Zia-ul-Haq was a Pakistani military officer who served as the 6th President of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in 1988. He came to power after overthrowing Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a bloodless coup in 1977. As President, Zia strengthened Pakistan's ties with the United States and Saudi Arabia. He imposed martial law and introduced strict Islamic laws. In 1988, Zia died in a plane crash whose cause remains controversial.
2. Zia was born in Jalandhar, British India,in 1924 as
the second child of Muhammad Akbar, who worked
in the Army GHQ in Delhi and Selma, prior to the
liberation of Pakistan from British colonial rule in
1947.
He completed his initial education in Selma and
then attended St. Stephen's College, Delhi for his
graduate degree. After graduation from St. Xavier
College, Zia joined the British Indian Army in 1943.
He married Shafiq Jahan in 1950–51.
Muhammad Zia-ul-HaqEarly life
3.  Shafiq Jahan Zia died on January 5, 1996.Zia
is survived by his sons,
Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq, (born 1953), who
went into politics and became a cabinet
minister in the government of Nawaz Sharif
 Anwar-ul-Haq (born 1950) and his daughters,
Zian (born 1972),[
a special needs child, and
Rubina Salim, who is married to a Pakistani
banker and has been living in the United
States since 1980,and daughter Quratulain
Zia who currently lives in London, and is
married to Pakistani doctor, Adnan Majid.
Family
4. Zia was commissioned in the
British Indian Army in a cavalry regiment on
May 12, 1943 and served against
Nazi Germany and its allies in World War II.
He was trained in the United States in
1962–1964 at the US Army
Command and General Staff College
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After that, he
returned to take over as Directing Staff (DS)
at Command and Staff College, Quetta.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965,
Zia was a tank commander
Army career
5. Backdrop
 Zia took over with the declared purpose of resolving the rift
between Bhutto’s Peoples Party and the combined
opposition to hold free and fare elections within 90 days.
 Due to Bhutto’s public popularity, Zia feared that he could
return to power through free elections, therefore the
elections were postponed.
 Bhutto then charged with the murder of a political opponent
was found guilty in hanged on 4th
April 1979.
6. His performance
 1965 – He served in Burma, Malaya, and Indonesia in World War2,
and in the wars with India.
 1976 - He became general and army chief of staff.
 1977 – He led a bloodless coup, imposed martial law, banned
political activity, and introduced an Islamic code of law. Then he
deposed President ZulfiqarAli Bhutto and he laterexecuted the
formerpresident.
 1978 – He became the President of Pakistan.
 1979 – He sanctioned the hanging of formerPresident Bhutto
despite international protest.
 1984 – He attempted to establish a party less politics, winning a
referendum.
7. Industrial Policy Framework
 Significant improvement in industrial policy
framework during Zia’s period:
 Greater emphasis on private sector
 Greater import liberalization of industrial raw
materials
 Strengthening of incentives manufactured exports
 Yet Pakistan’s performance relative to other
East Asian countries such as China Thailand,
Malaysia, Korea etc was lagging.
8.  Death
 Zia died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988.
After witnessing a US M1 Abrams tank
demonstration in Bahawalpur, Zia had left the
small town in the Punjab province by C-130
Hercules aircraft. Shortly after a
smooth takeoff, the control tower lost contact
with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane
in the air afterward claim it was flying
erratically, then nosedived and exploded on
impact. In addition to Zia, 31 others died in the
plane crash
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq