University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/77074 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. The Struggle for Democracy in Pakistan Nonviolent Resistance to Military Rule 1977-88 Malik Hammad Ahmad Student No.0558694 A thesis submitted is partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. The University of Warwick Department of History May 2015 iii Dedication To my Mother - Rukhshanda Kokab For her heartiest wish receivinG higher education To my Supervisor - David Hardiman For his exceptional consistent pursuance and guidance Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT VI DECLARATION X DISSERTATION ABSTRACT XI ILLUSTRATIONS XII ACRONYMS XIII GLOSSARY XV DISSERTATION INTRODUCTION 1 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH: 1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY 6 MAIN ARGUMENTS 8 LITERATURE REVIEW 22 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 29 SOURCES 34 ROADMAP 39 CH. 1. THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO 43 IMPOSITION OF MARTIAL LAW: 47 BHUTTO BACHAO TEHREEK: 60 UNPOPULARITY OF BHUTTO: 60 FAILURE TO CULTIVATED INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT: 67 THE CAMPAIGN: 74 ZIA’S OPPRESSION: 87 CONCLUSION 94 CH. 2. FORMATIVE PHASE OF COLLECTIVE ACTION 1979-81: 95 RE-ORGANISATION OF PPP: 95 THE REGIME’S ‘ISLAMIC’ REPRESSION: 106 TRADE UNION MILITANCY: 111 ‘REAL MARTIAL LAW’: 114 BUILDING AN ANTI-REGIME POLITICAL ALLIANCE 116 INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT: 120 CONCLUSION: 122 CH. 3. THE MOVEMENT FOR RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY 1981-84 123 OBJECTIVE AND STRATEGIES: 123 CALL FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AUGUST 1983: 129 GOVERNMENT TACTICS TOWARDS THE MOVEMENT: 136 PROMULGATION OF PCO: 143 ROLE OF MEANS OF COMMUNICATION: 145 CIVIL SOCIETY ON BOARD: 151 SYMPATHY IN THE ARMY: 155 v AL-ZULFIQAR AND PPP’S RELATIONSHIP: 158 MRD FAILURE AND SUCCESS 1981-84 165 GRADUALIST DEMOCRACY: 165 PROBLEMS OF LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATION: 174 EXTERNAL SUPPORT: 179 CONCLUSION 182 CH. 4. DECLINE OF THE DICTATOR’S POWER 1984-86 185 BENAZIR BHUTTO’S DEPARTURE FROM PAKISTAN AND THE STRUGGLE IN EXILE: 185 RESTORATION OF ELEMENTS OF DEMOCRACY: 197 POST-ELECTION SCENARIO: 211 THE MRD – ITS FAILURES AND ACHIEVEMENTS 221 CONCLUSION: 228 CH. 5. REVIVAL OF DEMOCRACY AND END OF THE DICTATOR 1986-88: 230 THE JUNEJO GOVERNMENT: 233 MRD: SHIFT FROM RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY TO ‘PEOPLE’S SOVEREIGNTY’: 241 THE RETURN OF BENAZIR BHUTTO: 248 BLACK THURSDAY (14 AUGUST 1986): 264 MRD AND PPP 270 THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE RESISTANCE: 276 CULTIVATING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT: 279 THE FINAL DAYS OF GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ.: 282 CONCLUSION: 287 DISSERTATION CONCLUSION 289 THE IMPACT OF ZIA’S MILITARY REGIME 290 CAUSES FOR THE LONGEVITY OF ZIA’S REGIME 299 THE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN PAKISTAN 307 Acknowledgement Allah, the most Merciful and greatest Benefactor, Whose spiritual support paves my way towards success and guides me in failure. To write a dissertation is like a long journey where many persons, events and association intercept, teach and share their intellect and wisdom. First and foremost, thank you to my supervisor Prof. David Hardiman for his support for securing funding for this research and writing. Over the period of four and half years, I came up with many personal issues, but his encouragement and assistance beyond his role of supervision kept my morale high in completing the task. He provided me good guidance, and provided beneficial comments on my ‘late’ submissions with kindness. Discussing Bollywood movies especially Lage Rahu Munna Bhai on Gandhigiri (practicing Gandhi’s principles) was a relationship with its humour also. I feel honoured to be among his final PhD students before his retirement. Without his complete support, I would not have been able to present my work today. Likewise, I also thank Prof. Christopher Read for his help in completing the submission process at its final stages. Much of this research would not have been possible without the help of a number of kind and diligent archivists, who went above and beyond the call of duty to find files and photocopy material. This includes the staff at the CIA archive based at National Archives and Record Administration, Maryland, USA who provided free printing facilities so that I could get as much material as possible during my research trip in 2013. The archivists at the Modern Record Centre, The University of Warwick (UK), helped me to track down Amnesty International reports and correspondences of the period required. They also pointed me out useful magazines and other correspondence relevant to my research. In Islamabad, despite the dilapidated state of the Archive, the staff of the National vii Archives of Pakistan (NAP) helped me to locate files of various newspapers, journals and magazines. Habib-ur-Rehman, Director General-NAP, kindly helped me through the initial bureaucratic processes quickly. