Ayub’s Era at a Glance

History:

The master mind behind the fall of Chaudhary Muhammad Ali and the overnight conversion of Muslim
League members of the assembly into the Republican Party in 1956 was no one else but President
Iskandar Mirza. Further more in the exercise of Political setup of Iskandar Mirza, the politicians of East
Pakistan suffered from limitations imposed from West Pakistan. This created political instability
through out Mirza’s regime. The situation became extreme when the state of insecurity generated by
Iskandar Mirza himself was at its peak. In these circumstances Iskandar Mirza and Ayub Khan Jointly
made a conspiracy plan by which Ayub Khan imposed a Martial Law in the country (8th October 1958)
and became the chief Martial Law Administrator. Rightly said by Mushtaq Ahmed (Politics of Crisis
pg.25), that the major reason for the imposition of Martial Law in the country wasn’t the defects in
the constitution but it was the ‘Politics of Power’. Well, Iskandar Mirza was forced to resign after 19
days of the imposition of the Martial Law and was exiled.

Ayub’s Era at a glance:

He was the same Ayub Khan who was pointed as the head of Punjab Boundary Force in August 1947,
to look after the safe migration of Muslims from India to Pakistan. But he didn’t fulfill his duties and
remain drunk and the history painfully saw the massacres of Muslim men, women and children and
rape of Muslim women on the cost of “Bottle of vine”.

President Ayub ruled Pakistan for a little more than ten years. During his regime Pakistan had
undergone some achievements but there had been a lot of unsolved structural problems also which
account for his era. In a brief context Ayub’s era didn’t eliminate the basic problems of the society in
Pakistan. The major aspects of Ayub’s era can be discussed as follows:

 Before Ayub’s era country was smarting under the shadows of dark forces on the political
horizon. In this scenario Ayub’s regime didn’t bring any hope of freedom but the order and
discipline, characteristic of all Martial Law regimes.
 After abrogating the constitution of 1956, the press & Publication ordination 1960 was
employed to clip the wings of criticism of the regime.
 The commission appointed by Ayub to design the political frame work for the future was
headed by former Chief Justice of Pakistan Muhammad Shahabuddin with ten other
members five from East Pakistan and five from West Pakistan, composed of retired judges,
lawyers, industrialists and landlords, it went about to work in a business-like manner.
 The commission proposed a presidential from of government and Basic Democracy found no
place in the future democratic process. And the recommendations were neglected by the
regime.
 The constitution formed under the guidance of Ayub Khan removed the word ‘Islamic’ and
declared that Pakistan will be a republic under the name of ‘Republic of Pakistan”, which
was lately rectified as ‘Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ through first amendment. Further the
constitution began with the words “I Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan” and not eh
words “We the People of Pakistan” do hereby declare and promulgate the constitution,
meant he had no respect for the popular sanction. For its provisions fundamental or
otherwise, he alone was responsible. In a nut shell the president had acquired the
 completely free hand in the management of the affairs of the state in the light of his own
experience.
 Ayub introduced a new political system, known as the Basic Democracies, in 1959. It created
a four-tiered system of mostly indirect representation in government, from the local to the
national level, allowing communication between local communities and the highly
centralized national government. Each tier was assigned certain responsibilities in local
administration of agricultural and community development, such as maintenance of
elementary schools, public roads, and bridges. All the councils at the tehsil (subdistrict), zilla
(district), and division levels were indirectly elected. The lowest tier, on the village level,
consisted of union councils. Members of the union councils were known as Basic Democrats
and were the only members of any tier who were directly elected.
 Ayub’s regime also increased developmental funds to East Pakistan more than threefold.
This had a noticeable effect on the economy of the province, but the disparity between the
two wings of Pakistan was not eliminated.
 His regime also initiated land reforms designed to reduce the political power of the landed
aristocracy.
 Ayub also promulgated a progressive Islamic law, the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of
1961, imposing restrictions on polygamy and divorce and reinforcing the inheritance rights
of women and minors.
 In 1959, soon after taking office, Ayub ordered the planning and construction of a new
national capital, to replace Karachi. The chosen location of the new capital in the province of
Punjab was close to the military headquarters of Rawalpindi, which served as an interim
capital. Islamabad officially became the new capital in 1967, although construction
continued into the 1970s.
 The first election under the constitution of 1962 were on non part basis, however, the
political parties were revived in the second election which were held in 1965. Ms. Fatima
Jinnah was the presidential candidate of Combined Opposition parties (COP). Ayub khan
won the election but the results were disputed and COP demanded that direct election
should be substituted for indirect elections.
 Ayub was skillful in maintaining cordial relations with the United States, stimulating
substantial economic and military aid to Pakistan. But unfortunately the war of 1965
brought a sense of defenselessness and deprivation among the people of East Pakistan. And
after that The East Pakistan demanded for autonomy under the presentation of six points.
 In 1969 a mass movement spread by People’s Party in West Pakistan and by Awami League
in East Pakistan destabilized Ayub’s regime and on March 25 1965 Ayub resigned from his
office and handed over the charge to Commander in Chief of the Army General Yahya Khan,
instead of the speaker of the national assembly, hence violated himself in ‘self assumed
Constitution’.

Conclusion:

The characteristics of Ayub’s era discussed above show some successful decisions and some not so
successful decisions of Ayub. In my opinion Ayub was a man of great determination but the he was
lacking the quality of ‘listening to others’. He always did what he thought better in the light of his
own experience.

His regime can be characterized with some developments but he couldn’t maintain the national
harmony among the distant provinces of Pakistan, i.e. East Pakistan and West Pakistan.
Related Readings:

 1- Mushtaq Ahmed, Politics of Crisis pg.25

 2- M.A.K Chaudhary, Martial Law ka Siyasi Andaz pg.95
 3- Kamal Azfar, Pakistan: Political and Constitutional Dilemmas pg.75-76
 4- Gul Shehzad Sarwar, Pakistan Studies pg.382—389