve the precarious conditions of the national defence and popularized himself in the estimation of the Bengalis. In the year 1950, he was nominated to succeed General Sir Douglas Gracey, the Commanderin-Chief to the Pakistan Army. He became the first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief of our national army1. Having become the Commandcr-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army. P.M. Mohammad Ayub Khan tried his level best to re-organize and improve the condition of our armed forces. His sincere and untiring efforts were at last crowned with success and our army is now considered to be one of the greatest fighting forces in the world. It owes its reorganization and modernization to the sincere attempts of only one man and that is P.M. Mohammad Ayub Khan. As the Chief of our army he rendered meritorious services which are responsible for raising the standard and strength of our defence system. 684 After the death of Quaid-i-Azam and the assassination of Quaid-i-Millat, Pakistan fell into tthe hands of highly selfish, incompetent and treacherous politicians. They never cared for the progress and prosperity of the country and were always after their personal gains. The selfish motives and unsincere ambitions resulted in the utter political unstability of Pakistan and the country became a prey to smuggling, hoarding, blackmarketing, corruption and favouritism. When utter disaster looked not too far, P.M.

Mohammad Ayub Khan took necessary action. He declared Martial Law in the country and himself became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and Supereme Commander of Armed Forces. This happened on the 8th of October, 1958. On the 27th of the same month, General Sikander Mirza resigned and was succeeded by Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan who began performing his duties with the help of his cabinet. His regime is striving hard in order to improve the lot of the Pakistanis. Many useful reforms including the famous Land Reforms have been implemented whereas the Educational Reforms are being considered for final implementation. The refugees has been completely settled. Many national reconstruction projects have started working. Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan is a great lover of democracy. Having assumed supreme authority he introduced the principle of Basic Democracies. Elections were held throughout Pakistan and the people elected their representatives without any fear or influence. These representatives then elected F.M. Mohammad Ayub Khan as the first elected President of Pakistan. The sincere President, with the help of his team of enthusiastic as well as honest ministers is working day and night for the welfare and prosperity of his people. Let us wish him all success in his endeavours!