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Ahmed Salim, who holds a private archive at his South Asian Research and Resource Centre, and Ali, his archive assistant. His rich collection on the Zia period solved a number of cross- referencing puzzles and he dug out some crucial files, which I would not have located otherwise. Likewise, Ibrar Ahmed Jatoi, District Election Officer-Pakistan, facilitated my access to the library of the Election Commission of Pakistan, as did the librarian of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. At the Centre for Peace and Civil Society (CPCS), Hyderabad, which holds useful literature on Sindh’s history and politics, mainly in Sindhi, the Executive Director, Jami Chandio, was kind enough to fill me in on the overall picture of the political scene in Sindh during MRD. I also thank the staff of Baacha Khan Markaz (centre) who gave me access to their resources on nonviolence and Baacha Khan. My utmost gratitude is to my all interviewees spread over Pakistan, UK and USA who helped me connect the missing dots of the history of Zia period, a lot of the evidence of which was destroyed during the movement by the regime or other protagonists. There are more than sixty in numbers, and their names are listed in the bibliography. Without their consent, writing this thesis would have been impossible. Dr. Mehdi Hasan (Lahore), Dr. Aslam Naro (Rahim Yar Khan), Honey Begum (Peshawar) and Shahid Sheikh (Islamabad) shared their private papers and collection of rare pictures with me in a way that enriched the dissertation. I thank to those who pointed me towards my interviewees. I also thank those who helped me in other ways during my research: Fateh Marri (Karachi), Yasir Dogar (Lahore), Aftab Marwat (Peshawar), Zulfiqar Ali Wainse (Multan), Mushtaq Lasharie (London), my sisters Javaria Kokab, Ammara Malik and brothers-in-law Rehan Anjum, and Adnan Anjum (Islamabad). Their companionship always provided a viii refreshing breeze in the heat of the research. I owe lots of gratitude to the administrative staff of the Warwick History Department – Robert Horton (Departmental Administrator), Jean Noonan (Departmental Secretary), Sarah Doughty (Postgraduate Secretary), Paula Keeble (former Undergraduate Secretary) and Tracy Horton (former CHM Secretary). I always found them ready and willing to solve any kind of problem during my studies and teaching seminars (Gandhi and Indian Nationalism 2012-2013, and Making of Modern World2014-2015). I am really grateful for their every support and assistance in making my stay in the department comfortable during the period. This PhD was supported by a doctoral award from The Leverhulme Trust, 2010- 2013, and with partial support from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan 2014- 2015. A Charles Wallace Trust Pakistan Bursary, a Leche Trust Overseas PhD Bursary, and CISN hardship fund for International Student helped to secure me financially in continuing my work in 2013-14. Research-related annual travel grants from the History Department helped me to participate in Punjab Research Group bi-Annual conference, and travel to London for interviews. In addition, the Trans-Atlantic Fellowship 2013 Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick, funded my trip to the USA to consult archives and conduct interviews. Of all these, I am most appreciative. I would like to thank all of the friends who have supported me intellectually and in other ways over the past four and half years. At Warwick, my peers in the Department of History were wonderful friends with whom to share my work, to laugh, and play table tennis. Thanks to Rachael, Tom, Ed, Kim, John and Beccy. In particular appreciation for their association with me during the final couple of months is to Rachael and John for lending me their ears to overcome some personal issues; Steve, and Elodie for their last push to complete the task; and James for his wonderful companionship in the evenings to ix refresh me. Their support indeed cheered me and helped me to complete the task on time. My heartiest gratitude is to John, Tom, James, and Steve, whose comments on my language improved my skills in this respect a lot. Above all, their humour, and friendship made my stay in UK wonderful. Discussion and insightful comments of Ilyas Chattha (Coventry), and Yelena (Brown University-USA) on Pakistan’s history and politics helped to resolve many research puzzles. Lastly, my incalculable appreciation goes to my family and relatives, in particular my sisters (Javaria, Ammara and Ruman Fatima) and brothers (Jawad, and Mudassir) for their continuous support, prayers and bearing the misery of my being so far during the whole period of my studies abroad. I really appreciate my brothers-in Law, Adnan Anjum and Rehan Anjum, were with my family in their good and bad times that provided some solace for me when abroad.