Chief of the Army Staff. President of Pakistan. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq [ a ] 12 August โ 17 August was a Pakistani dictator who controlled Pakistan from his coup until his death in He took over the country after leading a coup on 5 July , which overthrew the democratically elected government of prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Zia subsequently imposed martial law , suspended the constitution , and served as chief martial law administrator before assuming the presidency and becoming a dictator.
Zia served as the 2nd chief of the Army Staff from to , a position he later leveraged to execute a coup in , [ 3 ] which was the second coup in Pakistan's history of coups ; the first occurred in under Ayub Khan. Zia remained de facto leader for over a year, assuming the presidency in September He directed Islamization in Pakistan , escalated the country's atomic bomb project and instituted industrialization and deregulation , which significantly improved Pakistan's economy.
In , following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan , Zia adopted an anti-Soviet stance and aided the Afghan mujahidin. He bolstered ties with China and the United States and emphasized Pakistan's role in the Islamic world. Zia held non-partisan elections in and appointed Muhammad Junejo prime minister, though he accumulated more presidential powers through the Eighth Amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan.
He dismissed Junejo's government on charges of economic stagflation and announced general elections in November He was buried at the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. Zia dominated Pakistan's politics for over a decade and his proxy war against the Soviet Union is credited with stopping an expected Soviet invasion of Pakistan. He is praised by right-wing conservatives for his desecularization efforts and opposition to Western culture.
Zia's detractors criticize his authoritarianism , his press censorship , his purported religious intolerance and his weakening of democracy in Pakistan. His overall policy has been called Ziaism. Zia is also cited for promoting the political career of Nawaz Sharif , who was thrice elected prime minister and current leader of PML-N.
