In 1940 Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
the leader of the Muslim League, proposed the two nation theory at a general
session of the party in Lahore, Pakistan. While granting independence to the
Indian subcontinent in 1947, the British accepted his proposal and divided
Punjab and Bengal to carve out Pakistan. What followed was a mass exodus of
people amidst arson and violence across both sides of the states. Sixty-five
million of the 95 million Indian Muslims left for Pakistan.
The havoc caused by partition took its toll on both military and civil
bureaucracy of Pakistan. The continuous mishandling of raging controversies by
corrupt self seeking politicians threw Pakistan into anarchy of sorts. In 1956 a
constitution was hurriedly drafted but it failed to bring order. Taking
advantage of the political unrest the then army chief general Ayub Khan carried
out a coup and wrested power in 1958.
Ayub Khan dismissed all old politicians under the elective bodies’
disqualification order. Instead he formed the Basic Democracy which consisted of
8000 basic democrats divided equally between the two wings of Pakistan. They
voted to elect the members of the provincial and national assemblies. This
exclusive empowerment of the Basic democrats corrupted them by and large. The
policies adopted fostered ill will between provinces. The prosperity of West
Pakistan created immense discontent in the East. Amidst the strife Pakistan was
inflicted a crushing defeat by India in the war of 1965. Ayub Khan gradually
lost control and relinquished power in 1969 to General Yayha Khan.
Pakistan went to polls in 1970. Shiekh Mujibur Rehman’s Awami League, which
stood for provincial autonomy swept the polls in East Pakistan. Pakistan
People’s Party, led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was victorious in West Pakistan. The
powers of West Pakistan conspired to keep Mujibur out of power. This led to an
armed rebellion in East Pakistan. India intervened militarily to crush the
atrocities committed by West Pakistan controlled army. East Pakistan was finally
liberated from the clutches of West Pakistan and the sovereign republic of
Bangladesh was formed.
Following the defeat Bhutto took over from Yayha Khan. Though he was not popular
he went on to win the 1977 elections amidst charges of rigging. Using the
consequent unrest as a pretext the then general Zia ul Haq seized power.
General Zia banned all political parties and decided to build a new Pakistan
along Islamic moulds. In 1973 he amended the constitution to bestow absolute
power to himself. In 1985 he called for elections. All major political parties
boycotted the elections. In 1988 Mohammad Junejo became the Prime Minister of
Pakistan. He was dismissed in June 1988 on a flimsy pretext. Fresh elections
were called for but got stalled due to death of General Zia in a plane crash.
Ghulam Eshaq Khan became the President after General Zia. In the ensuing
elections the PPP emerged victorious and its leader Benazir Bhutto was sworn in
as Prime Minister. Due to no improvement on the economic front the Pakistan
Government was dismissed on 1990 causing fresh elections. Nawaz Shariff became
the new Prime Minister. But his ministry was dismissed in 1993. The Supreme
Court overruled the President and reinstated Shariff. The snubbed President
tried his best to divide Sharif’s party. Finally an agreement was reached and
both the President and the Prime Minister quit paving the way for fresh
elections. Benazir Bhutto regained power and made Farooq Leghari, a full time
member of her party the President. The move to insulate her government from
presidential intervention failed as she was dismissed in 1997 on corruption
grounds. The following elections saw the emergence of Nawaz Sharif as the Prime
Minister but Sharif gradually became unpopular for his autocratic way of
functioning. His reluctance to support the army on the Kashmir issue brought
about his exit. On 12th October General Pervez Musharraf overthrew him and took
over power.
In 2001 General Musharaf declared himself the President of pakistan. Today he is
the supreme authority in Pakistan’s political system.