Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

Former President of Pakistan

August 12, 1924 Jalandhar, Punjab, British India

August 17, 1988 Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan

Shafiq Jahan

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the sixth President of Pakistan who became the longest-serving head of state (1978-1988) in the country. He was also the Chief of Army Staff (1976-1988), a position to which he was appointed by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. A year after taking over as army chief, Zia deposed Bhutto in a bloodless coup, declared martial law and became chief martial-law administrator. The following year, he became the President after the term of President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry came to an end. He is considered to be a polarising figure in the history of the country. During his presidency, with US backing, he played a key role in Soviet-Afghan War and provided the Afghan mujahideen both monetary and military support. It prevented wider Soviet incursions into the region; however, it also resulted in millions of refugees entering Pakistan's frontier province with weapons and heroin. His eleven years tenure saw him embarking on Islamization of Pakistan’s political, cultural and legal system. Economy progressed, but democratic institution lost their power and religious intolerance grew. Earlier, born in British India, he studied at Delhi’s St Stephens College and then joined the Royal Military Academy in Dehradun. He fought in the WWII as part of the British Indian army and later moved to Pakistan after India’s partition in 1947.