Muhammad Ayub Khan (born 14 May 1907 in Rehana village, Haripur
Hazara, died 19 April 1974) was a former President of Pakistan, Field Martial
and political leader. He is the youngest and highest ranked soldier in the
Pakistan Army. He is also known in history as the first military dictator of
Pakistan who overthrew the civilian government in 1958 and imposed martial law
in Pakistan.
Early life/ era of General Ayub Khan:
President Muhammad Ayub Khan was born on May 14, 1907, in a Hindko
Pashto family in Rihanna, a village near Haripur Hazara. He was the first son
of his father Mir Dad Khan's second wife. For elementary education, he was
enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh and also in a nearby village, Kahlpai, 5
miles from his home. You used to go to school by mule. He entered Aligarh
University in 1922 but did not complete his education as he had accepted
admission to the Royal Academy of Sandhursts.
Early military era of General Ayub Khan:
He had a great time in this training center and you were posted in
14 Punjab Regiment Sher Dal which is now 5 Punjab Regiment. He served as
captain in World War II and later served as a major on the Burmese front. After
the formation of Pakistan, he joined the Pakistan Army. At that time, he was
ranked tenth in the army. He was soon promoted to brigadier and then in 1948 to
the head of the Pakistani army in East Pakistan. On his return from East
Pakistan in 1949, he was promoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief. He served as
the Minister of Defense under Muhammad Ali Bogra. (1954). When Iskandar Mirza
imposed martial law on October 7, 1958, he was made the Chief Martial Law
Administrator. For the first time in Pakistan's history, a soldier was brought
directly into politics
1958 Martial Law and Ayub Khan:
General Ayub Khan writes in his autobiographical Friends Not
Masters:
"I reached Karachi on October 5 and
went straight to meet General Iskandar Mirza. They were sitting on the lawn.
Bitter, anxious and frustrated. I asked.
"Have you thought well, sir?"
'Yes.'
'Is there no other choice?'
'No. There is no other choice.
"I think it's unfortunate that things have gotten to the point
where it's getting tough," he said. But there was no escape. It was the
last attempt to save the country. "
Two days after this conversation, on the night between 7th and 8th
October 1958, the first President of Pakistan (General) Iskandar Mirza
suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Assemblies and abolished political
parties and imposed the first martial law in the history of the country Chief
Ayub Khan appointed Martial Law Administrator
Since this was the first attempt, there was no speech on the radio
(TV had not yet arrived) in this first martial law under the title 'My dear
compatriots' etc. A decision written on a typewriter was cyclostyle at 10:30 pm
and sent to newspaper offices and embassies.
However, it did happen that a few troops were sent to cordon off
the Radio Pakistan and Telegraph building as a precaution so that the
certificate would remain and come to work when needed.
General Ayub Khan the President of Pakistan 1958–1969:
Due to differences with President Iskandar Mirza, Ayub Khan's
differences with Mirza Sahib grew and eventually Ayub Khan took over the
presidency of Pakistan and deposed Iskandar Mirza. The nation welcomed
President Ayub Khan as the Pakistani people were fed up with unstable democracy
and disloyal politicians at that time. Soon Ayub Khan received the speeches of
Hilal Pakistan and Field Martial. Ayub Khan drafted a constitution in 1961,
which was presidential in style and for the first time in writing. As a result
of this constitution, general elections were held in 1962 and martial law was
lifted. But it seems to have been partial. In these elections, President Ayub Khan's main
rival was the mother of the nation, Fatima Jinnah, who lost despite the immense
popularity of the Quaid-e-Azam. That is what makes these elections dubious.
The dubious victory over Fatima Jinnah and the war of 1965 had made
the situation unfavorable for Ayub Khan. On his withdrawal from the Tashkent
agreement, the then Foreign Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto sharply criticized Ayub
Khan, saying that Ayub Khan had sold the country's honor and sacrifice.
Following the statement, Bhutto resigned from the Foreign Ministry.
In 1968, Ayub Khan was assassinated but failed. In 1969, Ayub Khan
convened a round table conference to negotiate with the opposition parties
other than the Awami League and the PPP, but failed. During this time Ayub Khan
suffered a heart attack and in the same year he had a stroke and he fell
asleep. They were brought in wheelchairs.
Protests against Ayub Khan across the country created a civil war
situation. It became difficult for the police to stop the riots and finally Ayub
Khan resigned from his post on March 25, 1969 and made the Chief of Army Staff
General Yahya Khan the President of the country.
In 1967, Bhutto formed the Pakistan People's Party and began to
sharply criticize Ayub Khan's religious, economic and public policies. Along
with Bhutto's movement, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s movement against Ayub Khan was
also active in East Pakistan. Ayub Khan chained Bhutto and Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman. This further increased the hatred against Ayub Khan.
Although during the tenure of President Ayub, Pakistan made double
and quadruple progress day and night but the people got fed up with the
dictatorial government for ten years in a row. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto took
advantage of this time and immediately He was forced to surrender in front of
the people and he resigned from the presidency and handed over his values to
Yahya Khan. According to Ayub Khan's diary, published in 2007, the US was
directly involved in worsening the situation. Daultana and Chaudhry Muhammad
Ali were trying hard to spread chaos in the country. The United States wanted a
declining Pakistan so that India could become a powerful country in the region
that could be used against China.
The 1965 Pakistan-India War and Ayub Khan's Secret Visit to China:
More than 60 years have
passed since the 1965 Pakistan-India war. While this war is considered to be a
shining chapter in the history of Pakistan, there is some evidence that the
issues were not as described.
The war apparently started on September 6, 1965 when India crossed
the international border to invade Pakistan but according to historians the war
started on April 26, 1965. When the Pakistani army occupied the area of
Kanjarkot and Beerbet in the area of Run Kachh.
A few days later, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson offered his
services to mediate between the two governments, so on June 30, 1965, the two
countries signed a ceasefire agreement and the matter was referred to the
international forum.
In July 1965, Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Pakistan Armed Forces launched a guerrilla operation to liberate Indian-administered Kashmir from India, dubbed "Operation Gibraltar".
The Golden Ayubi Era:
The era of General Ayub Khan is also said to be the most golden era
in the history of Pakistan which was so true that all the development works
that took place in this era were exemplified first and not later ...!
But all this was not General Ayub's own perfection, but the billions of dollars of American aid that Pakistan received at that time. That aid was not given because the United States was our cousin or that it owed us anything, but because of the services rendered by the Ayub government to the United States of America in Cold War against Russia. Was performing some of the money was spent on development, but most was spent on corruption and nepotism. The term 22 families is reminiscent of that period.
The Pakistani army was formed with the same American aid, otherwise
the poorest country like Pakistan could not have built the seventh largest army
in the world with its own resources. It is a great favor of America the Brave
to us that it has made us such a great army. Now if the poor, our military
rulers, do not allow salt to protect American interests, what else can they do?
